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Heavy Rotation #17

It's time once again to check in with what I've been listening to the most over the past few weeks...

Band of Horses/Cease To Begin - Cooler temperatures and changing leaves put me in the mood for this band and the mood stayed when the weather turned warmer again. There is a nice convergence in the epic mood-setting of this band as you are driving down a road where colorful leaves are piling up in the bright sunshine. No one is ever gonna love you more than I do, indeed.

Band of Horses/Infinite Arms - One BoH album lead to another, in this case their excellent effort from last year. This album is absolutely one of my 2010 favorites and probably is my favorite Band of Horses album at this point, which is saying something. This is such a strong batch of songs. I'm quite excited to hear they are working on the follow-up.

A.A. Bondy/When the Devil's Loose - Not quite sure why I dipped back into this album, though it's possible it's the fact I haven't yet picked up his new one. "A Slow Parade" is the highlight for me but the whole album is a strong singer/songwriter effort.

The Hold Steady/Heaven Is Whenever - This is another 2010 album but one I never really gave a proper chance. It didn't click with me right out of the gate, outside of the title track, and I let it languish. That was a mistake. Their sound is in flux without Franz Nicolay here but they are still recognizable as the band that put out three great records in three years right out of the gate.

The Jayhawks/Mockingbird Time - This is the first new Jayhawks album in nine years and the first with Gary Louris and Mark Olson since 1995. As a huge Jayhawks fan, this was a must purchase the day it came out. To be honest, I'm still not sure of my opinion other than saying I wasn't immediately in love. This topic deserves its own post in the near future.

Stephen Malkmus/Mirror Traffic - I like this album, plain and simple. It's catchy, it's has the requisite Malkmusian lyrics, and it's very well-produced by Beck. In fact, the only thing not to like is that it's the last album for former Jick drummer Janet Weiss, who has moved on to Wild Flag (more on which in the next few weeks).

St. Vincent/Strange Mercy - I love me some Annie Clark and she does not disappoint here. This is another album that deserves some thoughts that are a little more in-depth.

Wilco/The Whole Love - Anyone who knows me should not be surprised to see this new album to make an appearance on a list of records I've been listening to over and over. I really like this one and I feel I've still yet to scratch the surface on my understanding of it. There will be more..

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