You may have noticed an mp3 slip into my favorites of May that I had not previously mentioned on this page. I really snuck one past you there, huh? I’d just started listening to Soltero’s new album, You’re No Dream, a few days before, which I eventually reviewed for Treble (read here). You’re No Dream is played almost exclusively by Tim Howard - a singer/songwriter who moved into a Philadelphia house, borrowed instruments from friends, and recorded this dark, brooding folk album. The closest relation that I can think of is the trippy, slow-folk of Beach House’s recent Devotion.“Sinkhole” was the Soltero song I featured recently, which is about as straightforward as Howard gets. Despite its central line - and today, I’d marry you tomorrow - this is more the love song of a manic depressive than a hopeless romantic. The spacey, reverb-heavy chamber folk of “Out At The Wall” is more representative of the overall mood and style of You’re No Dream - it’s a stunningly subtle record that bears repeat listens, and is well worth checking out.
MP3 :: Out At The Wall
MP3 :: Sinkhole
Stream :: Lemon Car
(from You’re No Dream. Buy here)
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This was my favorite album of 2008, as was Soltero's HELL TRAIN in 2005. Nothing else sounds like this. It's the spookiest, most intimate, and paradoxically the poppiest, thing I've heard in years...since...Soltero's TONGUES YOU HAVE TIED, probably. I've been really surprised this album hasn't gotten more coverage, because it really is just excellent, and haunting, and it's so much better than many of the critics' other 2008 favorites.
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