Year 2011 Round-up Part 6: Dolorean, The Deep Dark Woods, Dawes, Glossary, Ryan Adams

More huge favourites from the year 2011. One of these will also be my album of the year. And at least three of them are in the top 10.

Dolorean – Country Clutter from the album The Unfazed

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGFRPQeMLAU]

The Deep Dark Woods – West Side Street (from the album The Place I Left Behind, not the best track on the album, but amazing nevertheless)

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/18245045″]
 
Dawes – If I Wanted Someone from the album Nothing Is Wrong

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZJWeFU9gA4]

Glossary – A Shoulder To Cry On from the album Long Live All Of Us

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/25480105″]
 
Ryan Adams – Lucky Now (from the album Ashes & Fire)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp064T7rQSk]

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Album of the Month: The Deep Dark Woods – The Place I Left Behind

The Deep Dark Woods: The Place I Left Behind (Six Shooter / Sugar Hill, 2011)

The Deep Dark Woods from Saskatoon, Canada is my new favourite band and their new album The Place I Left Behind is one amazing album. It will definitely be the album of the month and someone must release one hell of an album later in the year, if this doesn’t end up being my album of the year as well. I just can’t get tired of this and believe me, I’ve tried. I listened to it eight hours in a row at work for several days and the thought that I have other albums on my iPod never occurred to me during those days.

The Place I Left Behind is one of the most convincing folk rock and alternative country albums that I’ve heard during the last couple of years. Beautiful lead vocals, rich harmonies and warm sounds gently collide with sad & lonesome thoughts, gloomy & dark stories.. and even old-fashioned murder ballads. Sometimes I even feel guilty because I feel warmth and beauty all around even though I’m listening some slow and lonesome moment that maybe should evoke an opposite reaction. But maybe that contrast is what makes it all the more striking and captivating. Frontman Ryan Boldt has a perfect voice for this kind of music and the whole album is so beautifully crafted. The storytelling is excellent throughout the record. Whether it’s an old fashioned crime tale or a field study of urban loneliness, it works wonderfully. Basicly I just love the whole record. Dear John sometimes feels a little out of place, but as a huge pop fan, I really enjoy that lighter sound as well. The Place I Left Behind is a masterpiece.

The Deep Dark Woods Website
The Deep Dark Woods at Facebook

Listen to Westside Street

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/18096317″]
 
The Deep Dark Woods discuss about the new album (some wonderful songs from the album playing on the background as well):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDDJtQoz6a8]
Note that so far the album has only been released in Canada by Six Shooter Recordings. The album will get an US / Europe release from Sugar Hill Records in october. My apologies to Sugar Hill and the band. The samples were just too brilliant and the wait would have been unbearable, so I had to buy it directly from Canada.

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The Deep Dark Woods – The Place I Left Behind

I’ve finally accepted the fact I will never have the time to “properly” review all the great albums that are coming out. Therefore I thought I will start writing small news bits about foreign releases as well. Because even though no-one else probably cares, it’s heartbreaking to me when I notice that I haven’t even written one word about some albums that I really love. I will still try to review the stuff I end up loving the most (at least the album of the month), but this way it doesn’t matter too much will it take me two days or two months.

Let’s begin with The Deep Dark Woods from Saskatchewan, Canada. Their new album The Place I Left Behind will be released by Six Shooter Records on 2nd of august. I just recently stumbled upon them and don’t even own any of their albums. I’ve only listened to their previous album Winter Hours on Spotify and watched a bunch of videos. But oh my. This is totally my kind of band and I’m pretty excited about the upcoming album. Just wonderful folk rock and americana songs. And plenty of vocal harmonies which is always a plus. This first outtake from the new album is entitled West Side Street and it sounds absolutely marvelous to me.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/18096317″]
 
And here’s a great video of Two Time Loser. It’s from the previous album:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-d8sUFAknE]

The Deep Dark Woods Website
The Deep Dark Woods at Facebook

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