Delta Spirit - History From Below (2010)

History From Below is the secund Delta Spirit LP and the first to open the band to a wider audience, this is because of the quality of the recording and the concept overall. They used to explore with unconventional sounds, but this time they get their act together and you don't find strange experimental sounds but you can deffenetly expect a vintage american rock vibe, you can listen the Springfield and Tom Waits Influences. Even the sound is very tom waits sometimes, this is because of the recording, made in Cotati, CA where Waits recorded some of his LP's.

The album is inspired on the Howard Zinn’s novel “A People’s History of The United States”, and the lyrics are full of romantic, political and human storys. This LP has a lot of high points, the energetic single "Bushwick Blues" has the fast sentiment, and also very dense ballands like "Devil Knows You're Dead" that really get as deep as they can get.

This album demonstrate that this band is beyond ordinary.

Tracklist:

1. 911
2. Bushwick Blues
3. Salt In The Wound
4. White Table
5. Ransom Man
6. Devil Knows You're Dead
7. Golden State
8. Scarecrow
9. Vivian
10. St. Francis
11. Ballad Of Vitaly

Rate: 8.3/10

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She & Him - Volume Two

Seems strange that indie movie stars are becoming indie singers, but that's the case of Zooey Deschanel, she is a talented actress that for years thought she could make music and movies but got shy about the music part, and she never put out a song until she met M. Ward, the first album was called Volume One, and it was a good album but never grew on me, so I didn't really had expectations for the second LP.

When it finally came out and I gave it a listen, I understood that the intention was to keep the same feelings of a woman falling out of love but not losing hope, what really changed this time around was the way of building the songs, much more complex, but still with heartache, we still have quirky melodies that do a vintage pop sound like the single "In the Sun" that also had a choreographed dance video, but doesn't lose its sweetness with all the extra instrumentation, Volume One had the same potential but with the sequel they really explode it, I guess She & Him should still be doing this songs and M. Ward, as successful as he is should let Zooey shine in like this vulnerable girl that doesn't loose hope over deceptions.

Another bonus of this LP are the well done cover songs, like NRBQ's Ridin In My Car that is one of the best songs of the entire LP and Skeeter Davis' "Gonna Get Along Without You Now". This LP has a wider range of genre mix and is not built on only one idea like the Volume One.

I'm sure that if you liked Volume One you'll like Volume Two, but if you didn't like the first one you should try and see how it goes with this time around.

Tracklist:

1. Thieves
2. In the Sun
3. Don't Look Back
4. Ridin' In My Car
5. Lingering Still
6. Me and You
7. Gonna Get Along Without You Now
8. Home
9. I'm Gonna Make It Better
10. Sing
11. Over It Over Again
12. Brand New Shoes
13. If You Can't Sleep

Rate: 7,6/10

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