infected with memefluenza

having seen Graham's Five Albums He Found This Month, I'm going to do one of my own.

the deal is simple: post 5 albums you found this month and particularly like. encourage others to do the same. enjoy.

here's mine (yes, they're mostly things I should've been listening to ages ago):

1....and you will know us by the trail of dead - Source Tags and Codes
I'm stuck for words here; songs are epic in scale, the album works as a whole, and it's just really, really good.

2.Iron and Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
I was surprised that I liked this; I'm not typically a singer/songwrite kind of guy, but this was... different, somehow.

3.Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over the Sea
I'm six years late on this one, but it doesn't matter. This doesn't feel like an album from 1998 at all, though; it's similar to the Decemberists (other way around, really) in that it's got storytelling lyrics and lush instrumentation, and a willingness to cross boundaries at will; going from man-and-guitar folk to fuzzed-out rock in the blink of an eye and somehow making it all work.

4.The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
Jeph (of Questionable Content) said it best, really: "I swear, Wayne Coyne could sing a song about nuclear war and manage to make it sound utterly blissful. I don't know how the man does it." Also, see this.

5.The Arcade Fire - Funeral
No, I didn't see the 9.7 on Pitchfork, flip out and go download it; I took Jeph's (see above) recommendation.
It is the new hipster favorite, and deservedly so; complex enough to stand up to repeated listenings and catchy enough to make one want to listen to it repeatedly. They're also the only band that's ever made me want to make a shirt within a week of hearing them.

Bonus Track: Interpol - Slow Hands (Britt Daniel Remix)
Take Slow Hands. Remove guitar except for specific flourishes. Marvel, then dance.
*Britt Daniel is the lead singer of Spoon, if anyone was wondering.