Fionn's Reinstatement

I wouldn't call it breaking the rules - the rules themselves, mine in the first place, are all relative - but I'm going to count Fionn Regan's The End of History in this year's end-of lists. Sure, it came out overseas in the summer of 2006, in time for me to fall in immediate love with the first song I ever heard from it ("Black Water Child", my 2006 song of the year). But I didn't hold it in my hands or hear its entire contents until a week ago, the stateside release not coming until July 10th of this year. Publications like Paste and Spin are hailing it as a current release; indie and mainstream radio alike are picking it up all over. Therefore, I'm liberally interpreting my guidelines. Because I can, but mostly because this record is so good that I'm going to mention it whenever reasonably possible. In two weeks ago's assignments, today, and again in December.

This record is so good it's criminal. Fionn is Damien Rice, Badly Drawn Boy, Jose Gonzalez, Ryan Adams, and Glen Hansard (of the Frames) spliced into one film, projected on your windowpane, colored by the rain and sun. The soundtrack of that film is performed as a duet between your heart and God and it's different every time. Each time, a new chill down your spine. If you buy 10 records this year, this had better be one of them.

Listen:
Hunter's Map
The End of History
[from The End of History|buy]