"Until The Earth Begins To Part" by Broken Records

This is probably my favourite debut album of 2009, I actually think I ended up liking it overall more than Mumford and Sons because whilst the Mumford and Sons album is great it also feels like that is what the band is always going to be, whilst this album honestly feels like the stepping stone for a truly great band.

They're a little rough around the edges and they're getting banded around as the 'Scottish Arcade Fire' which is not going to help their cause at all but by god they've got a great, if unoriginal sound, something about the use of vocals and the use of cellos, double bass and strings really gets me. In fact I think the Arcade Fire isn't really an apt description because whilst they have that sort of discordant, broody edge that Arcade Fire have they sound more like something that evolved from Beirut or Bell Orchestre just with tighter writing and more focus than those two bands.

Songs below

Lies which was off their EP

Nearly Home which is off the album and is the most Bell Orchestre of all of their songs

If The News Makes You Sad another album track, probably my favourite overall track by them.

They're also pretty fantastic live. They're surprisingly tight and measured for such a new band. Anyways hopefully you guys have heard of them or have heard those songs and are wanting to check out the whole album/lambast my taste in music. I'd love for one of my music threads to last more than three posts.

The video to Lies was made when they only had an EP to their name which probably explains why they went the performance video route. I agree though that it looks really cheap and tacky, especially compared to the sound they're creating.

Even just having the video be set somewhere older looking would have done wonders, Mumford and Son have a similar video for Little Lion Man but the setting in a beautiful old music hall makes that work for them.

I like the Buckley comparison and I can totally hear that now in his voice and you're spot on about them being a band who tend to build up to a big sound. I love the layering work they do and how intense they manage to make themselves. I quite like how they manage to keep the clarity of each instrument,this may not be so clear in youtubes shitty audio codec, even when everything is getting cacacophonous.

I'm still not 100% sold on Mumford and Sons, it's fantastic but I'm not sure how I feel about it overall. Broken Records just caught my attention the moment I saw them live and I think my knowledge of their live performances is informing my appreciation of the album.

There newest album seems to have taken this onboard. It's still got the same sound, but it's a lot better produced and a lot more distinct.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_VH_...eature=related

They're pretty great live as well, you can tell they've been touring non-stop for the last few years because they're incredibly tight knit as performers. The frontman is also delightfully self effacing.