honorable mentions

here at the end of the year i like to make a list of what i found to be the year's best music. and to draw out the suspense, i'll just mention one record per post, hopefully per day. but we'll start with two things that deserve honorable mention. two pretty good records i was anticipating and expecting to like a lot more than i did: Pelican "The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw" (on Hydrahead) and Silver Jews "Tanglewood Numbers" (on Drag City).

the heaviness of Pelican's earlier output is lessening a bit, and their harmonic structures are beginning to sound a little typically 'emo' and predictable to my ears. i wouldn't be surprised if their next album has some singing on it, further diluting the purity of their presentation.

and "Tanglewood Numbers" just seems a little cluttered with unnecessary overdubs that get in the way of David Berman's fragile vocal delivery.

on the other hand, these records are better than most everything else i heard this year, and i've been liking them more with each listen.