Last night, I threw on Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson’s (I know, it’s a mouthful) self titled LP, an album I ripped blindly from my college radio station. Expecting that I would quietly fall asleep to the album, I found myself captivated from start to finish. The RIYL tag on the album at the station had read “Bob Dylan” so naturally I expected some traditional folk. But what greeted my ears was a superb mix of lo-fi psychedelic folk and intimate acoustic songs (think The Microphones’ The Glow Pt. 2). The album features guest appearances by Chris Taylor & Christopher Bear of Grizzly Bear and Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio and their influence is apparent in the powerful vocal layering and awesome production. Though only vaguely similar in sound, I am reminded of Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago in regards to this album sheer emotional power coupled with fantastic songwriting. It’s not hard to understand where the intense emotional performance comes from when you read Robinson’s biography (available here), which includes drug addiction, homelessness, and cross country migration. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is one of the most exciting albums of the year and I urge fans of Conor Oberst, The Microphones, Bon Iver or Grizzly Bear to check out the album. Robinson is currently on tour with Swedish indie pop sensation Lykke Li (who I will be featuring later this week) in the States and he is going to put out another album next year, produced by Kyp Malone, so look out for both! “Woodfriend” is a gritty lo-fi rock out with incredible vocal work while “The Debtor” and “Written Over” are examples of Robinson’s pop sensibility with their combination of raw acoustic licks and bouncy piano.

mp3: “The Debtor”
mp3: “Woodfriend”
mp3: “Written Over”

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