Bodies and Minds

Ongiara There is a hushed grace to each Great Lake Swimmers release, a wonderfully fragile quality--a la Bonnie Prince Billy or Songs: Ohia--that is responsible for their devoted, near-religious fan base. While Great Lake Swimmers have been slowly building excitement with their previous ...	Great Lake Swimmers With the buzz of crickets, Great Lake Swimmers' self-titled debut opens with the subtly intoxicating "Moving Pictures, Silent Films." Plucked acoustic guitar weaves with sparse piano while crickets whisper in the background and songwriter Tony Dekker's warbling voice hovers overt...	For Emma, Forever Ago It's hard to believe that For Emma, Forever Ago is the work of one man. But when Justin Vernon's old band split he hauled himself (and presumably plenty of instruments and recording equipment) to his dad's hunting cabin in the woods of Wisconsin for the coldest season and worked ...	The Shepherd's Dog Following a one-record hiatus to collaborate with Tucson collective Calexico on 2005's In The Reins, Iron & Wine (Sam Beam, that is) recoils to the earnestness and intimacy that embodied his first two records, his cerebral words and phrases tunneled beneath an orchestra of guitar...	Fleet Foxes It's now twenty years since grunge emerged from then culturally isolated Seattle and Fleet Foxes, the eponymous debut album from the city's latest heroes, demonstrates just how much American independent rock has mutated in that time. The five young members of Fleet Foxes make up ...
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Superb Album
They're a great group with a somewhat unique and soulful lyrical style. I've purchased three Great Lake Swimmer albums. On this album, my favorites songs are 'To Leave It Behind', and 'Various Stages'.

Epically Modest
Bodies and Minds is like a long walk through a foggy, wet valley. It's beautiful, refreshing, seemingly endless... and at certain times, flat. If you choose to purchase the album, which I highly recommend, don't expect much in the way of diversity. It is, at times, painstakingly simple. What you have to keep in mind is: simplicity can be beautiful. The high points for me on this album are the moments filled with reverberating, modest vocals. However, if you don't have a taste for simple, emotive, vocals / guitar / folk /indie music- then I would suggest proceeding with caution. If you're interested in bands like Bright Eyes, Calexico, and Jose Gonzalez- then I would definitely recommend Bodies and Minds. It's a beautiful glimpse into what GLS is capable of. I can't wait to see how their songwriting continues to develop. Best moments: I Could Be Nothing, Song for the Angels

A step up from their first
An overall improvement from the first GLS long player. Gotta say I like it more than something like Iron & Wine. To take nothing away from Iron & Wine, the GLS sound is just a bit more consistent and pleasing to the ear. Why should you buy it? Because after a long day at work, this is excellent dinner-cooking and dinner-eating music for people who don't want to listen to Miles Davis. Also, the babes will think you're cool.

Loving this so far
Beautiful, dreamy music - ideal for headphones during insomnia. This guys voice is really something too. What is with these Canadians - seems like all the great indie music is coming from up north!

Only halfway
This album only half does it for me. I like his voice and lyrics but found it a bit slow.