So I’ve bought a good number of records lately, and figured I’d share with y’all what I’ve picked up :

• NIN - Year Zero - It’s not like there was much chance of me not getting this one, since I have pretty much every other record. I’ve listened a couple times, but not aggressively. Nothing really stuck on first listen the way I’d hoped. That’s not to say it won’t grow on me, but it just wasn’t an instant hit for me.
• Bjork - Volta - Again, of course I bought this one. It’s pretty fucking good and I’ve already got some lyrics that are destined to be part of The New Bullshit Emo™. Bjork manages to keep things fresh and experimental without going off the deep end (usually). Go buy it.
• Cornelius - Sensuous - I’ve got a couple of Cornelius records and I really like them. Genre-wise, there’s not really a good fit, but AllMusic calls him a “pop-noise savant” and that’s as good as anything I’d come up with. Anyway, it’s a lot of beeps and clicks and strangeness, but it’s light hearted and coherent and enjoyable to no end.
• The (International) Noise Conspiracy - A New Morning, Changing Weather - I haven’t listened to this yet… it’s an old one, but I didn’t have it, so, hey, why not, right?
• Bright Eyes - Cassadaga - Also haven’t listened to this one yet. I’m not a huge Bright Eyes fan, but I liked I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning enough to merit picking this one up in the $8 used bin. I can’t decide if it’s being in the bin is a good thing (in that it might be a departure and therefore a disappointment to some previously hardcore fan and thus more to my liking) or a bad thing (in that it sucks), but I have it now and I’ll give it a listen soon enough I suppose.
• The Fucking Champs - VI - Yaaaaaar. We likes The F’ing Champs up in here. Melodic instrumental metal that is teh r0wk.
• Camille - Le Fil - This is a cool little record my dad played for me a couple months back during a visit. Camille is French, as the title may have clued you into (it means “The Thread”, fyi). It’s a kind of concept record in which it begins with a single tone humming along at relatively low volume. That tone is thus the titular thread, which runs through every song on the album, dictating the keys and so forth that are used. In and of itself, the concept is neither original or compelling enough to merit a purchase, but I also really like the music and her voice. I’ve been putting this on in the evenings fairly regularly. I got it from iTunes and so can you…
• Neil Young - Living With War - Because it’s a solid record from a legend and because I felt like I ought to own it. ‘Nuff said.
• DNTEL - Dumb Luck - My whim purchase… I gave it a quick listen at the store and grabbed it, but sitting in my office now, I can’t really recall it. I’ll give it a few more listens and maybe follow up, but I know I liked what I heard.
• Patton Oswalt - Feelin’ Kinda Patton - A comedy record! I don’t buy too many of these and now that Dane Cook is so mainstream it’s harder for an elitist snob like myself to continue caring, i needed some new material. Not that Oswalt is an unknown by any stretch. I guess I’m not that elitist. Anyway, it’s a pretty damn funny record, and I might go off in search of some more. Also from iTunes.
• The Bad Plus - Prog - What can I say… another really excellent record from bad-ass Jazz trio. The originals are awesome and the covers remain eclectic and engaging (in particular the cover of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”; props to r for the 411 on that, which led to be getting the album). Even people who think they don’t like Jazz very much will like these guys. Do it.
• The Coup - Pick A Bigger Weapon - I don’t have any other records from these guys but I happened across it down at Ella Guru and gave it a listen and have been spinning it in my car for 3 days since. I think it’s the best hip-hop record i’ve bought for a year (which could say more about my purchasing habits than anything, but whatever). Very enjoyable and also chock full of lyrics you’ll be seeing in the upper right corner of tsn soon enough…

So that’s that. I also wanted to note that i’ve started ripping my CD’s into Apple Lossless format, more because I’m paranoid about longevity than because I can actually hear the difference. My ears just aren’t that good, but I do like the idea of being able to transcode to some other format without compounding my signal losses. The downside : I’m gonna need some more hard disks.

25 records that I would save from a fire instead of saving you in alphabetical order…

1. Avail - Dixie
2. Bjork – Post
3. By the Grace of God – Three Steps to a Better Democracy
4. Cash, Johnny – At Folsom Prison
5. Crain – Speed
6. Fugazi – 13 Songs
7. Gonzales, Ruben - Chanchullo
8. Grade – Separate the Magnets
9. Hum – You’d Prefer An Astronaut
10. Jimmy Eat World – Static Prevails
11. June of 44 – Four Great Points
12. Kerosene 454 – Came By to Kill Me
13. Lather – A Modest Proposal
14. Neutrino – Motion Picture Soundtrack
15. Promise Ring – Nothing Feels Good
16. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
17. Quicksand - Slip
18. Radiohead – OK Computer
19. Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come
20. Sebadoh – Sebadoh
21. Shellac – At Action Park
22. Shipping News – Flies the Fields
23. Slint – Spiderland
24. Smashing Pumpkins – Gish
25. Strife – Angermeans

Best greatest hits album goes to…

•Michael Jackson – Number Ones, or
•James Brown – 20 All Time Greatest Hits!
(Yes, I just gave out a tie on my own list)

Best 7” goes to…

•Guilt – Bittersweet Blue

And finally, the award for best album title ever goes to…

•Refused - Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent

1. the avalanches - since i met you
2. burning airlines - mission:control!
3. crain - speed
4. the crystal method - vegas
5. desaparecidos - read music. speak spanish.
6. fiona apple - when the pawn…
7. fugazi - end hits
8. jimmy eat world - bleed american
9. jimmy eat world - static prevails
10. les savy fav - go forth
11. liz phair - exile in guyville
12. minus the bear - highly refined pirates
13. pixies - doolittle
14. the promise ring - nothing feels good
15. rainer maria - long knives drawn
16. refused - the shape of punk to come
17. the reputation - to force a fate
18. the roots - things fall apart
19. the shipping news - flies the fields
20. weezer - pinkerton

your turn. don’t feel constrained either way about twenty– I just couldn’t narrow it down further.

• Stretch Armstrong - Free At Last - 2005
• Postal Service - Give Up - 2003
• Boy Sets Fire - The Misery Index : Notes From The Plague Years - 2006
• Appleseed Cast - Peregrine - 2006
• Buena Vista Social Club - 1997 - R.I.P.

R’s mini book review post below inspired me to note briefly the CD’s that’re spinning in my car at the moment. I’m in CD mode because I can’t get to the archive just now, so my iPod is empty. It’s balls.

Anyway, here’s the rundown, and some impressions :

Minus the Bear : Menos el Oso
- I frickin love Minus the Bear… i still listen to Highly Refined Pirates and the rest on a regular basis, so I really was looking forward to this record. Happily, it’s an outstanding record, and I’ve listened to it quite a few times. That being said, it lacks a certain quality from the other records that’s a little hard to pin down. The best I can come up with is that it’s just less “fun” than the others. That’s totally ambiguous, I know, but it’s the best I can do for now. At any rate, I guess you could say it was a little disappointing, but just barely. Hooray is my favorite track, for multiple reasons. Check it.

Constantines : Tournament of Hearts
- Initial snap judgement is that it’s not as compelling as Shine a Light, but it’s certainly not bad. I have to listen a few more times, but nothing stuck right out, which is a contrast with Shine, where I immediately had a number of songs stuck in my head.

Regina Spektor : Live at Bull Moose EP
- Unsurprisingly, quite good. It’s short, only 5 tracks, but most of them aren’t on Soviet Kitch, so it’s worth having (especially for 4 bucks… thanks, Don!). Of course, if you don’t have any of her work, you need to adjust that deficiency immediately. That’s an order.

Jawbox : Jawbox
- Um, yeah. Bought it to replace a copy I used to have (on cassette!) and couldn’t stop listening. Classically important work. Fucking great. Own it.

Brad Mehldau Trio : Day is Done
- More of the same from Brad. Not that that’s a bad thing… they do what they do really well, and if they happen to seem obsessed with Radiohead and the Beatles, well, can you blame them? Knives Out (Radiohead) is the opener and really outstanding, but I’m a big fan of the title track, which is a Nick Drake song originally. If you’ve got other Brad Mehldau cd’s, there’s no reason not to add this one.

Bloodhound Gang : Hefty Fine
- Yeah, it’s a guilty pleasure. As always, catchy pop songs that can’t be played on the radio or MTV. I need to exchange my copy for one that isn’t fucking censored though. Honestly, it should be illegal to sell censored CD’s that don’t have a giant label indicating such. On top of which, as retarded as censorship usually is, it’s doubly so here. They blank out the word “shit” and “fuck”, but of course leave untouched the track Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo, which (if the title didn’t indicate) is literally a sting of crass euphemisms for genitals and their supported interactions. I mean, really. Sell the record or don’t (cough WalMart cough) but there just isn’t a “kid friendly” version of it. Deal.

The Bad Plus : Suspicious Activity?
- Good, as always. In particular (and to my great surprise) I really like the (Theme from) Chariots of Fire. It’s remarkably well done.

Juliana Hatfield : Made in China
- Talk about a record I was excited to buy. We have every single Juliana Hatfield record that exists as far as I know. Wait, no, we don’t have Juliana’s Pony. Or, we wouldn’t even if such a record existed which, I submit, it does not. Anyway, it’s entirely possible that this is her finest record. That’s a tough thing to really certify for an artist with so many records. I mean, can you really even put “Become What You Are” on the same ground? Probably not, but when I say I like this record, I really, mean it. If the record as a whole isn’t at the top, certain of the songs here are way up there. The record starts strong and stays interesting right up until the last track, in which Juliana pushes her penchant for repetition *way* beyond the point where I can tolerate it. It’s really just bad, and mars what is otherwise almost flawless. Fortunately, it’s at the end, where it’s easy to skip. All in all, highly recommended.

Since i’m a lazy bastard and still haven’t gotten around to having a “Now Playing” section over there in our linkbar, I figured I’d drop a post about some new goodies I got. Also, Marcy told me to do it, and she’s pretty much always right.

The most spins have gone to a record I picked up totally on a whim. My boy Kobi is all “Dude, check out disc 1 in the listening station… track 2.” Brazilian Girls is a really eclectic mix of influences. It’s the kind of music I almost wish got labeled world music, because it really pulls in bits and pieces of musical culture from all over. But not in a fake-hippie, new age kind of way. The signer, Sabina, is sensual and full of expression in all of the 5 languages that she sings on the record. The music is varied, from noir-ish riffs with jazz drums and purposeful bass to poppy electro dance. This is a record that forces you to realize the limitations of genres and so on. I’m not nearly literate enough to express myself the way I’d like to, but suffice it to say, this is a record to hear. I fully expect that it’ll end up on my top 10 for 2005.

Next is a record by a band called Muse… the blurb I read compared them to Radiohead circa ‘The Bends’. I’m not sure how much I agree with that, but I guess I hear it in places. It’s a very solid record, with plenty of dynamics from track to track (which may be much of the reason for the radiohead comparison). There’s some soaring, almost operatic songs (Sing for Absolution), right next to pretty shredded rocking (Stockholm Syndrome), all of which are technically well produced and interesting. The record really does sound like it’d fit in around the mid 90’s, which could be a detriment for some folks, but I kinda dig that… it lets me be progressive and retro at the same time, and the music is freaking good, so whatever.

I was gonna write about a third, but it’s getting late so I’ll just mention it and let you check it out for yourselves. The band name is Ratatat, and you can find ‘em on iTunes. It’s intrumental electronic/rock… conceptually kind of like The Fucking Champs, but more digital and substantially less metal. I actually heard them as a transition snippet on Marketplace (NPR, yeah, I know, I’m old and lame) and looked up the name on the MP web site, and then iTunes. It’s not really the most compelling shit to just sit and listen to, but it’s perfect background for coding or writing. The track that hooked me was number 2, El Pico, because it’s kind of evocative of the J. Ralph song “One Million Miles Away”. That’s the track, for those who don’t know, that was featured in the best advertisement of all time, “Big Day” for the 2001 VW Jetta. He’s on iTunes too, if you’re interested.

I guess I ended up writing about it after all. Enjoy, kiddies.

They’re the avant-garde mashup darlings of the interweb. Thanks to R, I was drawn in some time ago by a track from their “Yoshimi Battles the Hip-Hop Robots” work, which blended The Flaming Lips with Public Enemy’s “By the time I get to Arizona” and fragments of MLK speech. We quickly got hold of the “Never Trust Originality” EP, which is every bit as awesome.

I picked up another 2 sets last night, “From Detroit to J.A.” and “A Night at the Hip-Hopera”. The former I haven’t tried out all of yet, but the latter is a mix of classic Queen tracks and modern rap/hip-hop from the likes of KRS-1, Kelis, ODB, De La Soul, Eminem Vanilla Ice, Aaliyah, Beastie Boys, Missy Elliott and a pile of others, not to mention clips from Aqua Teen Hunger force, Mallrats, and other such pop culture faves. I hear there was or is a scrap with Disney over the rights to the Queen music, though I don’t know details. Whatever though, the tunage is, for the most part, quite good. I skipped a few tracks, mostly because there are a number of Queen songs I don’t like at all.

Anyway these guys are something close to the ultimate musical expression of our generation — full of references that appeal to our endless love for trivia, plenty of beats and clever, non-obvious pairings which produce often surprising and exceptional new forms, all spewed over the net for your consumption.

The tunes are available via bittorrent linked from the Kleptones’ home page, so it’s all quite legit. I highly recommend all you kiddies check them out.

They also run a blog which I’ve linked to the right there, under Music, which has some worthwhile, if infrequently refreshed, material.