Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus -- easily my favourite album by this guy so far (so far==that I've heard). Blows last year's release out of the water.

Rob Dougan, Furious Angels -- this guy really likes to suffer his vocals, and I dig that. Plus, it's got kind of a unique sound to it -- orchestra and techno beats. I know I'm putting at least two tracks on upcoming comps.

em:t0004 -- em:t is back, yay! Ambient techno

Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez, A Manual Dexterity (soundtrack volume one) -- the guy from Mars Volta, could be a bunch of Mars Volta outtakes. Recommended if De-Loused in the Comatorium wasn't enough for you (also check out the Tremulant EP).

Dirty Three, She Has No Strings Apollo -- definitely digging these guys, I'm going to have to find that In The Fishtank disk they did, will probably be my favourite Low disk. Neo-classical/new instrumentalism

Twine -- electronica, nicely dark and atmospheric. Really dig track 5. And no, I did not get it for the cover.

Philip Glass, The Fog Of War -- it's what you would expect if you've heard his other soundtracks.

Ghost, Hypnotic Underworld -- definitely making my year-end list. 1960's/1970's psychedelia.

Solvent, Apples & Synthesizers -- bubbly synth-pop from Ghostly.

Juno Reactor, Labyrinth -- Blue Man Group-ish percussion for the synthpop/industrial/EBM set. Heavy on the cliche's and melodrama, which is fine by me.

Sasha Lazard, The Myth of Red -- meh. Trip-hop-py. Enjoyable enough, but the competition this week is fierce.

Count Zero, Robots Anonymous -- zany proggy. What I picture as "Troy music", in the Zappa/Kenneally/BFD/TMBG vein.

Midwest Product, World Series of Love -- meh, not enough "there" there.

A comp from my friend Loki -- quite a few tracks on here I like -- did you know that Nancy Sinatra did her last album with members of Calexico? I'm going to have to pick that one up. And yes, he put another Tom Waits track on there. Funny little cover of White Wedding by Rowland Howard (in the style of Jim White/Joseph Arthur/et al). Snakefarm's "Black Girl" stands out, as does Donovan's "Love Floats".

CRSVMe from JC -- dig it. And I have to argue with the contention about the title. CRS stands for "Current Rotation Sampler", which is exactly what this is. I think you're confusing it with RRS, a "Rave Recordings Sampler", which was more of a communal thing. Definitely dig the synthpop tracks, and even some of the more guitarsy ones.

Matthew Dear, Backstroke -- meh, you can dance to it, nice grooves here and there, but I'm not sure it's pure listening material. I might consider some tracks to work out to...erm...to which to work out...erm...still ending with a preposition there...screw it...

Dykehouse, Midrange -- although still as listenable as it was upon first listen, I think this one is slowly falling its way down my year-end list towards the bottom, if not off. The only problem is, all the songs are a bit samey. Otherwise it's right up there with M83 in terms of cool use of synthesizers (although without the blissful, "better than sex" aspect).

Cut Copy, Bright Like Neon Love -- very cool synthpop. Recommended for fans of the electroclash movement.

The Fever, Red Bedroom -- melodic no-wave, not as good as the first EP, but still quite enjoyable and a keeper. Not as thrashy as they come, which is a good thing, as I get quite annoyed at that "trying to sound barely in control, but really out of control" lack of virtuosity.

Aeroc, Viscous Solid -- very good, not as dark as Twine.

Secret Chiefs 3, Book of Horizons -- I'm thinking Mad Rhetorick might like this, quite varied, heavy as death sometimes (with the associated vocals, too), interspersed with a lot of variety (including Drum & Bass!), which makes sense, since this is the drummer from Mr. Bungle.

Miss Kittin, I.com -- a serious contender for year-end list, this is so good. The only downside is her serious lack of grasp of the English language on the first couple of tracks, but I guess fans of hers already expect this. Not electroclash at all, very contemporary electronica.

Tanakh -- delightful psychedelic alienware.

Merzbow, Merzbird -- more beat-oriented noise from the master of noise, although still not as good as K.K. Null (at least, in my book).

Neurosis, Eye of the Storm -- slow as contemplation, heavy as a suicide note, sparse (at times) as the grasslands, dense (at others) as the forest. Definitely making my year-end list. Think somewhere between Shape Of Despair and Swans. Or perhaps Joy Division without the synthesizers (and, of course, a different vocalist -- slightly more screamy).

Lotus Eaters -- a Dead Can Dance tribute, quite good, one of the better ones (tributes), ever.

Legends disk -- dagnabit, that was so long ago, I don't even remember my impressions of it, I'm going to have to listen to it again.

NP: Dresden Dolls, A is for Accident (live album) -- these guys are so good, definitely making my year-end list. Kind of like a harder Tori Amos.