I’m a fan of The Books, a two-piece band who pal James turned me on to. Their songs consist of a mixture of found audio, constructed sounds, languid vocals, and traditional instruments, but with a warm, solid feel to the proceedings despite the amount of audio manipulation. You may recall when I posted about their most recent album, The Way Out.

That’s also their last album. Sadly, they split up earlier this year (and it sounds like a bad break.) Still, they’ve got four albums and more of top-rate material behind them, and that’s a fine legacy.

One half of The Books is Nick Zammuto, who has returned with a new band called Zammuto. Their first album is called — wait for it — Zammuto.

I bought it practically on sight and have been enjoying it. It’s certainly reminiscent of The Books, but it has a more electronic feel, and is a bit more “clean” than Zummuto’s earlier work. There’s also more reliance on vocals than there have been in the past. Here’s a sample track called “F U C-3PO”:

You can stream the rest of the album at the Zammuto site, and it’s available there or via iTunes or Amazon.

As a bonus, Zammuto has also started up a Tumblr blog where he’s going through the history of The Books from the beginning. (part two, part three) If you’re a fan of The Books, of music creation, or of just how art is inspired, the three parts to date are great reading, and promise more to come.

(Full disclosure: this is a recycling of a MetaFilter post I did yesterday which did not mention Highlander 2 because I learn from my mistakes.)