Albums That Changed My Life: Andy Hull (Manchester Orchestra/Right Away, Great Captain!)
This week's "Albums That Changed My Life" contributor is Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra and Right Away, Great Captain!Andy is currently gearing up for his upcoming tour in support of RAGC's new album "The Church Of The Good Thief", which is out today (June 12th) through Favorite Gentlemen Recordings. All dates and ticket information can be found here.
The Weakerthans - Reconstruction SiteI remember first hearing this record and thinking, "words, lots and lots of words" and then I started thinking, "melody, lots of incredible melodies". I couldn't quite put my finger on why I was so pulled towards this album until one long drive I heard the song "plea from a cat named virtue". The song is about a cat trying to tell his depressed dead beat owner to get off the couch and pick up the pieces of his life. This type of song writing has always blown me away and inspired me to write outside the lines of comfort to create an incredible setting. This album certainly shook me to my core and changed my life forever.
Grandaddy - SumdayThe line between simple and complex is spread very thin here. There's so much going on, but everything seems so easy to digest even though it's not. The vocals sound like he just woke up on a sunny California day and whispered his thoughts into each track. Absolutely beautiful. "Saddest Vacant Lot In All The World" is the closest to a Brian Wilson song I've ever heard. This album hit me during a time when I thought that LOUD was better. This proved you could be LOUD without turning the instruments up to ten.
Pedro The Lion - It's Hard To Find A FriendNot much to say other than this is one of my favorite albums of all time and totally rebuilt the way I listened to music. It opened me up to other bands with similar thoughts and progress, but nobody can do it as good as Bazan. It's tough to say if this is my favorite Pedro album, but it certainly changed my life. I had never heard someone sing about biblical topics combined with some questioning and sarcastic ramblings. It's pure and honest.
Nick Drake - Pink MoonProbably the most important acoustic album in my life. 11th grade of high school I just drove around and listened to this sad man's thoughts. His tunings were innovative before I even knew they were. All I knew was that I loved every single second of Pink Moon. Still to this day it is an absolute must when it comes to my desert island discs. I love all Nick Drake but the lack of production and the "quiet" that overwhelms this album sincerely changed my life.
