Sunset

Add Date: November 3

Artist: Sunset

Album: Gold Dissolves to Gray

Label: Autobus

Genre: Psychedelic, Singer-Songwriter

Comments: I was introduced to Sunset by another WLUR dj, who was all "hey New Heaven Salesman (name withheld to protect the rocking) you will probably like this for some reason." And while he's been consistently wrong in what I've liked thereafter, last year's "The Glowing City" was probably my "didn't see that coming" pick for the best of 2008. There was nothing especially groundbreaking, but it somehow managed to remain engaging without dissolving into faux-intellectual antics.

Sunset (originally {{{SUNSET}}} until it somehow broke the retarded group name barrier and fell back to Earth) is probably most easily classified as psychedelic singer-songwriter stuff, like a more laid back Beck with indie-oriented lyrics. Gold Dissolves to Gray is also far more laid back than The Glowing City, though this opinion might just be a side effect of my listening to the previous albums I reviewed before this. However, it's a really good kind of laid back, alternating between alt-folk ("Civil War"), a Television-esque post-punk ("Bones"), and a sort of psychadelic Christian journey ("Rivers of Babylon"). Ultimately, it's not as awesome as The Glowing City, but I was pretty impressed with it, and definitely am going to put it in my shortlist for "thoughtful music."