Wednesday, January 21, 2009

8. Fleet Foxes - Your Protector

This band has been written about and had praise heaped upon it to the point that it's actually impossible to say something original about them... so of course (SPOILER ALERT!!*) I will be writing about them twice in the next week or so as I finish this list. The harmonies are beautiful obviously... quite possibly the best since the Beach Boys and the orchestal folkiness of the musical arrangements belies their complexity and richness. Lyrically, I enjoy the fact that the band seems to have disconnected from our world and have succeeded in creating a sort of alternate landscape that seems to be located somewhere between Middle Earth and Narnia. A place where the namesake "Protector" of the song is so shrouded in mystery that I can't help but envision Stephen King's Gunslinger character or any assortment of sci-fi/fantasy badass@.

But let's face it, if you've heard these guys then you already know all of this. If you haven't... hear them... they're a slamdunk. I will guarantee that not only will you like them but you will have trouble not listening to them all the time so captivating are those aforementioned harmonies and lush musical arrangements. This is indeed the rare case of the iconic hipster obsession that warrants every bit of that obsession. Don't believe it? Check out this performance from SNL of Mykonos a track from their EP Sun Giant and kiss that 10 bucks that's let on your iTunes gift card goodbye.





*My life is officially complete... I've issued a spoiler alert.

@Okay I'll admit, I wasn't thinking of the Gunslinger... I was thinking of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII... C'mon.... HATE ME!!! HATE ME!!! BRING IT... your hate replenishes my MP so that I can bust out a sweet Summon spell on you.

No comments: