Fugazzi Grand III : My Top 500 Albums (#346 and #345)

(#346, Wincing the Night Away by The Shins)

Over the past 10 years, James Mercer has become one of my favorite musicians.  You name it, and he plays it on this record.  The standout tracks here are "Sleeping Problems", "Australia" and "Turn on Me".













Here's the video for "Australia" ...

(#345, Half Smiles of the Decomposed by Guided By Voices)

When this came out in the summer of 2004, it was announced that this would be the last album that Guided By Voices would ever put out, but did any of us really believe that?  Well, Pollard and Co. waited six years, but eventually, they reunited, and have released five more albums in the last three years.

At the time, this seemed like a proper swan song for Dayton's garage rock darlings.  This is also one of the few Pollard recordings that doesn't include that one really goofy song that doesn't quite fit with the rest of the album.   Some great tunes here, including "Sleep Over Jack", "Girls of Wild Strawberries", "Window of My World" and "Sing for Your Meat".


Here's Pollard demoing "Girls of Wild Strawberries" ...