I listen to a lot of music, and the really good stuff gets played over and over again while I'm driving. I also think while I'm driving that I should write a blog post about my favorites but then I forget... until now!
My favorite new music for 2007 was "Palace of Mirrors" by Estradasphere. I found that I never tired of it, and listened to it for months on end. It helps that their music is extremely varied in style and impossible to categorize. You can find out more and listen to music at their web site. I suggest you start with "Smuggled Mutation", there is no such thing as a typical Estradasphere song as they combine just about every musical genre, usually in the same song. However this track shows off their talents very well. There is a live DVD of Palace of Mirrors which is also extremely well done. I have seen them play live several times and they are an excellent live band.
During 2008 Estradasphere collaborated with Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls, and her new album "Who killed Amanda Palmer" has become my favorite pick for 2008. The web site is very interesting, giving a lot of background story details about the making of the album and videos of most of the tracks. The music is distinctively Amanda, but expanded well beyond the Dresden Dolls format, with a much fuller sound on some tracks. The key for me is that the music is very moving and emotional, and can sustain interest for a lot of repeated listening.
I'm also still waiting for Fractal to finish their second album "Sequitur", I've been listening to pre-release versions as they work towards the final cut. I'm not holding my breath, as its taken years to get this far, but its getting very close to being completed.
