$5 Review
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness – I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness – Emperor Jones
This debut EP from Windsor takes a caramelized approach to Pavement pop, infusing it with a quickened dance step on some songs (“We’re Still the Weaker Sex,” “When You Go Out”), and an incessant heartbeat drum beat on others (“The Less You See,” “I Want to Die in the Hot Summer”). But all the songs have the kind of dark pop motifs that have come into vogue with the indie airwaves now being ruled by Interpol spy trenchcoats and Isaac Brock’s four-line platitudes. With such a small presentation of the goods on this EP, it’s anyone’s guess where these guys will go, but they certainly have the ear for what people want. Dark, subtle, and compelling.

Death Water Estates – Death Water Estates – Catsup Plate
Catsup Plate has become trendy, if not well-known, as the source for abstract-dance group Black Dice and side projects for the tribal-folk Animal Collective’s Avey Tare and Panda Bear. Here, they continue the tradition of that group’s Campfire Songs with the quirky folk of Charlie McAlister. During the 80s and 90s, McAlister released dozens of self-recorded, collage-cut, banjo-driven folk on his own label, Flannel Banjo, and this release is comprised of songs from his four most popular releases, and is best appreciate on vinyl. Artists like Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, and the Microphones are all reshaping the boundaries and possibilities of modern folk music, and this release proves that Charlie McAlister deserves just as much attention for his highly articulate, political, emotional folk, not to mention his creative means of production. One of the year’s best releases.

Emery Reel - …For And Acted Upon Through Diversions – First Flight
The record takes time to develop its hold on you, as the orchestral clarity of godspeed you! black emperor and the accessibility of Saxon Shore and Unwed Sailor are absent from this record (which sounds very much like any of the aforementioned). But when it grips, it holds on tight. “Hence; Therefore, Again” wails like a godspeed track, “Departure of Hope” builds in routine, then slides back into succulent slide guitar. For all purposes, Emery Reel sounds like labelmate The Potamoc Accord, yet they approach their task with a subtle touch and a complex beauty that is common to all good records. This one is worth your time.