Dayclear & First Dark

Dark and moody music wasn't invented after 9/11, although it has certainly given weight to the paranoid musical hauntings exercised by many American artists. Sure, Tricky was desperately growling out a decade earlier, but THC-induced bleakness doesn't hold the same weight these days. New Yorker Daniel Givens has faced terror in ways that have been manipulated both politically and sensationally. He experienced the fall of the WTC first-hand. But after losing a friend to the legendary Jeffrey Dahmer a decade earlier, it's easy to see how his claustrophobic nightmares could come into the foreground. But that is not to say that Givens is only capable of brooding for his troubles. While the mood may be somber across the board, he does musically mix up his spoken Leonard Cohen-esque murmur with jazzy nods, faded guitars, and razor-sharp beats. The fact that he never even looks for relief in these 14 cuts proves that this isn't just smoke and mirrors. One album for when you really don't want to feel better.