Every week, Amazon.com lets us select one album from its MP3 store to go on super sale (up to 75% off normal prices). At Amazon’s request, going forward we’re going to feature recent releases instead of old albums you probably already own. Hopefully you’ll be able to add these newer must-own LPs to your library without breaking your budget. Today’s deal: Department Of Eagles’ In Ear Park.
It’s easy to paint Department Of Eagles’ In Ear Park as an alternate-lineup Grizzly Bear album: the record takes production cues from GB bassist Chris Taylor, who joins drummer Chris Bear in support of principle players Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus’s sophomore set. So, fair enough — that’s 3/4 of Bear right there. But what emerges, hazily, over Park‘s 11 songs is the distinct vision of a songwriting partnership that predates its blog-beloved counterpart. Rossen and Nicolaus have been working together since releasing 2003′s Whitey On The Moon UK LP (later renamed The Cold Nose), spending the next four years sporadically assembling what would become one of 2008′s finest albums.
Take the ghostly, fantastical and fingerpicked harmonic underpinnings of the “title track” — unfolding like a Lewis Carrol story come to sound — or the retrofitted shadings of signature song “No One Does It Like You” for prime and beginning examples. But you should dig deeper into the collection — and by orchestrating this supersale we hope you will — to grasp the duo’s hypnotic sweep. There is folk that freaks, anxious instrumental arrangements, California pop with psychedelic crescendos and melancholic vocals, all fleshing out lyrics that read like a pass through a crinkled, fading childhood photo album. Next year Grizzly Bear returns with a promising and highly anticipated followup to Yellow House. And that will make two straight seasons indelibly marked by the rise of Dan Rossen as one of our finest songwriters.
We’re happy to make In Ear Park available at Amazon MP3 for the price of $3.99. You probably have it, but now you have no excuse not to. And here’s a free taste:
Help us make great albums available at low prices by suggesting future Friendly Deal selections in the comments.
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This album was all around generally robbed from end of year lists. In a year all those lists will have wished they put this on it when they realize how fucking good it is.
Correction: Fred’s last name is Nicolaus, like Santa.
I totally agree Petunia. I listened to more music this year than ever before, and this is the best album I’ve heard all year. And I mean Album when I say it. Every song on it is good, but it’s solidity is drawn from how tightly knit those albums are to the overall sound and theme, and how they still have room to breath and be unique. Very well written, organized, played, sung, and produced. And yet it has been shrugged off and ignored by the critic collective. It’s a shame too since I bet they will be all over the Grizzly Bear album next year which will sound very similar.
totally agreed. why is it so overlooked?!
It got overlooked because people were too excited about albums “written in a log cabin” and dudes who sound like My Morning Jacket and have beards. It’s a shame, seeing that Department of Eagles are clearly superior and quite obviously influenced such overhyped bands like Fleet Foxes.
well i will disagree with this explanation for the following reasons:
-FF is not overrated.
-maybe people were excited for the new *actual* MMJ which is fucking amazing.
(yes, Bon Iver is boring.)
Not that this isn’t a great deal, but whatever happened to “classic” indie albums being part of these MP# friendly deals. The last two deals have been for recent releases that I would not consider classic or essential.
Amazon asked us to feature recent releases instead of old albums from now on.
Then I’d like to recommend Brighter Than Creation’s Dark by Drive-By Truckers because it’s not on eMusic. I’m [finally] getting [way too] into them and for some inexplicable reason their latest isn’t on there, even though they’re all on the same label (New West).
I’m assuming it will show up eventually, I just don’t like to wait.
k the Wild Beasts album Limbo, Panto has gotten way more overlooked than this album and is far superior, somebody fucking listen to that album and tell me it isnt way better for an underrated album this year
I just posted elsewhere about my love for In Ear Park and I should reiterate just how great it is. Yellow House was good but this is more impressive than anything Grizzly Bear has done. (I’m anxious to see how they’ll try and top it next year.)
It’s deep, organic, and timeless-sounding and it’s a damn shame that it’s been snubbed so blatantly. (I have defended Pitchfork in the past but shame on them for only giving this an “honorable mention” and then going on to give album of the year to an album that does something generally very similar to Department of Eagles, just not nearly as well. Seriously.)
This album was a wonderful gem. P4RK gave it a quite high rating and “best new music” but it was relegated to honorable mention (better than Okkervil River). I think what this says is that editorial focus over there differs from what the metaphorical PF cube rats listen to in their metaphorical offices. It was a little bit of a bummer, because this is an album that is great from top to bottom.
I got to say this is such an awesome idea! I wish you would have done this sooner, because this is definitely not an album i would have bought for full price. I’ve always been interested in grizzly bear but never enough to go out and buy their album, and this makes it easier to keep up with the hundreds of new cds that come out every year for a decent price!!!!!!!!
dept. of eagles pwns pretty hard
I know this has been stated before, but I want to reiterate it.
can you try to work out a deal with amazon for physical copies? I would be SO much more willing to use this if it were physical, and I’m sure a couple other people would be as well.
agreed!!! I bought one of them, but it is certainly not as satisfying as having the disc would be. Just sayin’.
P.S. You should do Thao with The Get Down Stay Down’s album from 2008, We Brave Bee Stings and All… I dunno if these have to be on certain labels or something, but if it is at all possible, that album deserves the attention. Criminally overlooked. I don’t use that phrase lightly either.
you really should offer these in its physical form. Not that this isnt cool but i feel like something is lost in how you listen to digital music vs. a cd.
You should feature Gentleman Jesse & His Men – Gentleman Jesse & His Men. It’s much better than Department of Eagles.
LOL at writing the name twice
Can you do this in the UK? I’m guessing not
I love that damn album so much…it’s almost always on repeat. I would buy it for full price any time…those guys deserve full credit for that beautiful work.
The cost of the album went back up to $8.99. I thought this lasted all week.
you know, i love fleet foxes, and i love Department of Eagles, their just both really good bands and i don’t think its really a competition? But i really really need to give props to grace6697 for making what bothered me that i couldn’t quite touch on about Bon Iver so apparent hha.