You Must Never Tell It

I'd actually heard of Kites Overhead last fall when I'd downloaded an MP3 sample via I(heart)Music.  I wish I'd sought out the rest of his music sooner than this.
I've needed this.  I've had my Maps CDs on repeat for weeks now, hoping for something similar to get me through.  Kites Overhead is Gene Kondusky (of Canada!) layering his way through fuzzed-out, textured loops and a spacey blend of electro-pop and post-rock.  
As other people have pointed out, his vocals aren't necessarily strong--but I can't imagine them any other way.  They channel the intensity of an emotionally bruised Say Hi and the distance of Mazzy Star (if Hope Sandoval was on a manic up-swing and obsessively listening to James Figurine). This is brilliant.  
I only wish he were touring--Gene, if you're reading this, that's a big fat hint.

Things I Have Missed

Collections of Colonies of Bees' Birds

I'd been looking at this promo since we first got it way back in 2008, but I never quite got around to actually putting into the stereo and trying it.  

That said, this is something I should have been listening to years ago.  It does post-rock wank to a certain extent, but I can let that slide.  It's textured and fuzzy, with guitars that fade in and out; all tracks inevitably build to a crashing finale a la GSYBE.  It's brighter, I think, than many other post-rock instrumentalists--but it's nothing really new. 

I need to find their earlier albums.