Crawling out of the indie ghetto....

[nobody]

I think more than a few people around here can get mired into always looking for the small label bands, slagging the mainstream, and assuming anything that can actually get shelf space at Best Buy must be crass garbage. I know that I hear so many good suggestions around her of small label independant stuff that I can loose track of good music that is actually easily available to less focused consumers.

Well, for Christmas I got a gift card to Borders and had to venture out of the indie ghetto and get a hold of some more widely distributed stuff, and I have to say that I have been very happy with what I've picked up. Anyway, here are four CDs I picked up at the local Borders that I have been enjoying a whole bunch...

The Raveonettes - Chain Gang of Love
I heard it described as the Jesus and Mary Chain crossed with the Ronettes. Pretty accurate, I'd say. Fuzzy guitar heaven with more than a hint of the 50s/early 60s strewn throughout. It is a bit samey from start to finish, but hey, at just over a half hour, how sick of it can you get? Good stuff.

Brian Setzer - Nitro Burnin' Funny Daddy
If you exclude his Brian Setzer Orchesta work, his best solo outing to my mind. His early solo stuff seemed too determined to get away from the retro sound of the Stray Cats and came off as rather generic 80s rock. Well, the post big band Brian Setzer's over that and just plays to his strengths. Also includes a bonus CD single from the Brian Setzer Orchestra doing a great version of Luck be a Lady.

Los Straightjackets - Supersonic Guitars in 3-D
Fun, fun surf guitar instrumentals. This one is going to get a ton of listens from me, and likely for a long time to come. Mostly mid-tempo, and it explore sa variety of styles, keeping in the same theme. The 3-D cover, complete with enclosed 3-D glasses is a bonus.

Jet - Get Born
The up tempo numbers are the highlight here. The slower tunes give you a little break, but aren't really the stars in my mind. Nothing new here, but what they do, they do well. Great tunes to get excited and drink some beer to.

I've picked up a few other bigger releases this year that have been good. Just figured I'd highlight the latest purchases I've made that remind me that there is indeed good music out there that is widely available.

Anybody else have particular favorites that are a little closer to the beaten path than this board often wanders?

[-Jar-]

it's a weird record, in some ways a lot of folks don't seem to like it because it's more simple and stripped down than WHITE PONY, which every critic hailed as some sort of nu-metal OK COMPUTER.. it's a great reacord, but I like DEFTONES too. To me, it's a study of texture, space and expansion. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, maybe they just wanted to rock out and jam on some more simple riffs, but there's some really cool sounds on this one. Very dense yet atmospheric, almost some kind of metal shoegazer music. I dig it.

-jar

[Stone]

Always gotta be different, doncha? Now it's hip to bash the indie hipsters, eh? Don't make me drive over to Lansing and beat your Best Buy-lovin' ass...

Okay, okay. I'm all talk (not to mention about half your size).

I haven't picked up much mainstream stuff lately. I've been heading the other way, as you described. Been listening to some stuff I got in Japan and The Broken Family Band and You Am I.

Oh, and Los Straitjackets are a lot of fun live if you've never seen them (but something tells me you probably have).

Hey, I still didn't pick up that Johnny Cash box, but hopefully tomorrow. I just picked up his autobiography, Cash, though (although I've only read about 30 pages).

Stone

[nobody]

Well, I think what happened was I ended up with gift cards and realized that most of the stuff I've heard and been interested in from here wasn't available. And, I was a little surprised how much I ended up liking what I did end up with. Still wish they would have had the 2003 Handsome Family.

Oh, speaking of Lansing, if ya ever decide to head this way, March would be good. Reverend Horton Heat is actually gonna grace this little town by playing at a place called Temple Club. Wife and I are heading out for sure, Reverend's her favorite. We'll probably try to gather up some sort of crowd. But, considering I'm one of the few in our circle NOT in AA, I could always use drinking company.

Hope you had fun in Japan. Bet you felt like a big man over there. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

[Jim Clark]

Geez, you probably could have got a better deal on the Raveonettes in Kansas. Well if it was a gift card I guess you can't do much better than that.

Well you know that I don't mind shopping for discs anywhere so long as they are cheap! Borders isn't the worst offender when it comes to high prices though. I ventured into a store called Fye's yesterday and almost had an MI. 18.99 for the Strummer disc and 19.99 for KMFDM. If that's someone's idea of a joke, I'm not laughing. I'm sure my library will come up with the Strummer disc and a used copy of some other odds and ends will show up soon enough. I need a break anyway!

jc

[Dusty Chalk]

Hey, I still didn't pick up that Johnny Cash box, but hopefully tomorrow.Are you talking about Unearthed? I saw an ad for that on television, looks pretty good. He does a bunch of covers -- "Hurt", of course, but also "Heart Of Gold", "Redemption Song", and "Rusty Cage", of all songs. He's not much of a singer, practically talking his way through most songs (I think he has a range of about half an octave), but he's got such a great voice, and conviction, and charisma, that I'm still hankering for this box set, myself.

Wish he had done "On the Day We Meet Again" (Moody Blues).

[Stone]

Are you talking about Unearthed?

Yep. It looks like a really good set. There are a bunch of collaborators too that make it sound even more interesting. BTW, "Rusty Cage" was on one of his proper albums too - I believe Unchained.

Stone