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10 favorite albums of 2010 - #6: The Way Out by The Books



Hello, greetings and welcome. Welcome to a new beginning, for this tape will serve you as a new beginning. That's right, a new beginning, as we're about ready to begin. On this recording, music specifically created for its pleasurable effects upon your mind, body and emotions is mixed with a warm, orange-colored liquid.
So begins this bizarre, baffling, beautiful album by The Books. Just listen to it. Set aside a quiet 50 minutes some day and just listen to the entire thing, from beginning to end.


This album will float around in your head for weeks afterward. Songs like, "A Cold, Freezing Night" will disturb you while you walk down the street. In a moment of meditation, words from one of the "Group Autogenics" will take you by surprise.


The catchy, flinging, "I Didn't Know That" will inevitably work it's way into your everyday thinking.


But this album exists not only in your mind. There are genuinely human moments on this album, like the ethereal "Beautiful People" and the sometimes-humorous, sometimes-heart-wrenching "Thirty Incoming."


This album is chock-full of awesome samples of thrift shop tapes, traditional folk music instrumentation, and a melange of masterfully manipulated music.


If you like the music, I suggest checking out the band's website as well. If you want to get into their head (and read a little more about the strange process of making this music), check out their blog. Absolutely brilliant.

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