The Cubicle

Tully Rohrer

December 14^th, 2006

I don’t know about you, but I used to imagine working at IBM involved cubicles, a long ascent up the corporate ladder, commuting, authoritarian bosses, and, well, anything but this… And this… This is my father working for IBM. After 30 years of his life at that company, however, he’s paid his price, and here’s his reward.

Shara Worden, the brainchild of My Brightest Diamond, is one of my favorite discoveries of the year. Trained as an opera singer, she brings her outstanding, trembling voice to beautiful string arrangements, sparse guitar, and complex vocal harmonies. Her debut album, Bring Me the Workhorse is dark, brooding, and brilliant. Many of the the themes of this album revolve around childhood memories (discovering a dead bird, losing a pet), and some of them are much more disturbing. Golden Star, however, is a love song, albeit one set to the dark, beautiful compositions that permeate the album. And if there is a more awesome 3 seconds in music this year than Worden’s voice at the 2-minute mark, I haven’t heard it. Talk about a climax. If you like Golden Star, you’ll love all of Bring Me the Workhorse.

Favorites of 2006:
#16: Islands - Rough Gem
#15: The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 3
#14: Headlights - Owl Eyes
#13: Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
#12: Thom Yorke - The Eraser
#11: Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton - Our Hell
#10: Band of Horses - The First Song
#09: My Brightest Diamond - Golden Star