Old Abram Brown - Alive In Winter

I was sent this album from one of the band members, whose brother writes about film in the blog named "Are The Hills Going To March Off". First things first, the recording and production are simply amazing, everything is very clear and crisp. The effects on the vocals and instruments are just as good as major label stuff if not better. The music which is very full and always moving forward, is surprisingly comprised of few instruments, a keyboard, drums, and trumpet. The vocals are sure to be compared to "The Cold War Kids", the difference for me is, that I really dislike the Cold War Kids, whereas Old Abram Brown has something behind the vocals that make them very enjoyable for me. Its as if you can hear the conviction behind each word. The reverb is another thing that I really enjoyed about this album, for me if it has reverb I will love it. The band has another talent which I really liked and that is layering, if you listen to the song "Ten Pounds" about 3 minutes in you hear a background guitar solo just faintly which gets faded out by a trumpet. To me this is the definition of good music, where the instruments aren't separate entities but part of the whole song, they can flow together and intersect, all to be part of the bigger picture. Outstanding songs from this album are Polonius, Ten Pounds, and Muddy Bricks (a song in which you can hear the Sigur Ros influence). Enjoy. Also here is their Myspace. Also you can buy a phsyical copy of the album here.