I've been waiting for this album since … well ... since Slint broke up. The For Carnation has been around in some form or another since 1994. Brian McMahan of Slint fame got sick of playing second fiddle to Will Oldham/Palace after his band broke up, so he asked some friends to come down to his house and record some songs that he had written. Slint graduate and Papa M head master David Pajo came down, as did Brian's brother and Tortoise guys John Herndon and Doug McCombs.

The result was Fight Songs, a three-song EP that was released on Matador in 1995. The same cast, sans Pajo, reformed to record the short-but-brilliant Marshmallows in 1996.

Finally, after three years of waiting silently, The For Carnation was unleashed. Both Fight Songs and Marshmallows were superb "mini-albums," as McMahan called them. Could this, the first full length offering by The For Carnation, live up to my (extremely high) expectations? Yes, thank God, yes.

For the first time, The For Carnation is a band — not just a bunch of people playing McMahan's songs. It works, and it works well.

The music is a cross of Slint-style whispered lyrics and Codeine-esque slowness. The melding of styles works — McMahan's lyrics tell a story, and the slow music sets the pace. Listeners are drawn in by the lush soundscapes and intrigued by the almost-spoken lyrics.

Guest stars include John McEntire ("A Tribute To," "Snoother" and "Moonbeams"), Rachel Haden ("Tales"), and Kim Deal ("Moonbeams"). The songs are long but worth it.

This is, by far, my favorite album of 2000 so far. It's nothing you haven't heard before. The thing is, it's done better here than anywhere else, when McMahan invented the style way back when. Pay him some homage; he deserves it.

- Ryan Woodsmall