Music Library: Edward Sharpe, Shawn David McMillen, She and Him, Shearwater, Shining, Shins, Shirley Collins, Shoes This High, Shrimp Boat

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below (2009). Oh, hippies. Singing indie rockish hippies. This album is okay, if not sometimes a little annoying.



Shawn David McMillen - Catfish (2006) and Sampler (2008). Fahey-esque guitarist who mixes fingerstyle Americana and electronics to lovely effect.



She and Him - Volume One (2008). Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward making groovy mellow folk-rock. The following song isn't on the album, but it's a Richard and Linda Thompson cover, so awesome.



Shearwater - The Dissolving Room (2001), Everybody Makes Mistakes (2002), Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral EP (2004), Winged Life (2004), Palo Santo: Expanded Edition (2007). Like She and Him, Shearwater is ultra-polite folk-rock. The Dissolving Room is barely there, but Mistakes, the Sham Wedding EP, and Winged Life all have a clear vision and decent songs. Palo Santo is a big leap forward, mostly because the band decided to add feedback and noise into their mix.



Shining - Blackjazz (2010). This is the Norwegian skronk-jazz band, not the Swedish black metal band, although any 10-second clip of the music would make it hard to tell the difference. Shining beats the hell out of their sound. If you like spazzy skronk, this is for you. They may be the anti-Shearwater.



The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (2001), Oh, Inverted World (2003), and Wincing The Night Away (2007). Indie pop. 'Sokay.



Shirley Collins - False True Lovers (1959) and Love, Death & The Lady (with Dolly Collins, 1970). This is the motherlode of British folk revival music. She's not a great singer, but she's a great interpreter of great songs. Collins traveled with Alan Lomax through the US South when she was a teenager, and then she returned to England to record songs from both sides of the pond.



Shoes This High - Shoes This High EP (1981). Kiwi post-punk from a band that I know next to nothing about. Pretty good stuff, though.



Shrimp Boat - Speckly (1989). This is a great band led by Sam Prekop, now of The Sea And Cake. I think I may like Shrimp Boat a little more. They were more of a post-punky rock band than The Sea And Cake's fake jazz. They are also surprisingly hard to find on youtube.