Golden Bloom
(The Sleepy West)
Shawn Fogel (who basically is Golden Bloom) released a terrific sleeper of a record in 2009 called Fan the Flames that seemingly came out of nowhere. Fogel wasn't brand new to the music industry as he had been in a few other combos, but it was the debut for the G.B. and most of that record was absolutely fantastic. In comes this 6 song EP that is actually more like a 3 song EP since the first and last songs are more like intros and outros and one of the other songs was a short one, too.
Of the three songs left, two of them are very good and one is flat out great. On "Rhyme the Reason" he snags the riff from The Kinks "Waterloo Sunset" but that's okay as Fogel makes it his own soup and it's damn tasty. The next song, "You Go On (and On)," is the great one as acoustic guitars and pianos/synths collide with Fogel's soaring vocals to equal one of the best pop tunes of the year. Oh, wait, "We Have Grown" is damn close to it with majestic strings added to the mix (and another intoxicating melody).
Enough of this tease, Mr. Fogel, bring on the sophomore release.
DOWNLOAD: "Rhyme the Reason," "You Go On (and On)," "We Have Grown" TIM HINELY
