No. 2

The War on Drugs: Wagonwheel Blues (Secretly Canadian)

Travel-lust Americana envisioned through a studio-filtered lens (á la Brian Eno), The War on Drugs hails from Philly and crafted one hell of a trippy debut that often sounds like Don Henley (except it doesn’t suck).

Stay tuned to GIANTmag.com for The Best Albums You Missed in 2008.

Best reissue ever? This 1973 collaboration between musical innovator Brian Eno and prog-head Robert Fripp offers a cerebral, frighteningly consuming glimpse at one of rock’s earliest steps toward ambient music. (No Pussyfooting), however, is certainly not ambient, as Fripp’s trippy, processed guitar wails and weeps and cycles atop Eno’s humming tape loops. 

Here is the reissue’s selling point: Originally, the record–released the same year as Eno’s pop classic Here Come the Warm Jets–was just two lengthy songs: “The Heavenly Music Corporation” and “Swastika Girls.” But the expanded remastered edition adds new goodies, including reversed versions (as in, the song is played backwards…yeah) of both tracks and “Heavenly Music” played at half speed. Ambient rock gets chopped and screwed? You’re damn right. Given that an aim of these compositions is sustained patience, the remix method seems appropriate. The fact that occasionally such a chill temperament is thrashed and wound tight with brain-frying tension makes it an even more intriguing experiment. The new double-CD version is available now.

Bloom is the new YouTube. Well, only in the sense that I’ve been playing with it since 9 PM last night and haven’t yet gotten a lick of work done today. (Damn deadlines! Shahendra, you’ll get my copy when I’m good and ready and done messing around on Bloom. Read: Can I get a two-week extension?) Here’s the skinny.

Bloom was created by legendary music producer and musician Brian Eno (!) and Peter Chilvers as a generative ambient music application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. According to Apple, it’s “part instrument, part composition and part artwork.” And according to us, it’s part awesome, part incredible and part amazing. The interface works like this: Open the app, and you’re presented with a blank color hue. Touch the screen, and a tone plays. Different heights on the screen produce different notes, and the tones loop, fading and separating and tightening–all above a gentle, hypnotic whurr. It’s really that simple. The best part is that there is virtually no learning curve to play this instrument because nearly everything sounds good–no matter if you’re patiently plotting your notes or rapidly mashing the screen. To add some variation, the app features the option to toggle between several different moods as well. And if you’re lazy, you can even let Bloom generate (or if you’re a Spore-head, “evolve”) its own soothing compositions.

At the cost of only $4, it’s like having Brian Eno in your pocket. Which has basically been my dream since I discovered his albums Here Come the Warm Jets and Music for Airports. So looks like I can die happy.