William Elliott Whitmore - Animals In The Dark (2009)

It took me exactly 15 seconds of the song "Old Devils" to know that I loved this album. I know how ridiculous it sounds to judge an entire album on 15 seconds of one track, but to clarify, I should admit that I didn't start listening to this album blind to Whitmore's style and skills. When a friend recommended I check him out about 3 years ago, because of my passion for The White Buffalo, I listened to "Midnight" off of Ashes To Dust, and was convinced it was either an old black man singing (thinking Keb' Mo'-ish), or Tom Waits. Regrettably, at the time, Whitmore's music, for whatever reason, didn't make it into my regular rotation, and I kinda forgot how amazing he is (AND, I'm a complete idiot for missing his stop in San Francisco last month). Anyway, Animals In The Dark is a mixture of folk, americana, blues, old-timey, (my current favorite music genre/descriptive term) and soul that just captivates the shit out of me, because Whitmore's voice is a layer-cake of passion, struggle, heartbreak, enthusiasm, and grit. Everything is so simplistic on this album, its absolutely brilliant. The approach consists of Whitmore's remarkable, deep, rough, bluesy, soulful to the point of gospel, "I gargle gravel with Mark Lanegan" voice, and a guitar or banjo, occasionally accompanied by perhaps some drums, foot-stomping, organ, strings, or the like, as a rhythmic backdrop. With every listen I get more and more enamored with tracks like, "Lifetime Underground," "Hard Times," "There's Hope For You," "Who Stole The Soul," and, of course, "Old Devils."

For a video introduction to Whitmore, check out this lil video shot on his farm in Iowa.

The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia (2008)

Since the single replaced the album as the centerpiece of music marketing, it has been exceptionally infrequent that every song on an album captivates me. In this rare case, I believe that Saturnalia severs itself from this trend because every song feels utterly unique and formula free. Maybe this is the advantage and consequence of piecing an album together over 4+ years of song writing and recording. It is evident that the two minds behind Saturnalia summoned their collective daemons to put together one of the more sincere and striking albums of the year so far. Mark Lanegan's unfiltered growl mixes well with Greg Dulli's more mainstream and lyrical approach, making for a darker divergence from typical alternative-indie sounds. Arrangements shift from pensive acoustic guitar and piano to beat-driven electronica to forceful chords, while exploiting their contrasting vocal capabilities to both elevate and dredge the mood. I cannot promise that everyone will enjoy, but if you are like me and appreciate the darker, grittier, talent-laden underbelly of rock, you will. For stacking up the quality from beginning to end I must applaud.

Start with: “The Stations,” “Bête Noire” & “All Misery/Flowers,” but tackle the album as a whole.