A Baker's Dozen for 2010 #5 - Halcyon Digest

Bradford Cox is an alien. Seeing him perform live is memorizing because he looks like he is in 2D. You know that TV commercial for 3D with Justin Timberlake where he takes off the glasses, and he suddenly turns flat and falls to the ground? That is exactly what you expect to see happen to Bradford at any moment. His t-shirt hangs on him like a David Byrne suit. He is the quintessential indie artist of the moment, and he relishes it without fear, and seems to be gaining momentum with each record despite looking dead.
Halcyon Digest is a bedroom record that celebrates bedroom records. I'd love to hear it through an old transistor radio next to early Bowie and Velvet Underground cuts. Since it's release, I probably listen to it the most of any record after the sun goes down. These songs aren't really meant for the light of day.
Standouts include "Helicopter" and the suite of songs at the end that utilize a Walk On The Wild Side saxophone sound. But my favorite song is "Desire Lines" by Lockett Pundt. It is a dreamy 7 minutes where you can feel the warm hand of the girl he's begging to fall in love with him. He's so confident of the journey, how could she not walk with him? If their love is as good as the guitar solo at the end, then that's one hell of a relationship.
FYI - the pic for this post is one I took in the bathroom of this show. I just couldn't bring myself to use the album cover since it is the worst for a favorite album this year.