listen.

oh patsy!

every now and then i go through a phase where i want to listen to is patsy cline.

and for some reason i am in that phase right now.

there are many reasons to appreciate this woman.

for one, you can't really beat her in terms of songs about heartbreak.

and let's face it - whatever your feelings about contemporary country music are - old country is great.

and patsy cline is pretty amazing. her voice is unreal.  it's kind of a surreal sound -very theatrical -- as if it isn't from the late 1950's but rather something david lynch created for a movie.  and, like i said, if you're looking for songs about heart break and not being able to get over your man who left you - well, you have come to the right post!

get ready for it.

CLEARLY we must start with one of her iconic songs:

walkin after midnight, patsy cline
i can, and plan on, posting all the other covers of this song - because they're all great.  is it because we all know what a lonely walk at night looking for our lover is like? probably.
it's kind of a bizarre story either about a woman so lovesick and forlorn she has to walk at night due to her solitary insomnia or it's a song about a prostitute? either way it has universal appeal.

i fall to pieces, patsy cline
one of her biggest hits that features some of the dramatic heart ache i was talking about earlier: "i fall to pieces each time some one speaks your name." damn. that's intense. and i can judge because i've never been unable to see or be near someone because they couldn't return my love.

back in baby's arms, patsy cline
there is hope! i'm back where i belong! back in baby's arms!  i need a relationship in order to feel complete!

okay no let's take it up a notch, patsy:

these songs all get a little rockabilly twangy, and it's awesome - there's even a hint of yodeling.

they are currently the most played on my itunes.  (with the staples singer's i'll take you there coming in 4th)

seven lonely days, patsy clines

blue moon of kentucky, patsy cline
i love this song.

lovesick blues, patsy cline

here's a rather fascinating tidbit* i found whilst researching patsy cline:  both dottie west and june carter cash recall cline telling them about feeling a sense of impending doom in the months leading up to her death.  she began giving away personal possessions, writing out a will and arranging for care of her children.  she then died in a plane crash on march 3, 1963.  (march 3 is my birthday, so there's also that.)
isn't that interesting?  kind of creepy, kind of sad, sort of makes me want to write a play about it.

okay. before we go here's one more classic patsy tune that i love:

crazy, patsy cline.

have a good day!

*take that with a grain of salt: i found that on wikipedia. so it might not be true at all. (i kind of don't trust that website.)

listen. :: now on Hype Machine!!

Ladies and gents, right on the heels of listen.'s 5-month anniversary, we have been added to the blog list at The Hype Machine!

what IS the Hype Machine, you ask?  Well, it's an incredibly extensive up-to-the-minute database of hundreds of active music blogs.  If there's a song or artist you're looking for, you should head over there and search, and it will point you in the right direction. 

it's a great website, and it's really exciting that we're on it now -- already, we've had visitors from the far reaches of the universe:

   

and that's just in the last few hours!

and now a song to celebrate:
Belle & Sebastian - Stop, Look, and Listen.

anyway. thanks for reading. and listening!

>theboys.

A new look for listen.

Whoa! Aren't we so much brighter, happier-looking, and easier-to-read?  Yes.  Yes we are.  We thought it was time that listen. get a little freshened up.  An extreme e-makeover.  And you're looking at it.  We hope you like.

The new image above is from Fall Harbor's performance at Nathan Lemoine's Alternating Current, Vol. 2, which was Jan. 19th.  Fall Harbor is a charmingly spooky (or spookily charming?) duo comprised of Todd Chandler on banjo and upright bass and C. Ryder Cooley on accordion and saw.  Together, they play eerie haunted-sounding songs like strange transmissions from a forgotten era.  I first saw them at the underground dinner party in November, and I was so happy to be able to see them play again.  This time they played in front of an oddly transfixing projection of birds flying in and around the branches of a tree.  A nice touch.

After the performance, I was able to score a CD from Ms. Cooley, a 6-track EP titled "Songs from Fall Harbor".  Here are a couple of tracks - I don't have a tracklisting though so I don't know what the real songtitles are.

Fall Harbor - an untitled song i'm calling "Isla Margarita" The Bones

Fall Harbor - an untitled song that defies obvious titling Riverbird Serenade
it's a tale of a factory town. i like the line about the seamstresses with the bloody hands.

They appear to have a placeholder website HERE, so I'm going to keep my eye on that for more info.

{{ADDENDUM: Thanks to Todd of Fall Harbor for the above (correct) track titles. he also pointed me in the direction of their myspace page.}}

Nathan Lemoine's Alternating Current is a semi-monthly performance salon, and though there have only been two, it's already getting noticed. This one had an amazing turnout and great and diverse performances. Keep an eye out for the next one, probably late March.  I might even play a song or two there myself.

stay tuned for some tracks from the new Cat Power album soon!

xoben
 

i'll take you there

this past tuesday ben took me and his good friend (who has since become a good friend of mine as well), amanda duarte to see mavis staples at BAM on january 22nd.  it was our christmas gift from him, and what a good gift it was.
mavis (we're on a first name basis) was a keynote at BAM's 22nd Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And then on the 22nd she performed at the opera house with her band.

and it was amazing. (not too long, but it didn't really matter)  i am not sure if i have smiled so much or clapped harder at a concert in a long time. 
the quote BAM kept throwing around from the Boston Globe was:
"Mavis Staples doesn't so much sing a song as baptize it in truth."

i mean, if that was ever said about me, i would throw it around every day of my life.  (i can aslo say that i have to agree with that statement very much so.)

her set list was pretty rad - she sang a lot of civil rights songs - a lot from her family's group THE STAPLE SINGERS.  as her dad said about Dr. King: if he can preach it - we can sing it.

i wish i had the technology to record the concert so i could share some of the versions, but i'll share the early versions i have.  just picture her voice older, smokier - having lived a little more life.

i'll take you there, the staple singers
i love this song.  long before i understood who the staple singers were. i have memories of all the cooks in the kitchen of my parents restaurant dancing around to this.

the weight, the staples singers
same as above.

heavy makes you happy, the staple singers
not the same as above. but you gotta love a song where she screams "schom-on y'all" [or however you would spell that]. and i just love a good sha-na-boom-boom, don't you?

here are some mavis staples songs i love:

until i met you, mavis staples
this song could be in a musical.  maybe it was? maybe it will be.  maybe i'll sing it.

son of a preacher man, mavis staples
i'm not hating on dusty - but this is the best version of this song. period.

if there's one thing the concert made me think it's that i want to hear mavis sing every day. i need to. the other thing it made me think about was that i really want to be a soul singer. so i guess i should start working on that dream while i'm still spry enough to shake it.

alrighty. enjoy.

My wild sweet love

So lately I've been really into the Jimmy Webb song "Do What You Gotta Do".  I've known the Nina Simone version for a long time, and was vaguely aware of Roberta Flack's.  But then I ran across two more recent versions, along with a Linda Ronstadt take from the early '90s! 

It's just such a heartbreaking song.  Sort of a more complex take on that old "If you love something, set it free" cliché, it's all about letting someone go do their thing and figure their shi* out, even though you still really love them.  And you know you might "never kiss those sweet lips again."  Sigh.

Nina's is by far the most robust of these takes.  I like how she doesn't bother herself with protocol, and just kicks off the song by jumping straight into the chorus.  Her delivery strikes me as pretty self-assured - not quite as vulnerable as one might expect from the lyrics.
Nina Simone - Do What You Gotta Do

As much as I love Nina's, I feel like Roberta's version comes a little closer to capturing the essence of the song.  Her confidence seems like it's on the verge of cracking, while assuring her man that he's doing what's right.  It's mostly quiet and pretty understated, but when she decides to wail she'll break your heart.  I love her slight variation of the melody on "come on back and see me when you can" near the end of the song.
Roberta Flack - Do What You Gotta Do

Linda's definitely sounds like the year in which it was released (1993), but despite our collective distaste for early 90s adult contemporary (i know i don't speak for everyone!), she's got some good things going here.  I like the contrast between the delicate breathlessness on the verses and the force on the choruses.  And when she holds out - for 10 full seconds - the "can" on "see me when you can" at the end, that's pretty awesome.  I'm not crazy about the backup vocals or the instrumental arrangement, but you can't really blame her.  It was '93!
Linda Ronstadt - Do What You Gotta Do

Running across this Meg Baird version is what kicked off my whole obsession with this song.  Meg Baird is in the (awesome) band Espers, but she released a solo album last year called Dear Companion with this track.  Totally different from the versions above, she makes it a lilting acoustic folk ballad. Gorgeous.
Meg Baird - Do What You Gotta Do

And finally, a man!  Okkervil River does a bang-up job on this song.  I particularly love that frontman Will Sheff doesn't change the gender in the "girl like me" line at the beginning.  I think this might be the most emotionally vulnerable vocal performance of all these. I love it.
Okkervil River - Do What You Gotta Do

xoben

ps - Geo and Amanda and Ricky and I are seeing Mavis Staples tonight at BAM!  In her honor, I'll leave one more track from her.  I don't think she ever recorded DWYGD, so... here's my favorite track of hers.
Mavis Staples - How Many Times

Country Romance

hey listeners.

if there is one thing we get here at listen it's A LOT of reader mail - mail that asks a lot of questions and demands that we give you what you want.  and one of the things you've all been demanding is a return of the Barbrablogger.  SO WAIT NO MORE you desperate, DESPERATE, lonely people.

The Babrablogger -aka- Mateo is back with a country romance post.
drum roll please...............................

COUNTRY ROMANCE!


1.  Reba McIntire, "You Lied"

I listened to this song CONTINUOUSLY when I was 16.  I wanted so much to be living the tortured, angsty life that Reba gets to sing about in this song.  She's trapped in a loveless marriage with a man who can't even look her in the eye and tell her the truth.  Just wait for the first time she sings that beautiful chorus at 1:04.

2.  Garth Brooks, "Shameless"

One of the best songs he ever recorded.  The backup singers are classic mid-90's country.  This song probably should be sung at some point by a really amazing soul singer.  Geo?

3. Dolly Parton, "Love is Like a Butterfly"

Such a pretty, disarming song.  When I listen to it, it feels like Dolly is right behind me, softly singing into my ear.

4. Joni Mitchell, "Help Me"

Well, there's no way she's country.  But this was recorded right in the best part of the 70's, when everything kinda sounded country.  This is one of the best songs recorded in that decade.  And I thank my Joni-friend Jes for sending it my way.

enjoy!

Sigur Rós - Hvarf/Heim

talk about a post i have been meaning to do for a couple of months!
the new sigur ros came out around NOV 6, 2007 (or maybe ON that date? i'm not sure, nor do you care)

so here's the deal - stop me if you've heard this (and by stop me i mean skim this paragraph) it's a two disc album (and in case you fancy buying from a record store: it's got very aesthetically pleasing packaging.)   Hvarf, the first disc consists of sigur ros revisiting songs from their "cannon." the second disc, heim, is live recordings from their free icelandic tour -- it had stops like this:

where you saw them do this:

and this:

these images are from Heima, their new film (and companion to this album), which is out now.  for a while you could write to their myspace page and set up a screening of the film.  wouldn't that be awesome?
anyway - this album is AMAZING. i must admit that Heim is definitely my favorite (but PLEASE don't tell Hvarf.)

so, i am going to share a few tracks. and then you should go buy the album.  you won't regret it.

from heim:

Samskeyti

it's like an amazing wave. i want a symphony to explode with music at the end -- like in the end of rhapsody in blue.

Agaetis Byrjun

so acoustic - so beautiful.

from hvarf:

von

it's an opera.

so now that you've sampled the music, you may be thinking: "okay, i want to buy this - but how shall i best enjoy this music?" well, look no further! here are several ways i think you can best enjoy said music:

• in a beautiful, damp-green icelandic field wearing a really pretty wool sweater with ruddy cheeks.
• riding your bicycle on the west side highway bike path  (wearing a helmet and not playing it too loud, of course)
• stoned in a dance/movement studio
• walking to work in the morning
• underscoring in a movie that has a scene were the fabric of the universe rips open leading to a parallel world.

enjoy.

he really is the king

so a while back i got really into elvis -- 
now, don't think that i am acting like i am discovering something new -
BUT i must say, i really love the albums i got, and i am looking to make a few more informed purchases.
(anyone have any good elvis reccomendations?)

the elvis listening began when my mother asked for elvis gospel cd's for christmas several years back. i had never heard elvis gospel and only knew the basic elvis standards. 

well. did i enjoy elvis gospel! i worked at a cafe for a long while and i used to play those cd's, as well as odetta, on sundays.  i'm not really religious by any means, it was more of a challenge for anyone to tell me not to play it.   and - it's really good music:

milky white way

(i'm) gonna walk dem golden stairs

(funny story about "dem" and "dat" i was in a singing for actors class back at BU many years ago, and a girl sang "can't help lovin' dat man of mine" (with plenty of crisp emphasis on the "dem"s and "dat"s) and after it our teacher had to explain that no one sings "dem" and "dat" anymore really, it's racist in a minstrel show kinda way. is that a funny story?  i guess it was funny watching a very white girl sing the song in that old "slang")

swing down sweet chariot

i love this song! his "weeelllll, welllll" kills me.

so this summer i invested in a few albums: Elvis Viva Las Vegas, From Elvis in Memphis and Moody Blue (the last album elvis recorded in his lifetime).
i really haven't stopped listening to any of them since - they're awesome, very country western and let's face it: viva las vegas is an AMAZING song. (it's also one of the first songs i posted about)

here are some tunes:

wearin' that loved on look

don't lie to elvis. you said you'd be faithful when he was gone -- but he can see from the look in your eye that you are a lying whore.  at least shower the stink of cheat off of you - and pay the guy downstairs not to tell him you had a three day party, you stupid, STUPID slut.   I LOVE THIS SONG.

only the strong survive

any song that starts with elvis talking and back up singers is gonna be great. especially when it's advice from his momma about love. guess what? it's true - and it don't just mean in terms of darwinian theory. you gotta be a man and you gotta take a stand.

long black limousine

a be-careful-what-you-wish-for-ironic-success-story song! yes, you vowed you'd be successful and return in a fancy car. but let's face it, you're a crappy driver and you shouldn't have gotten yourself involved in a high speed car chase.  wasn't this small town and elvis' love enough for you? it would be for me. but you got what you wished for - you came home in a big fancy car. are you happy now you stupid, dead criminal?

suspicious minds

once you let the suspicion in it will destroy you. let your love be enough. trust elvis.

don't cry daddy

did dolly parton sing this song? it seems like a dolly song, doesn't it?

moody blue

oh, that elusive, mysterious creature: a moody woman.

blues eyes crying in the rain

it's so country. i love it. TWANG!

i just can't help believin'

the back up singers in this are UNREAL. i can't get enough. especially when elvis talks to them.

this song is just beautiful. though i vaguely doubt elvis had trouble making a girl stay in the morning, it's such a good love song - cause it's true.

see see rider

i posted a couple versions of this song once -- so here's one more. i just love this song and this version kicks ass.

and for a little OLD SCHOOL elvis

the cover of his debut album. i mean: wow.

and a lovely track (don't think was on the above album)

are you lonesome tonight?

just beautiful.

WELL!
that is a lot of elvis!

enjoy
g

2007 has only been over for 9 days

so I think the statute of limitations hasn't QUITE ended on year-end lists. right?  thought so. thanks for understanding.

I'll start with some favorite albums from the year.  In particular, I echo Geo's recommendations for Beirut's Flying Club Cup, Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha, and Radiohead's No Rainbows. they were on my list too, but I'll avoid redundancy. They're all brilliant albums.  Some others, in no particular order:

Feist: The Reminder.
I mean, you had to have been living under a rock to not have heard something from this album this year, but there's a reason for that: it's a really really good album. diverse, but tight, and all held together by feist's sultry emotive pipes. the girl can sing.
feist, i feel it all

Amy Winehouse: Back to Black.
It's been a big year for Amy. She skyrocketed to international fame, then plummeted to tabloid embarrassment. It's tragic, but let's not forget what put her there in the first place: a damn good album that helped kick off a soul revival.
amy winehouse, me and mr jones

The Clientele: God Save The Clientele.
There will always be a place in my heart for these gentlemen.  They have a knack for breaking my heart with even the most upbeat sunshiny tracks in their catalog. This album continued the trend started with 2006's Strange Geometry, lifting the hazy production sound for a little more clarity and a little more bounce.   As heartbreaking as ever, though.
the clientele, somebody changed

Loney, Dear: Loney, Noir.
There's nothing like taking a risk on buying a CD you've never heard, based on the cover art, track titles, and band name (which in this case I actually misread as Lonely, Dear) and discovering a new band you completely love. This was one of those serendipitous discoveries for me this year.  Simple, understated, lovely from start to finish.
loney, dear, the meter marks ok 

LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
This one actually stayed off my radar for a long time somehow, but it's no surprise that it's on pretty much everyone's top 10 list for the year. It's consistently danceable, but complex, mature, depressing, funny, and a joy either on headphones or cranked on a shitty (or awesome) stereo.  The first influence I heard when I listened to it was New Order.
lcd soundsystem, someone great

Jens Lekman: Night Falls Over Kortedala
Another one that inexplicably eluded me for most of the year.  I guess i had my blinders on because I wasn't ready to delve into the world of an attractive 26-year old Swede who variously channels Belle&Sebastian, ABBA, and Rufus Wainwright.  (ps - what is it with the swedes lately? Jens? Loney, Dear? The Knife? There's something in the water up there.)  From start to finish, every song on this album is a pop gem.  (this song brings to mind rufus wainwright's sampling of Bolero on the opening track from Want One. Gotta love those huge, bombastic horns!)
jens lekman, and i remember every kiss

The Voices of East Harlem: Right On Be Free
This one gets the prize for best re-master/re-issue, repackaging TVOEH's 1970 release.  This group had 20 members, aged 12-21, and it is pure, sublime gospel genius.  You sort of expect the title track to be a little hokey, right?  "Right on, be free."  But these kids are singing with the conviction of God behind them.  It's anything but hokey.  When she sings "I'm gonna live until I'm dead" and the other 19 voices  respond with "Till I'm Dead, till i'm dead"... gets me everytime.  The whole album has that intensity.  Expect a more full-fledged post on the album soon.
the voices of east harlem, right on be free

And now for some of my favorite traxx from the last 12 months... Again, no particular order.

Amy Winehouse, Tears dry on their own.
forget rehab. this is the song i had on repeat for the first 3 months of the year. the most faithful classic soul throwback on the album, it's also a great (and empowering) soundtrack for anyone dealing with a heartbreak.  Or anyone that just wants to dance around the apartment.

Horse Feathers, Helen.
this song is from their daytrotter session.  it's been tiding me over until their next album, which may not be until the fall, I hear. I like it because the production is a tad more immediate and intimate than on the 2006 album Words Are Dead, but with the same earthy mix of guitar, cello and violin, and Justin's slightly unsettling, otherworldly voice.

Chris Garneau, Black and Blue.
I posted this one a while back, in the midst of my obsession with it. It still hits me in all the right spots. When I can conjure the emotional strength to listen to it, that is. That "I want to catch my death of cold ... cause I'm scared I'm growing old," just won't stop destroying me.

Akron/Family, Don't be afraid, you're already dead.
simple enough to be a campfire song, moving enough to bring you to tears. i used this song for guerrilla dance team's underground tunnel dinner party performance, so I spent a lot of time listening to it. and i'm still not tired of it.

Jens Lekman, A Postcard to Nina.
A story song? Yes. About Jens pretending to be a lesbian's boyfriend so her dad doesn't find out she has a girlfriend?  Right.  Backed by some sweet horns, Jens's clever but not cloying lyrics are where the real genius lies, right up to the last line (before the coda of "don't let anyone stand in your way"): "Yours truly,  Jens Lekman."  I actually found a live video of him doing this song and telling the story of the actual event that it's about -- I highly recommend checking it out:

Of Montreal, A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger.
It's a weird song, really.  It starts with one of the best (and most hilariously depressing) opening lines I've heard in a long time: "I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown while living in Norway." But it's so fun and catchy! Not the nervous breakdown soundtrack you might be expecting.  Dance it out.

Feist, 1234.
I don't care if you think you've heard it too much. Everyone plays it (and options it for their commercials) because it's a brilliant song. Banjo, guitar, sweeping strings, soaring horns and hand claps!  You just can't go wrong.  Also, probably the best video of the year.

LCD Soundsystem, All My Friends.
This one nabbed Pitchfork's #1 slot for the year. It never quite bowled me over on a visceral emotional level, but it's a really good, really smart song about making your way through adulthood: "You spend the first five years trying to get with the plan, and the next five years trying to be with your friends again."  Um, tell me about it.

Sleeping States, The Next Step.
Such a gorgeous song about the tentative start to a relationship. Another heartbreaker. Markland's multi-tracked vocals right in your ear make for an intense listen on headphones.

And just a few more that came out pre-2007, but didn't find their way to my desk until this year, at which point I became obsessed with them:

The Blow, Parentheses.
"If something in the deli aisle makes you cry, of course I'll put my arm around you and I'll walk you outside."  Such a good line.  And I love Khaela Maricich's voice.

Joan As Police Woman, Real Life.
Goddamn, did I have this one on repeat for a long time.  The torch song is alive and well, thank you Joan.

The Supremes, When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes.
Not sure how this pristine pop gem eluded me for my 20-something years, but I don't think I'll ever be the same. Handclaps, an impeccable horn line, and THE SUPREMES!

Okay listeners. Thanks for listening. Wishing you all a joyful year for the 356 days that remain of it.

xo,
ben

what a year!

well.
first. we apologize for the month long radio silence. and know that 2008 promises to be a year full of more frequent supply of tunes from the boys at listen.
so DON'T WORRY. and i know you all were worrying.

i was debating all the different ways to think about the past year of music and all that jazz - and it's a little tricky because i sort of have year end amnesia -- meaning things that happened last winter feel like they happened ages ago - so i don't think to include them in any sort of year end analysis.

that said: as for a round up - i figure i'll list some new music that i have found and gotten COMPLETELY obsessed with at one point or another.
and then i'll add some older music that was NEW-TO-ME this year that has really affected me.

okay: so new music of 2007 -

well, in no particular order:

andrew bird - Armchair  Apocrypha
ben introduced this album to me and i used to sit at work and listen to scythian empires on repeat all day.  it's a little disorienting and makes me very emotional but sort of happy and comforted and at ease.
if you can wear headphones at work, and like the song -- i recommend it.
we also saw him in concert and it was AWESOME.
scythian empires

i know i've posted it before, but it's one of my most favorite songs of the year, so there.

beirut - the flying club cup
i just cannot get enough of this album. i think, when all is said and done (and since it is now 2008, i guess 2007 is both said AND done) that this was my favorite new album of 2007. it's gorgeous and i love it.

forks and knives (la fete)

guyamas sonora

cliquot

sharon jones and the dap-kings.
well - 2007 started with me being introduced to amy winehouse then watching her spiral down in a disastrous tail spin.
but then i learned of sharon jones and the dap kings (the dap kings being the band amy used to record back to black and tour with) and i got even more excited, bought all her albums on emusic and haven't really stopped listening. 100 days, 100 nights is their 2007 album. i tried to get them to play at our gala. alas - maybe next year.

100 Days, 100 Nights
i mean, that has to be one of the best songs of 2007.

be easy

the puppini sisters -

tj and i saw these girls perform mid december. it was amazing. they have a new album that isn't available in the US yet. it is killing me. we heard a lot of the new songs live and they rock.

heart of glass

camera obscura - let's get out of the country
oh 2007! you had a lot of my favorite bands giving me some new stuff. it was kind of like in 2006 when belle and sebastian played on my birthday. does it get better than that? not really!
camera obscura's album rocks. plain and simple. i also saw them this summer. FOR FREE! at the river to river festival.

let's get out of the country
if looks could kill

other artists in this category? (the category being bands i love that released new albums in 2007)
arcade fire - neon bible
keep the car running

animal collective
peacebone.

i'm note sure if i like this album better than FEELS (meaning: i don't, yet) but i really enjoy peacebone, and i like what animal collective does.

radiohead
Faust Arp

iron and wine
The Devil Never Sleeps
i mean the new iron and wine is just beautiful. as was their town hall show that sean and i caught. they're one of those bands that i just want to constantly either be performing in my neighborhood or releasing singles and b sides. i could listen all day long, well, i do, so i guess i should say: I LISTEN ALL DAY LONG.

amazing group/album that was introduced to me through a listen. reader?
the avett brothers - emotionalism
i love blue grass. and these boys rock.

paranoia in B major

i assume this is their big single (they played in on conan o'brien at least) - i really dig it.

okay, well, i know i am missing some and there are a few albums i JUST started listening to about 2 days ago (such as the recent SPOON album and the most recent BLONDE REDHEAD) and i'm diggin them - but since i haven't had the time to get obsessed, they didn't make the list.

expect some more this week..
cheers to 2008 or should i say two thousand GREAT!
g