Damien Rice's 9

I still can't accept AOL as a player in the indie music scene, because I was one of those kids whose parents had AOL dialup in the nineties, and then stuck with them far too long once other, better options came along. So blue-swirly-triangle graphics still strike an aversive chord in my spine, and their attempts to break into indie music content even more so.

But. . . on their Full CD Listening Party they're streaming Damien Rice's prerelease CD 9 (it drops 14 Nov). Since I've never been able to make up my mind about Damien Rice, AOL's gotta get credit for this; I definitely want to hear this CD before committing. Even after streaming it, I'm not sure I like it. It's too . . . dreamy. The instrumentation is lush, and there's the occasional wry line (the windows open now and the winter settles in/ we'll call it Christmas when the adverts begin), but . . . it's still too sweet by half. There's a song on O, "Rat Within the Grain," that I like best of his; it's more nimble and less dreamy (it reminds me of old-school folk in that regard), and I b'lieve I wish he'd go that road more often.

Damien Rice - Rootless Tree from 9
Damien Rice - Rat Within the Grain from O, thanks to Good Weather for Airstrikes

Stream Both (M3U)

tags: [Music], [AOL Music], [Damien Rice], [New music], [mp3], [9]