Let me know if you can think of a better title for that.
I've been trying to intersperse some regular segments with my other posts. So far, I just have Top Ten and Album Review, but I would like to add some concert reviews, Q and As and maybe even have featured guests (sort of like "What's On Your iPod?" if you read the campus paper).
The segment I'm adding today is a profile of favorite/noteworthy artists who I would recommend checking out. In this post I'm profiling The Shins.
The Shins were a gamble that turned out well for me. Wanting to try something new, I searched them on iTunes one day when I was buying music. I had heard they were good, and as a general rule, have found that I usually like bands that start with "the" (The Clash, The White Stripes, The Darkness...). I chose the middle album, because I usually find that they are the strongest; not so old that the artists were still trying to figure out their sound, but not so new that they've become cliched.
The album that I bought was Chutes Too Narrow. I gave it the customary full-album listen and couldn't believe my luck: I actually liked every song. Even with artists that I like, there are sometimes albums where this doesn't happen, and I've come to accept it as personal preference. Since then, I have become familiar with some more of their stuff, and so far, have liked it all.
The Shins have a unique sound and represent the perfect balance of indie and rock, of experimental and mainstream, of heartfelt and funny, serious and ironic.
The band consist of singer/guitarist James Mercer, keyboardist/guitarist/bassist Martin Crandall, bassist/guitarist Dave Hernandez, drummer Jesse Sandoval and keyboardist/singer Eric Johnson. They formed in 1997, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
...Oh, and yes, they are the band that Natalie Portman's character is listening to on Garden State.
Dicography:
Wincing the Night Away, 2007
Chutes Too Narrow, 2003
Oh, Inverted World, 2001
Favorite Tracks:
"New Slang," "Saint Simon," "Young Pilgrims"
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