Music Appreciation

Have you ever listened to band for a while that you're pretty into, only to rediscover them months later after you've stopped listening to them and find a whole new level of appreciation that wasn't there before? Well, that happens to me on a glorious, rare occasion. Case in point: Fleet Foxes.

In late 2008, I started listening to them, and for a few weeks I listened to their self-titled full-length pretty intensely and really, really liked it. I soon went on to download their two EP's, but after a while, like all fixations, my play of Fleet Foxes slowly dwindled as I moved onto other bands.

Well, recently I found myself in the mood and started listening to them again...and damn, I feel like I'm appreciating them on a whole other level now. I've been digging into the two EP's more (I kind of glanced over them previously in favor of the full-length), and there are some sick songs. Songs that I sort of ignored before jumped out at me and I found myself with a whole new collection of Fleet Foxes "singles" to play over and over again.

In particular, the last two songs on their first EP--"So Long To The Headstrong" and "Icicle Tusks"--and the final two songs on the Sun Giant EP, "Mykonos" and "Innocent Son". Previously, "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" was far and away my favorite FF song, but the four aforementioned songs are all closing the gap. "Mykonos" in particular is just so complete, with one of the sickest breakdowns I've heard in a while. (Check out the video too, if you get a chance. It's directed by the main songwriter and it's pretty damn cool--linked below).

Still, I can't really put my finger on why I find myself more into the Fleet Foxes now than I ever was before. I know some music takes a while to sink in for it to really hit you (Radioheads' Hail to the Thief took a long time for me to dig but now it's my fav album of theirs), but I can't say I didn't enjoy their music when I first started listening to it. The songs are catchy and not very hard to absorb.

Really I guess what it comes down to is how good a band really is and how good the songwriting is. If a song is really well written and strong on multiple layers and the band is likewise, it's probably easier to appreciate the music over and over again on different levels as you discover new aspects. I can't think of many other bands that really do this for me (Arcade Fire is another), which leads me to believe that this band is for real and will be making great music for years to come (cross your fingers).

Anyway, here's the video to "Mykonos"...enjoy!