I got Shipping News' 3/4 on vinyl right before I came back out to Washington and after waiting nearly a month for my record player to come in the mail, I've finally gotten to play it. It comes on two disks, compiles their first couple EP's, and clocks in at just over an hour, easily an hour well spent. It begins with "Sickening Bridge Versus Horrible Bed", which might be the albums weakest track. It begins with a gently strummed acoustic guitar and gradually builds to include a meandering slide guitar and multi-tracked vocals, similar in theory to Elliott Smith's trademark vocal recording style. My favorite tracks are "Haunted on Foot" and "We Start To Drift". "Haunted on Foot" revolves around a basic guitar chord using the other instruments to build the intensity. The vocals sound especially haunting. "We Start To Drift" might be one of the greatest songs ever. It features a pulsing sub-bass synth and minimalist drums. The vocals are sparse and show Jeff Mueler (or Jason Noble, I'm not sure who sang on this track) at his most vulnerable. Literally a tear jerker of a song. "Paper Lanterns" appears on "3/4", as well as "Flies the Fields". This version features a driving bass with a more sample based accompaniment instead of "Flies the Fields" atmospherics-easing into a bass groove-easing into guitar cacophony. Anways, you should get this album, it's amazing. Rumor has it that they are coming out with a new album next year, I cannot wait.
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