Finally mailed out my latest Shake Those Monkey Bones comps to all the peeps that asked for it. You know who you are. Lots of bonus discs and surprises to be had in all the packages. Just like Christmas so you'll want to stay close to the mailbox for the next few. Hope I stumbled upon something that each of you will enjoy, but we all know that's not gonna happen!

Spun that comp a bunch of times while burnin and baggin. Also drug out a couple old favorites to keep me going like The Notwist Neon Golden (same as it ever was...great) and Sue Garner/Rick Brown Still (one of those I'd surely buy again if it got stolen). And I made this early Tunesday post below over at Rocky Road this weekend, but that place is really in a sad state lately with all the personal attacks and endless prog bashing. Gets old fast but some people just think it's still funny no matter how many times they say it. In fact, they don't even talk about music there anymore. It's almost like elementary school at recess....but if you're not 10 years old still, it's just not funny.

Anyway, now I'm sounding like an old curmudgeon. Let the kids argue and play if they want! Been listening a bunch to The Lonesome Sea by Wayne Robbins and the Hellsayers. My favorite right now. Just got it a couple weeks ago but it really has grown on me fast. Sad that it's getting such little distribution or press because it's really a nice album. Probably comes closer to that magic sound of After the Gold Rush than Neil could get today, but still never sounds dated. A little of that "Helpless" flavor in the chorus of the second song. Guess they did some shows opening for My Morning Jacket so that's a good comparison too. But closer to the Songs: Ohia take on Neil Young, maybe. Not the totally melancholy Molina as on Didn't It Rain that I love the most, but the more twangy and hopeful one that made Magnolia Electric Co so good. Kind of like Doug Martsch and his Built To Spill take on Neil Young, but more lap steel. And they do let loose on occasion with the full arsenal of noisy guitars, which always makes me smile. Like on the third song "Jesus", which starts out slow and acoustic sounding but takes off into Spiritualized meets Crazy Horse territory in the second half after they crank up the guitar amps past 11. Very cool. Good lyrics too. Only 10 songs and a couple do go on a little longer than they should, but the rest is golden, especially for a debut. Any others heard this one yet?

And then The Decemberists Castaways & Cutouts. Is there a better song in the last few years than "Grace Cathedral Hill". Not for me. Love it.

I paid twenty-five cents to light a little white candle
and the world may be long for you
but it'll never belong to you
but on a motorbike when all the city lights blind your eyes tonight
are you feeling better now?
are you feeling better now?
are you feeling better now?

la la la la la la.....

Quite an album, and much more complex than I was expecting when I first got it, even with all the Neutral Milk Hotel and Jeff Mangum references appearing in most of the discussions about it. Maybe it's just because I'm older, but the first thing that struck me about the music, and (especially) the vocals, was the similarity to Robyn Hitchcock, notably his solo work with the Egyptians. And a little bit of the Smiths. And the third song even reminds me a little of They Might Be Giants, something from the Flood album that I can't quite place. But there's an old cabaret aspect that runs through the music brought about by the use of those creaky accordians. Kind of a European folk sound, sometimes even a gypsy sound. The stories aren't quite as gripping as the epics ripped with such urgency from the insides of Jeff Mangum, but instead seem to be mostly told from an outside view and without much haste. Kind of reflective, you might say. More peaceful than NMH but still very personal. And very literate too, with lots of unique imagery. Another one that has aged very well for me over the last coupla years. I have the followup and the Tain EP, both which are very good, but this is the one I keep coming back to.

Then moved on to the new Andrew Bird album, which is damn good. First listen was a bit distracted and it didn't sink in much, leaving me thinking that The Swimming Hour (the last one with his Bowl of Fire band) was much better (I don't have the last one). But listening to it the second and third time through my opinion has really begun to change. Very nice, and while maybe not quite the dynamics of my favorites from The Swimming Hour like "Case In Point" and "11:11", it's still very cohesive and so well developed. Sounding a little like the recent (and maybe too syrupy) Mercury Rev, especially in the beginning, but when mixed with some of that old time jazz and cabaret feel, it's a pretty enticing sound. Very lush. Love song number 8, "Opposite Day", with some of the same feel of that "Case In Point" that I mentioned. Builds kind of like the Beatles' "A Day In The Life", but not really. Always lots of interesting lyrical phrases and turns to decipher. And that everpresent violin. I guess he plays most of the instruments here, but it doesn't have the sound of a one-man band. Owing much to the nice production help of veteran David Boucher.