The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers

These guys blew me away. It's indie/folk at it's best. Their latest release, The Mother of Love Emulates the Shapes of Cynthia, is a collection of "lost love" songs, each holding their own unique sense of loss and hope. Singer Perry Wright pronounces his every thought with strain and heartache, a la Conor Oberst. Although, I have to say, Wright has quite a bit more vocal control than Oberst does. The Prayers and Tears... also has the same sense of playful sorrow seen in Sufjan Stevens or Pedro the Lion recordings. It's not "sad," per say, but it gives off a very introspective sense of yearning that's mature enough not to be whiny and whiny enough not to be depressing. It's beautiful and comforting in the worst kind of way: we've all felt the way their music sounds. They're worth the listen.

From 2003's Psalterie
The Sun Fell On You

On the Occasion of a Departure

From 2005's The Mother of Love Emulates the Shapes of Cynthia
Cannot Eat Better Not Sleep

Concerning Lessons Learned From the Aliens

Check out their website and head to their label to buy their music.

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Odds and Ends

Four explosions in London have killed [EDIT 12:19 PM] 33 [/EDIT] and injured hundreds. More info here and here. My heart goes out to those affected by this, as London is an amazing, amazing city filled with great people.

Thanks go out to Funtime OK for linking to me. Everyone should check it out, it's a great blog.

Lil Kim gets 366 days in jail after being convicted of 3 counts of perjury and 1 count of conspiracy back in March. Sucks for her. (via Pink is the New Blog)

Devendra Banhart has announced some tour dates. (via Pitchfork)

Find Illinois on Tuesday even though it was supposed to be delayed? Here's why.

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Daily Torrents

U2 - Joshua Tree**
Broken Social Scene - Live in Toronto 8/27/04**

(**=Requires Registration)

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Random Downloads

Sufjan Stevens - "The Lord God Bird"
OK GO - "A Million Ways to Be Cruel" (VIDEO)*

(*=QuickTime Required)