WMFO Top 5
WMFO Top 5
1. Bang Camaro II by Bang Camaro. This Boston-area arena rock band has attempted to capture everything that made ‘70s and ‘80s hair metal good; epic guitar solos, and catchy hooks sung by ridiculous lead singers – in this case, anywhere from 10 to 20 ridiculous lead singers. They’ve been known to collaborate extensively with other Boston indie rock bands – where else could they get so many hard-rocking vocalists?
2. Folk Tales by Eastern Blok. Formed by Croatian native and classical guitar virtuoso Goran Ivanovic, the Chicago-based quartet Eastern Blok fuses classical, jazz, and eastern bloc folkloric music. Their sophomore album “Folk Tales” (2005) continues the songwriting skills that brought Ivanovic’s “Blacksmith’s Dance” to the final round of the 2005 John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
3. Poseidon and the Bitter Bug by Indigo Girls. The 12th studio album by the female, folk-rock duo, “Poseidon and the Bitter Bug” (2009) is the first album by the group to be independently recorded since their debut LP “Strange Fire” (1987.) A double-disc album, it features a full band on the first CD, with stripped-down acoustic versions of the same songs on the second.
4. Al Green Gets Next to You by Al Green. The breakthrough album for R&B singer Al Green, this 1970 LP was actually the singer’s third full-length release. It was however, the first time that Green worked with acclaimed producer Willie Mitchell, whose influence on Green and arrangement for the album helped to create four certified gold singles, including “Right Now, Right Now” and “I Can’t Get Next to You.”
5. "Merriweather Post Pavilion" by Animal Collective. The eighth studio album from native Baltimore indie rockers Animal Collective, “Merriweather Post Pavilion” is already being lauded as one of the best albums of 2009. The title comes from the outdoor venue of the same name in Columbia, Maryland. Animal Collective songs tend to run the gambit from psychedelia, to folk, to noise rock, as the band experiments with diverse styles of music.
