70
frigital records: july 5, 2004

Thank you Birdie Hilltop.
Not only did you support my theory that all bands with a xylophone in them are automatically half cool/good, but you also add hope to my dream that lo-fi can and will still be an enjoyable format in this increasingly digitalized world. And, with Iron & Wine converting this year to the ultra crispness of studio recording, I was beginning to think all hope was lost. But no, crappy fuzzy lo-fi music lives on! Your little home tape recordings sounded like the eerie yet pleasant folk of Pseudosix meeting the songcraft of Elliott Smith, or, more specifically, recent hit Rogue Wave. Even if your album is as utterly sappy as The New Year, its melancholy came off as heartfelt, and it serves as a great indie slumber gloom recording. You may not be the best, but I'll love you (for a little while).

Yours truly,
Andrew

P.S. Please use your xylophone more often, as those songs that feature it over your regular wood tapping percussion are a lot nicer. Thanks.