Hey, it's Tuesday! Playlist time.

[Davey]

No time on Tuesday to post my shaky recollections, but this thread has the looks of one that could use a little Wednesday support

Lali Puna - Faking The Books
Listened to this new one a few times and it does have some of that same warm electro-organic glow that I love so much about the Notwists' Neon Golden, to which it will inevitably be compared since Lali Puna is half Markus Acher, but it is still quite a bit different and not just because of the female vocals. Their music sounds more electronic than the Notwist, but then again Neon Golden is one of those unique electronic albums that almost makes you forget that anything is even plugged in. The electronics here are still balanced with guitar and, in some songs, cello and violin like on Neon Golden, but without the somewhat more endearing (to me) forays into folk music. Kind of like a lazy version of New Order but with some added herky jerkys and glitches. Kinda nice and still very sublime, just not quite the classic that is Neon Golden. At least not yet......but with every album I hear that initially seems to have some of the charm of Neon Golden, the more I realize how extraordinary was The Notwist's achievement, at least in my view. Probably also worth noting that it's a pretty nice sounding CD that was not surprisingly mastered at Abbey Road by oldtimer Chris Blair, just as was Neon Golden and many other good sounding CDs.

Simple Minds - Early Gold
Pretty much just what the title says, except they didn't score much gold until the end of those early years. Some of us talked a little about early Simple Minds in another recent thread, and this is a pretty nice introduction. Covers most of the best songs from the days when they sounded more like Wire and Talking Heads than the later radio-friendly pop that made them international stars. Very interesting to listen to the progression of their sound from 1978 to 1982 on this chronological collection. I still love both Chelsea Girl and New Gold Dream, but you probably wouldn't recognize them as being by the same band. Very cool 15-song Virgin UK collection.

Franz Ferdinand - same same
Love it. Talking Heads 2004? Yeah, sometimes you can follow the buzz and not get stung

The Stills - Logic Will Break Your Heart
Don't know yet - only listened once and wasn't really all that impressed. Initially sounds a little like a mix of U2 and Coldplay at times which doesn't endear it to me very much at this point in time, although they aren't really as glossy sounding as that would suggest and I wouldn't be at all surprised if that Coldplay sound I hear turns out to ultimately be something closer to the more indie hipster approved Echo & the Bunnymen as many seem to suggest. Jury is still out but I feel this one might be a real grower for me. Then again, I never really climbed all the way onto that Interpol bandwagon.....

Electrelane - The Power Out
Might be my favorite recent album, not sure yet. Probably listened to it more than anything else, though. Definitely catches a lot of the sound and the appeal of the Feelies outstanding 1980 debut, Crazy Rhythms, which I also recall listening to a bunch this week (or was it last week?). I've already said a lot about it here but I just saw a recent review at http://www.drawerb.com/02/1082691322.htm that opens with a description of this band/album that I find myself kind of agreeing with, so I'll post it below....

It’s weird how certain bands can remind you of so many others within seconds, yet still sound unique and invigorating. Electrelane is a female quartet from Brighton, England, playing jangly guitar-rock rooted in post-punk with flourishes of Stereolab and The Pretenders. The spooky organ bits subtlely underpin the minimal guitar/bass interplay amidst the loose, almost jammy framework (similar to the band’s debut on Mr. Lady). The vocals can be gruff as well as serene, harmonizing in unexpected places, but it all fuses together with that nagging feeling that you should be paying attention.

And of course some comps like the excellent CRSV9 which even included a track from that last album, although not from me. Much more cuddly collection this time around and a few that I want to check out more. Very nice job and yes, the cover is cool