On today's mix...
The Dodos - Visiter (2008)

Visiter is an intimately quiet album and yet one of the liveliest you're likely to hear all year. Using few elements other than acoustic guitar and persistent percussion, the focus here lies mostly on the Dodos' routinely excellent songwriting. Though nearly half the tracks here would qualify as epic in length, they never fall prey to a predictable build-and-climax structure, instead choosing to linger on their most effective hooks or instead change melodies entirely. They move on as soon as they're ready, and the results are always unforced and organic--none of these songs feel "long". Though most of these tracks are experimental in structure, they're also accessible: it's never necessary to have a grasp of where these songs are going to enjoy them. If the album is flawed, it's mostly in the consistency of their sound. A track like "Ashley", for instance, stands out not because the songwriting is any better or worse than anything else on the album but because of the sudden presence of a female voice. Futher, most of the songs lack any lyrics that stand out, which would be a fatal flaw for an album like this were the music itself not so engaging. Visiter presents the Dodos as an impressive band with room for improvement.

8/10

Also... they're pretty great live.