Father John Misty - Fear Fun

Now this isn't the first release of J. Tillman. Aside from his work as the drummer of Fleet Foxes (be sure to listen to their self-titled if you haven't before) and Saxon Shore, he also has several solo albums under his name. But it really is Fear Fun that takes the cake.

The album is engineered by Jonathan Wilson, who brought us Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst Upside Down Mountain and played on albums like Jenny Lewis' Acid Tongue. The album features guest appearances from Keefus Ciancia, T-Bone Burnett collaborator, on the Piano and Sara Watkins (who's great, but what isn't she on) on the Fiddle. Also ex-band mate Casey Wescott of Fleet Foxes on bass and harpsichord. And I rarely talk about this, but another reason collectors love vinyl is for the album art, and this album really delivers (almost as good as his sweater). This really was one of my favorite albums of 2012.

Opening the album is slow but moving Funtimes in Babylon, which is about moving to Los Angeles, a great start to the album. The album itself is pretty LA-sentric, possibly about him leaving Seattle and to come down south. Hollywood Forever Sings is the haunting single, which to me, is very different then every other song on the album (in a good way). I don't know if he ever played Hollywood Forever as Father John Misty as that may be too on the nose, but it would be pretty epic non-the-less. Things get more playful with I'm Writing a Novel in both the tone and the lyrics. This is a great song to see live (and if you're lucky acoustic) as he is completely loose and free flowing with it. Flipping to the B-Side you start off with the beautiful ballad Only Son of the Ladiesman.  Now I'm Learning to Love the War is a great song about how you really can't win when it comes to being a saint. He gets super loose again with Tee Pees 1-2, a great rag time jam. Ending the album is the solum Everyman Needs a Companion, an testament to the loneliness that comes with LA after all the fun subsides.

If you like soulful folk pop, or live in LA this album is a must for your collection. You can get it on Amazon for $20 or ebay used for around $15. But this one should definitely be at your local record stores, so I would just pick it up there.

BONUS: A GOOD PAIRING (LOCALS ONLY)
A good pairing to buying this album would be seeing a movie and Father John Misty live and acoustic!

Friday Aug 8th at the Ace Theater in Downtown LA, Sundance Next Festival is showing Life After Beth, the zombie themed love story starting Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, and Anna Kendrick. After the show, FJM will be doing a solo acoustic performance. I've seen FJM live 4 times now, twice with a band and twice solo, and I have to say that I loved him solo much better. He seems more loose and natural. But my friend who I went with to see him solo said he liked him better with his band. Regardless, he is an act you should definitely check out if you can!

More info here.

Also apart of this festival are Kumiko The Treasure Hunter and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night with a post show performance from Warpaint! Don't miss out.