Three Albums Everyone Should Hear

Though I've been listening to a lot of new music lately, there are three older albums that I really want to push on people. They're albums I've purchased within the last couple years (though at least one is probably around three years old now) that I would consider the musical equivalent of comfort food. Generally when I buy a CD, I listen to it 3-5 times, copy it onto my computer, and then I'll sporadically hear songs from it if it pops up on my iPod. But I listened to these CDs a lot more, and I continue to listen to them in fairly regular rotation. Please consider checking them out if you haven't done so already:
1) Matt Costa - Songs We Sing
These are not particularly complex songs. I can't even tell you exactly why I like this album so much. It's a lot of poppy, generally happy hooks. It's kind of Jack Johnson-y (and I think the two are actually buddies) in that his voice is pretty easy to listen to and there's that surfer laid-backedness to it all. It's also one of those rare albums that I liked after the very first listen, and I have yet to introduce it to anyone who hasn't subsequently liked it (though I never got DNAguy's opinion, so maybe he hated it). This album is probably the lightest and easiest to listen to of the three.


2) Jim White - Drill a Hole in That Substrate and Tell Me What You See
This album might take a little more warming up to for some people. The songs are long--some as long 5-6 minutes. It's also kind of a country-ish album. Not Garth Brooks-country (am I dating myself with that reference? Sorry...), but it's definitely a little rural sounding. But Jim White has a way with words that make the songs sound not so much written as crafted. Here are a couple lines from what's probably my favorite song on the album, "That Girl From Brownsville Texas":
"Guess I been busy killing time counting bullet holes in state line signs./ I led a life of lonely drifting trying to rise above the buzzards
in my mind. /You get dizzy chasing 'round the tail of what you need to leave behind. Oh sweet Jesus, won't you help me?/'Cause all I'm trying to do is plant them seeds of love with that girl from Brownsville, Texas."
Anyway, it's good. If I knew how to put audio up here, I would. It's easier to appreciate if you hear him singing it.
3) Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
And finally we have the album that I've probably listened to the most in the past two years. Andrew Bird plays the electric violin, he whistles, and he makes music like nothing else I've heard. This is his second to latest album. His new album, Armchair Apocrypha is very good, as are the two albums before TMPOG, but it's this album that initially got me hooked. Another album that I liked upon my first listen, these songs are much more complex both musically and lyrically compared to the previous two. Even after multiple, multiple listens, I still pick out bits of songs I hadn't noticed before. And though whistling can often sound gimmicky, it really works here. I really can't recommend this album enough. He's also incredible live--easily the best show I've been to since I've been back in Boston. Please check him out if you haven't done so already.

P.S.--sorry for the crazy font sizes. I tried to fix it but they just seem to be stuck.