Several Shades Of Why

An excellent mostly-acoustic solo release from Dinosaur Jr's guitarist/vocalist. Sounds somewhere in between Kurt Vile and Eddie Vedder's solo stuff (i.e. Into the Wild soundtrack). The guitar is just fantastic, and the simple melancholy songwriting very strong, though it gets a little bogged down sometimes.
Play the hell out of track 3! 7 also great. FCC clean. —Andy

*1 - (3:10) sad imploring midtempo
*2 - (4:55) bright percussive guitar, strings, wistful
***3 - (3:14) the most upbeat song on the album but still heartbreaking; simple, catchy, with perfect vocal help from Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) and Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene)
4 - (4:48) brooding and intimate; dark sounds
*5 - (4:51) folky and decently upbeat, with more Gibbard and a nicely indulgent classic J electric solo
6 - (3:47) big pastoral composition with slow crooning; very Kurt Vile
**7 - (3:59) upbeat with a touch of country drawl and some refreshing electric guitar interludes
8 - (2:31) just a stripped-down guitar line and pining, immediate vox; sudden end
9 - (5:25) slow, haunted instrumental bed; sad, resigned vocals
10 - (4:38) big and dramatic, with a lot of electric stuff going on