Reco: Fat Freddy's Drop, Muse, Grizzly Bear, Seeed, The Decemberists

I've had a few albums on constant rotation for the last few months. The lyrics get stuck in my head, I wake up humming the tunes, and I have to listen to it, which starts the whole process over again. There's a lot of damn good music and lovely production here:



Fat Freddy's Drop is a band from New Zealand that plays Dub/Soul/Reggae/Dance music. Their latest album, Dr. Boondigga and the Big BW, is pure genius. My favorite line from their website: "released after two years of beat reduction and sonic fine tuning."

Unless you've been under a rock for the last year, you've probably heard of Muse. I like to think of them as Queen crossed with Radiohead crossed with Debussy. Pretty impressive for a three-piece. Their latest album, The Resistance, is ambitious to say the least, but they somehow managed to pull it off beautifully. There's a soft spot in my heart for the massive three-part exogenesis symphony at the end. I've heard they even play it live, and I hope like hell they will play it when I see them in Arnhem this summer. The video above is from their previous album, but I had to include it here for sheer awesomeness.

Grizzly Bear is a four-piece from Brooklyn who make gorgeous, melodic, harmonic music - like a modern, indie version of the Beach Boys. They've been blogged to death already, so I'll just say: get a good pair of headphones and listen to the killer production on Veckatimist.

I told you about Peter Fox in a previous post. This is his former dub/reggae band from Berlin, Seeed.

And finally, we have the latest concept album from The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love. This epic album weaves a wonderful story with eloquent storytelling and understated playing. This album is worth a listen if only for the awesome B3 organ. And, they also have an animated DVD version. 

Mmmm, lovely stuff. Must go have a listen now....