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	timewellspent "timewellspent" CD $12.00 The debut release of timewellspent is an ambient, beautiful, shoegazey cross between the orchestral sides of The Beatles, Beach Boys, Burt Bacharach, The Zombies and Pink Floyd. Highlighted by intricate arrangements, lush strings and melody, this recording will please fans of melancholy, multi-layered chamber pop. Mixed by Thom Monahan of Pernice Brothers. (more info/sound samples)
	Unbunny "Snow Tires" CD $12.00 Casserole • I Leave Stones Unturned • Nothing Comes To Rest Listen to streaming audio of the new UNBUNNY album "Snow Tires" in its entirety This is a Windows Media 9 stream, so be sure to update your Windows Media player! New album - the fifth - from Jarid del Deo (Unbunny/Nervous Plants) with help from old friends Steve Haruch, Gregg Porter (The Hotel Alexis/Milkweed), Julie Law-Linck, and Two Ton Santa Records' Guy Capecelatro III and new friends Paul Chastain (The Velvet Crush) and Parasol's own Roy Ewing (Braid/Very Secretary). Recorded with Sidney Alexis (The Hotel Alexis), Paul Chastain, and The Rights (Rogue Wave). After releasing 4 albums in the US and appearing on a variety of compilations in Japan, New Hampshirite Jarid found himself moving from Portsmouth to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois for a year-and-a-half. I don't recall if we found him working at Fannie May Candies or if he found us at Parasol HQ, but we couldn't be happier to have made his aquaintance. As if sneaking Pixies and Mint Meltaways from the back room wasn't enough to satisfy him, Jarid began writing bittersweet song after song at his home. With a wealth of highway miles in the rearview mirror, a tragic break-up heavy on his soul, and a final return to his Northeastern home, Jarid pulls away from it all with "Snow Tires"; a masterful new album intimately plumbing life's changes while growing musically and lyrically. This is one of those records we lifelong music fans dream about as it combines the fragility of Elliott Smith, the humanity of Neutral Milk Hotel, the melodic sensibility of Matthew Sweet, and the careworn metaphors of The Mendoza Line. "Snow Tires" is a confessional masterwork that flows like a page from a diary from an engaging artist who is a musical treasure whose time has come and whose heartrending melodies and homespun tunes will capture the hearts and minds of fans with an affection for the aforementioned bands as well as critical faves Death Cab For Cutie, Sufjan Stevens, Iron And Wine, T.W. Walsh, and anyone who loves pulling for the underdog and then seeing him win by a nose. A displaced musician, a broken heart, and - did I mention the children's choir? - all the ingredients are all here for a stupendous album. "Snow Tires" is a labor of love for both artist and listener, I cannot recommend this album any more highly.
	A.C. Newman "The Slow Wonder" CD $13.25 • LP $10.75 Miracle Drug • Drink To Me Babe Then • On the Table THIS IS A BRILLIANT RECORD!! It's everything that I've ever read about Guided By Voices, but never really bought into - I'm one of those guys who stopped after Bee Thousand - and then filtered through a bunch of Beatles/Hollies/Zombies hooks and bright and wise "Get The Knack." The production is crisp, the performance is cracking, and the melodies are undeniable! A.C. Newman is Carl Newman. Fomerly of Sub Pop's Zumpano, Carl writes at least 80% of the material for Vancouver power-pop supergroup The New Pornographers. With The Slow Wonder, Newman's own talents take center stage, showcasing him as a classic, if eccentric, songwriter, part of a lineage that includes Ray Davies, Harry Nilsson, Colin Blunstone, Dave Edmunds, Andy Partridge, Ben Folds, and Britt Daniel. The results are predictably stunning - a smart singer songwriter pop record with a beautifully open and uplifting feel combined with lyrics that subvert and twist the sunny vibe. In contrast to the nonstop anthemic steamroll of the New Pornos, The Slow Wonder is full of space and surprise, running the gamut from ballads to frisky guitar numbers to Graham Parkeresque late '70s production quirks. A breath of fresh air. "Newman makes pop so informed by pop royalty that he himself should wear a crown of jewels." - The Stranger"
	The Chrysler ‘Failures And Sparks’ CD $12.75 Holy Holy Holy • Wounded Night One of the best, if not The Best album I've heard so far this year... Considered a country act in Sweden, The Chrysler’s rootsy, psychedelic folk-pop revelry is shaded with eerie noir atmospheres. Out of the quiet into the quieter…a mesmerizing blend of singing (two vocalists and myriad background voices) and winsome pop and trippy folk hymnals. In addition to a powerful blend of voices expect a subliminal swish of voices panned into the ether, a contentedly wheezing organ, hallucinatory woodwinds, the occasional swell of brass, and nuances like paino, melodica, organ, and bells, which deliver a sonic depth that’s absolutely startling in this context. The creepy “This Is Midnight” recalls The Beta Band at their most succinct and tranquil while “Wounded Night” could be your favorite b-side from Mercury Rev’s Deserter Songs, in a lovely Bob Dylan meets Neil Young way. “Holy Holy Holy” aches with a Wilco-esque empathy and ennui, and “All Along the Freefall" is a Morricone hero holding the reins of Yo La Tengo folk-drone quietude. “Ring of a Bell” could be a long lost Hederos & Hellberg original, and hearing echoes of a soulful Neil Diamond-esque vamp like “Revolution #1” swaddled in The Chryslers murky rusticity makes for a beguiling dynamic. The results are as toasty and friendly as a bonfire, wrestling with an otherworldly darkness. With Failures And Sparks The Chrysler have assembled a shrine to their influences (The Everly Brothers, The Band, Simon & Garfunkel, The Velvets, Neil Young), but it’s the ear candy and intangibles that make this great.
	Honcho Overload - Singles (MUD-CD-053) CD-EP Digital Download only - not available for sale as a physical CD The five songs from this Champaign band's first two singles originally released in 1992 are now available in a digital format from our digital distribution partners. Honcho featured Matt Talbott (Hum/Centaur/We Ate Plato), Jeff Dimpsey (Hum/National Skyline/Poster Children/Bad Flannel), Bill Johnson (Parasol Records/The Texas Navy/Morning Becomes Electric/Bad Flannel), K.C. Driscoll (We Ate Plato), and Mike Rader (The Great Crusades/The White Family Singers/Poster Children/Broken Kockamamies). "...Does this mean that you should buy it unquestioningly? Strangely, yes... 'Miserable' is a french-fried love song for the '90s, powered by a guitar that sounds like a vacuum cleaner... Hurrah for Honcho!" -Alternative Press (more info)
	Maritime "Glass Floor" CD $13.00 • LP $11.00 Glass Floor • Adios • Human Beings The debut full-length from this new trio comprised of former Promise Ring and Vermont members Davey Von Bohlen and Dan Didier, along with ex-Dismemberment Plan member Eric Axelson. Thirteen solid tracks that touch on the sounds of the group's previous work, but moves into new directions, as they throwdown a series of well-crafted, muscular and grown-up pop gems.
	The Green Pajamas "Essence Of Carol" CD $10.25 Essence Of Carol • In a Lonely Way Essence Of Carol expands upon The Green Pajamas' stunning catalog of psychedelic pop masterpieces with two new and exclusive songs (one by Jeff Kelly, the other by Eric Lichter), three songs originally released on now out-of-print Earworm 7-inch singles, plus a live performance of "Matilda" recorded at KCMU.
	Laurel Music "This Night And The Next" CD $13.50 No One Wants Forever #1 • Dreams and Lies • Feb 5 This Night And The Next is the debut full-length from Gothenburg, Sweden’s Laurel Music. Their heartwarming, laidback country pop sounds a bit like Stina Nordenstam or Rosie Thomas, like Neil Young or Burt Bacharach, it all depends… The combination of Tobias Isaksson’s timeless qualities as a songwriter (akin to Neil Young, Morrissey & Marr and Tim Hardin) and Douglas Heart vocalist Malin Dahlberg’s ethereal vocals (inspired by soft emo pop like Geoff Farina, The Secret Stars and Ida) make their musical collaboration quite uncommon.
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The Parasol 5-Star serves to highlight our favorite releases for the month. No money has been exchanged between Parasol and the bands or labels involved for this consideration. These releases are profiled because of the impact they've made upon our ears, hearts and minds - not Parasol's advertising revenue. Parasol Purity. Payola free since 1991. No additives. More real cheese flavor.