All Amoebites were asked to list their top five favorite releases from the first half of 2009 and beyond! We then had a team of experts decipher some cryptic handwriting, analyze the results and compile the lists into this little book! We hope you find the results interesting and useful!


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Iron & Wine
Around the Well
(Sub Pop)
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Sam Beam fans rejoice! All outliers, extras, b-sides and rarities are rounded up on this lovely collection, making for 2 heaping platters of gentle, dreamy acoustic Americana. Spanning his career thus far, the first disc takes the early years, including some demo sessions for The Creek Drank the Cradle -- sweet, autumnal country reveries; the second disc is more recent stuff, with a fuller sound. Several amazing cover versions reveal new depths to songs by the Flaming Lips and New Order among others, mostly with Beam's hushed, churchy grandeur but occasionally with a mildly boozy swing and some ghostly clanking percussion. Venture out on this backroads ramble!








