Report Card: Class Act 4.0's

-As we begin the new term, we at CA/E5S decided to look back at the things that made our inaugural year worth remembering. So, for the next few days we will be posting our 2008 essentials in groups of 4, with categories ranging from movies and music to clothing and tech gadgets.
-That being said, I'd like to start off with my top 4 records of 2004:

Neil Young-Sugar Mountain: Live at Canterbury House 1968
-There's not much left to be said about my man Neil. This record was recorded at an acoustic concert when he was 22, only a few weeks before the release of his first solo album. It is amazing how sophisticated his earliest work sounds, and he manages to wring a ton of emotion out of a single acoustic guitar.
Bon Iver-For Emma, Forever Ago
-Just as I was lamenting the fact that Neil Young's legacy is hardly being carried on by anyone but tooly neo-folkers like Devendra Banhart, I came across Bon Iver's debut record, which is built around haunting acoustic guitar and melancholy vocals. A little depressing, sure, but I'm working my way through Madame Bovary so the album's music and title are apt.
Copeland-You Are My Sunshine
-We've been trying to convince people that Aaron Marsh is an underappreciated pop genius since long before this site's inception, and this record is Copeland's most pristine and meaningful record yet. The production on "Not So Tough Found Out" is some of the best I've heard in a long time.
Kings of Leon-Only By The Night
-There has been a ton of hype surrounding this band and this album, but get past it and you'll find a classic, straightforward rock and roll record. I've listened to this album almost daily since its release and I still can't get enough of it. more

Music Theory: Copeland

-This may be the first album review I write in which I don't complain about being disappointed by a follow-up/major label debut from a band I love. That being said, here is a bit of a history of my experience with Copeland. I first heard the band probably junior year (2005) and I found their music (what I heard was from the album In Motion) was an unsure attempt at riding the line between adolescent emo/poprock and the semibearable leg of modern indie rock. I dismissed the band for the better part of a year.
-When Copeland released their 2006 offering Eat, Sleep, Repeat, a friend whose musical opinion I value told me I had to listen to it. To my surprise the album was a refreshing divergence from the band's previous work. The album gave the finger to the dominant narrative of present day indie rock. The album reportedly referenced one of the greatest albums of all time, Radiohead's Kid A. In the manner of Kid A, Eat,Sleep, Repeat turned a blind eye to the limitations of genre. In one album the band had matured in sound and content, creating what has become, in my view, one of the greatest albums of all time. In the time between that album and now the band kept us eager with the release last year of Dressed Up and In Line, a collection of rarities, b-sides, and remixes.

-Now, all that being said, I've got a habit of being greatly disappointed after getting my hopes up for a release. Thankfully, Copeland's new album You Are My Sunshine delivers from the very first song. In fact, I have found fault with no single track on the album. Copeland does on this album what any band getting their first backing from a major (this album is backed by Columbia) should do. They've taken the elements that worked well on their last album: Experiments with structure, subtle uses of piano, vintage synth, horns and electronic inspired percussion, and refined them in a more commercially viable and pop-sensible manner. This album could/should resonate with a more mature and musically diverse audience.
-Overall Grade: A. more