i don’t usually gush about albums, but frankly i think a love affair with a full album is overdue. the shins‘ newest wincing the night away snuck up on my like a semi truck. firstly, wazee pimped the fourth track “phantom limb” for the past three weeks. from phantom limb’s incredible burst into falsetto on the lyric “follow the lines and wonder why” on to the chorus of oooh-wa-oooh’s in the second half of the song the track eats its way into my ear. i still haven’t the foggiest idea what the lyrics are referring to, but the lack of repetition in the words makes the poetic flow of the song all the more magical.

after hearing track four in constant rotation on wazee, i saw this video blog‘s recording of an outdoor impromptu concert with the shins wandering through the streets in montmartre. when i put two and two together (and 2+2 made 1 since i was in mod 3) and realized the same group was responsible for the awesomeness on wazee and this outdoor concert, i had to grab the album. i’ve since listened to the album in the original track order, top to bottom a dozen times in a few days. the album is folk-pop-rock-stream-of-consciousness-poetry-with-a-touch-of-programmed-loop-electro and i love it.

[the photo is drake’s beach in pt. reyes taken by me in 2002]