Record Review: Shady Retreat by Peasant
One of the best perks I get is free music. I would rather have free music than the fanciest fancy designer hat in the world. I don’t even wear hats. But I do listen to music, and I would much rather get my free music the legal way, from the labels, than through other avenues which I don’t know about because I’m a law-abiding citizen who would never engage in illegal activities that might besmirch the fine reputation that Little Caesar’s has earned through their delicious food products and their fast, efficient service.
Through some stroke of good fortune, I happened to land on the mailing list for Paper Garden records, an independent label that I had never encountered. One day while avoiding work I opened one up one of their emails and discovered that it contained a download link to a full album and a polite request for a review. I am a big fan of politeness in all its forms, so I decided to give it a listen. What I discovered was an excellent, subtle pop album that’s remained in rotation for the last month–a not insubstantial feat when you consider the last month also saw excellent releases from some of my favorite bands (Midlake, Los Campesinos!, Beach House, and the new Joanna Newsom which I actually haven’t heard yet because I’m still waiting to get it in the mail because I’m so indie I bought it on fucking vinyl. Still crossing my fingers that her video collection will come out on Betamax.) (more…)
