The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You (2009)

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The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You (2009)

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After the breakout success of 2007's Emotionalism , and the solid balladry of 2008's The Second Gleam EP , this next album is coming at a big moment for North Carolina's Avett Brothers. And some might think that enlisting mega-producer, and perpetual shades-wearer, Rick Rubin to help make the album is an unnecessary risk (or a brilliant move) at a critical time. But that is just what they did.

The slim details that have emerged about this disc are certainly compelling. With Rubin at the knobs, Scott Avett has claimed that the producer's work with Red Hot Chili Peppers on Blood Sugar Sex Magik has inspired the feel of the album. Somehow. The band have also described the album's title track as both "autumnal" and "Wilco-style," which really could mean anything. Rounding out the strange info surrounding the disc, Rubin and the band have been recording both in Asheville and, more surprisingly, Malibu.

If it all works out, maybe the sessions in California will lend a little sun-drenched haze to the Brothers' folk sound. And maybe Rubin will help the band inject some of their live fury into their more pristine recordings. Or he'll just have them cover Nine Inch Nails or U2 or something. Hell, it worked for Johnny Cash.