Sonic Scenery

The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles invites you to bring your iPod to a new audio exhibit called Sonic Scenery. The museum commissioned music from Autolux, Jon Hassell, Ozomatli, The Sun Ra Arkestra, David J, Matmos, Stephen Hartke, Nobody, Languis, and Nels Cline.

Each artist created music for a different gallery. Together, it works as "a museum soundtrack". Museum visitors can download the music in advance from i-tunes for $9.99 for their iPod or rent both audio equipment and the music for $3.00 at the museum.

Sonic Scenery runs February 3rd through May 3rd. February 3rd in particular all sorts of nifty entertainment is planned, with sets by Jon Hassell, Matmos, Languis, and others.

"The Mysterious Bog People" exhibit opens March 26th, and that also sounds pretty nifty.

Tunes not from the Sonic Scenery exhibit:

Autolux - Sugarless (from Future Perfect)

Jon Hassell - Before And After Charm (La Notte) (from OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music)

Ozomatli - (Who Discovered) America? (from Street Signs)

A few MP3s by Languis are available for free download at his label's site. I'm partial to "Pieces of Objects".

Morrissey Going to South by Southwest, Y'all

An interview with Morrissey has been added to the South by Southwest lineup. On March 16, Moz will spend the afternoon answering questions posed by Rolling Stone's David Fricke. That night, he'll perform at the Austin Music Hall. These efforts are perhaps not coincidentally well-timed with the release of his next album, Ringleader of the Tormentors, out on April 3rd in the UK, a day later in the US.

Morrissey has just added two Irish gigs and one in Amsterdam to his sold-out Spring tour schedule. He has also announced Sons & Daughters as an opening act, as well as Tiger Army on his UK dates.

Morrissey - Our Frank (from Suedehead: The Best of Morrissey)

Morrissey - Driving Your Girlfriend Home (from Kill Uncle)

Cursive Announces New Album

Cursive has announced the timetable for their next album. After finishing demos, they plan to begin recording it in the middle of February "with a projected completion date of May 1st." They "hope to release the new record at the end of this summer (late August early September)."

The band writes that they "are very excited about the new songs and looking forward to the recording process."

Cursive - Ceiling Crack (from Such Blinding Stars For Starving Eyes)

Cursive - The Game of Who Needs Who the Worst (from Domestica)

Cursive - Making Friends and Acquaintances (from Domestica)

Cursive - A Gentleman Caller (from The Ugly Organ)

Cursive - I Thought There'd Be More Than This (from The Difference Between Houses and Homes (Lost Songs and Loose Ends 1995-2001))

Et tu, 22-20s? January's the Time to Break Up

22-20s have decided to call it a day. In a statement on their website, the band's singer/guitarist Martin Trimble writes that "22-20s have split up. The split was amicable and mutual."

Trimble cited unhappiness with a demanding touring schedule that kept the band playing a type of music they no longer felt connected to as rationale for the band's decision.

He wrote: "Honesty is about playing songs you passionately believe in, playing in a band you passionately believe in and I am no longer able to say that about 22-20s. I am no longer comfortable being in a band named after a blues song."

Trimble is working on a new project.

The recent flurry of band break-ups echoes some recent stories of strife between celebrity couples. Apparently, January is a common time for breakups, at least those of the romantic sort. One or both people might be motivated to stick together through the holidays. Once they're over... they can say, "It's over." The stress and tension of the holidays can also lead to a decision to split. There's likely a special motivation to do so before Valentine's Day.

There is also a theory that people may want to seek a "fresh start" because it's the beginning of a new year. This desire to get a new start would seemingly apply to musical breakups as well.

In the UK, January 12 was dubbed National Breakup Day, because it was supposedly the day couples were most likely to split. U.K. "researchers" announced that one couple in ten breaks up in January. Among their other findings:

- 28% had stayed in a dead relationship for a year or more.
- 18-24 year-olds most often broke up with someone because they flirted with someone else.
- 10% of 35-44 year-olds said life is too short to stay with someone you're unhappy with.
(25-34 year-olds remain a mysterious lot. Maybe they don't break up enough to be researched sufficiently)

These statistics result from a poll done by an online personals company. Those places naturally stand to benefit from all these breakups.

22-20s - The Devil In Me (from 22-20s)

The Mr. T Experience - Don't Go Breaking My Heart (from ...And the Women Who Loved Them)

Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart (from Into the Blue, etc.)

Tenacious D - Kyle Quit The Band (from Tenacious D)

Grandaddy Breaks Up

Grandaddy's Jason Lytle spoke with NME.com today, and confirmed that the band has broken up. The album Just Like The Fambly Cat has already been recorded and will be released later this year, but the band has no plans to tour again.

Lytle told NME the breakup was "inevitable... refusing to buy into the way things are traditionally supposed to be done has made things worse for us." He cited financial issues ("it hasn't proved to be a huge money-making venture for a lot of guys in the band") and communication problems within the group as leading to the split. He characterized the current feeling as "awkward", and said while the break-up itself was "kind of sad", they had "come to terms with the fact that we gave it a pretty good go."

Drummer Aaron Burtch posted a message on the band's website about the breakup:

hi

yeah, well i guess that's it.

don't really know what to say, and maybe there just aren't any words to properly express my feelings about the past 14 years or so. it just goes too deep. maybe i'll post something more proper and detailed sometime in the future, but for now i just want to tell you all thank you for being there for and with us. we'll never forget you and we'll be forever grateful to you for being friends and supporters of our dumb band.

please excuse me while i limp off into the sunset.
later
aaron

Grandaddy - A.M. 180 (from Under the Western Freeway)

Grandaddy - The Crystal Lake (from The Sophtware Slump)

Grandaddy - The Warming Sun (from Sumday)

Grandaddy - Cinderland (from the Excerpts From The Diary of Todd Zilla EP)

Sarah Harmer Announces Spring Touring Schedule

Hey, all it took for Sarah Harmer to add loads of West Coast dates to her touring schedule was a polite request. Or possibly it was a coincidence. We may never know. Her latest album I'm A Mountain is already out in Canada, and will be released in the States on February 7, and in Europe on March 6. In your faces, Europe; she likes us second best! Lots more info about Harmer's shows at her website. She tends to include what time she plans to take the stage, for instance.

Sarah Harmer Tour Dates Aplenty:

January 28: 2 PM: Ottawa (In-store at Mountain Equipment Co-op on Richmond Road, with proceeds to PERL)
Feb. 22: Buffalo, N.Y. (Town Ballroom)
Feb. 23: Burlington, Vt. (Higher Ground)
Feb. 24: Boston (Paradise Rock Club)
Feb. 25: Newmarket, N.H. (Stone Church)
Feb. 27: Northampton, Mass. (Iron Horse)
Feb. 28: Alexandria, Va. (Birchmere Music Hall)
March 1: New York (Canal Room)
March 3: Philadelphia (World Cafe Live)
March 4: Pittsburgh (Dowes)
March 7: Carrboro, N.C. (Cat's Cradle)
March 8: Greenville, S.C. (The Handlebar)
March 9: Asheville, N.C. (The Grey Eagle)
March 10: Nashville (Exit/In)
March 11: Decatur, Ga. (Eddie's Attic)
March 13: Louisville, Ky. (Headliner's Music Hall)
March 14: St. Louis, Mo. (Blueberry Hill)
March 17: Austin, Texas (Momo's at South By Southwest)
March 27: Ann Arbor, Mich. (The Ark)
March 29-30: Chicago (Schuba's Tavern)
March 31: Madison, Wis. (High Noon Saloon)
April 1: Minneapolis (Fine Line)
April 4: Thunder Bay, Ontario (Thunder Bay Community Auditorium)
April 5: Winnipeg (Westminster United Church)
April 6: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Knox United Church)
April 8: Calgary, Alberta (Knox United Church)
April 10: Vancouver (Stanley Theatre)
April 11: Victoria, British Columbia (Alix Goolden Hall)
April 12: Seattle (Tractor Tavern)
April 14: San Francisco (Cafe Du Nord)
April 15: Los Angeles (Knitting Factory)
April 16: Santa Monica, Calif. (McCabe's Guitar Shop)

Sarah Harmer - Dandelions in Bullet Holes (from All Of Our Names)

The Cure Offers 4play to the UK First

The Cure have jumped on the trendy digital download train with their latest release, 4play, available to UK residents now, and to the rest of the world at the end of the month. If a little perk like that can help folks in the UK feel special... maybe even make them forget for a moment about their soggy weather, it's okay by me.

So what can you expect from 4play? The album title is embarrassing enough, so let's skip a "Seventeen Seconds" joke at the band's expense. The band, for the newly re-recorded songs on this album, is the "summer 2005 Cure trio" of Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, and Jason Cooper. They recorded new versions of "Three Imaginary Boys", "Seventeen Seconds", "Faith", and "Pornography", with original producer Mike Hedges at the helm.

Additional tracks from Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, Faith, and Pornography, as well as tracks from their deluxe edition bonus discs are also included. But, wait, there's more! There are four interviews with Robert Smith about the deluxe editions of those albums.

While The Cure and iTunes don't want the rest of the world's filthy money (yet), you can read what UK residents have to say about the songs and about Robert Smith's interviews (sample comment: "Not fair that US subscribers have to wait for this." Wait... here's another: "The Cure ruls!!!") I bet Robert Smith wrote that one himself.

The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys (from Three Imaginary Boys, etc.)

The Cure - Seventeen Seconds (Live) (from the deluxe edition of Seventeen Seconds)

Massive Attack Announces Best-Of Collection

It's a little early to get excited about Weather Underground, Massive Attack's next new album. While they have laid down the tracks for seven songs for the album, which Robert "3-D" Del Naja describes as having a "gothic soul direction", the group doesn't plan to release it until next February.

This is not to say that Massive Attack is waiting a year to release an album, or even new material. They've announced the March (2006, that is) release of both a compilation album and a new single. As always with these collections, neither a "greatest hits" nor "best of" description will feel accurate to everyone. Although anyone who feels that "Danny the Dog" is one of Massive Attack's greatest songs is certainly entitled to their opinion.

A special edition of Collected will include a bonus dual-disc: a CD with "rare and reworked" songs as well as new recordings. The other side will be a DVD including all of Massive Attack's videos. Interesting gimmick, though people may prefer a separate CD and DVD. That would be more convenient, although not as environmentally-friendly.

Collected will be released (at least in the UK) on March 27. "Live With Me" featuring vocals by Terry Callier comes out there on March 13. The video has been directed by Jonathan Glazer, who directed the film Sexy Beast as well as several videos.

The timeline for these new releases is consistent with recent rumors that Massive Attack will play Coachella in April. The group does intend to tour, including festivals "throughout the summer and autumn" this year but there are no details yet.

The Track Listing For the Deluxe Edition of Collected:

Disc 1:

Safe From Harm (from Blue Lines)
Karmacoma
Angel
Teardrop
Inertia Creeps (from Mezzanine)
Protection
Butterfly Caught
Unfinished Sympathy (from Blue Lines)
Risingson
Future Proof
Five Man Army
What Your Soul Sings
Sly
Live With Me

Disc Two - Side One (A Regular CD):

(*note the slightly tweaked song titles... apparently the new recordings*)

False Flags
Incantations
Silent Spring
Bullet Boy
Black Melt
Joy Luck Club
Small Time Shoot Em Up
I Against I
I Want You
Danny The Dog (*from the movie of the same name. Weird movie)

Disc Two - Side Two (A DVD with the group's videos):

Daydreaming
Unfinished Sympathy
Safe From Harm
Be Thankful For What You've Got
Sly
Protection
Karmacoma
Risingson
Teardrop
Angel
Inertia Creeps
Special Cases (from 100th Window)
Butterfly Caught
Live With Me
Live With Me (Terry Version)

Franz Ferdinand Announces Webchat This Weds/Thurs

The members of Franz Ferdinand are "delighted" to share the news of their forthcoming web chat. Anyone can join this chat ... as long as they've registered their e-mail address with the Franz Ferdinand website. If there's an increase in the amount of e-mail you get offering amazing deals on mail-order Cialis, it's probably a coincidence.

Please note that the following schedule, including Vancouver and Ottawa's new geopolitical assignment, is straight from Franz Ferdinand's website (which is "resting" at the moment... but, really, it is!). Perhaps this has something to do with Canada's election. Whatever the reason, welcome, new Americanadians!

We know a bit about you, Vancouverites and Ottawans! Permit me to demonstrate. You are well-known for your affection for hockey! Relationships are partly about compromise. Please forget about hockey now; it's not our "thing" here. However, we are willing to let you try to spread the polite and charming ways you are stereotypically known for, as our part of the bargain. You're welcome! Sharing means caring.

Franz Ferdinand's Webchat Schedule:

"Due to international timezones the webchat will take place for an hour at the following times:"

Weds, Jan. 25th
* USA: 3 pm PST (Los Angeles / Vancouver, Canada)
* USA: 4 pm MST (Denver)
* USA: 5 pm CST (Chicago)
* USA: 6 pm EST (New York / Ottawa, Canada)
* UK: 11 pm GMT (London)

Thu 26th January
* Europe: 12 am CET (Paris, Berlin, Rome)
* Russia: 2 am (Moscow)
* Australia: 7 am WST (Perth)
* Japan: 8 am (Tokyo)
* Australia: 10 am EST (Sydney)
* New Zealand: 12 pm (Auckland)

Franz Ferdinand - Fade Together (from You Could Have It So Much Better)

Kidz Bop Kidz - Take Me Out (from Kidz Bop 8. I wonder if anyone has asked Franz Ferdinand how they would feel if a copy of this cover survives a thousand years from now, but no other version of any of their music does)

Classic Rock Mag: Tribute to Queen CD

Picked up the January issue of Classic Rock magazine today. It's not a magazine I'd ordinarily be drawn to, but this issue includes a CD full o' Queen covers, and everyone loves Queen! Plus, the "Bohemian Rhapsody" cover features an autoharp played upside down and... well, actually I really dislike that cover. Several of them are pretty cool though.

The magazine itself includes a look back at the making of Queen's A Night At The Opera, a feature on L.A. Guns, interviews, reviews... and... oh no... Classic Rock's list of the best album's of 2005. Just when I thought it was safe to buy another music magazine. Almost February and we're still not done with the best-of lists! Very well... here's a partial list...

Classic Rock's Best Albums of 2005

1. The Darkness - One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back
2. Robert Plant & The Strange Reaction - Mighty Rearranger
3. System of A Down - Mezmerize/Hypnotize
5. Opeth - Ghost Reveries
6. Bon Jovi - Have A Nice Day
7. Trivium - Ascendancy
8. Foo Fighters - In Your Honour
9. Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution
10. Dream Theater - Octavarium
11. Audioslave - Out of Exile
12. Glenn Hughes - Soul Mover
13. The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang
14. Cream - Royal Albert Hall: London 2-3-5-6 2005
15. Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze

Classic Rock's The Crown Jewels: A Tribute to Queen Track Listing:

1. Grey DeLisle - Bohemian Rhapsody (will post this if anyone wants to hear it...)
2. James LaBrie/Bruce Bouillet - One Vision
3. Jason Mraz - Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (from the Queen covers album Killer Queen)
4. Talisman - Tie Your Mother Down
5. Enuff Z'Nuff - Stone Cold Crazy
6. The Vandals - Don't Stop Me Now (from Hollywood Potato Chip)
7. Robin McAuley & Chris Impellitteri - I Want It All
8. Hayseed Dixie - Fat Bottomed Girls
9. Anthrax - It's Late (from Dragon Attack - A Tribute to Queen)
10. Batfish Boys - Another One Bites the Dust
11. Jeff Scott Soto & Bruce Kulick - Save Me (from Dragon Attack - A Tribute to Queen)
12. Jeff Scott Soto - We Will Rock You (live, exclusive to the mag)

This Week On Morning Becomes Eclectic

The week ahead on Morning Becomes Eclectic is chock-full of cool guests. Tortoise, The Go! Team, Broadcast, and The Elected will perform on the radio program this week. Each group's appearance is scheduled for 11:15 AM PST. In addition to its "radio" broadcast (not an option for everyone), you can listen to Morning Becomes Eclectic live online, or catch a rebroadcast. The show is rebroadcast weekdays 4-7 PM and 2-5AM PST. Artists' appearances on MBE are also archived in both video and audio versions. (The Editors' performance/interview from Tuesday's show is available, for instance...)

The week ahead on MBE - all band appearances at 11:15 AM PST:

Monday the 23rd - Tortoise

Tuesday the 24th - The Go! Team

Wednesday the 25th - Broadcast

Thursday the 26th - The Elected

Tortoise - Benway (from Standards)

The Go! Team - The Power Is On (from Thunder, Lightning, Strike)

Broadcast - America's Boy (from Tender Buttons)

The Elected - Sun, Sun, Sun (from Sun, Sun, Sun)

The Elected - Fireflies In A Steel Mill (from Sun, Sun, Sun)

Sloan Previews Next Album

Blogger is taking what some might say is a well-deserved nap (cue eye-roll from green LA girl). Therefore I'm emailing this abbreviated post to Blogger, and it's awkwardly-formatted...

updated - formatting fixed. Blogger is back up. I am speaking to Blogger but there is a certain awkwardness between us.

Patrick Pentland, Sloan's singer/guitarist, tells Chart Attack "We're basically going to make, not a crazy record, but I know that all my songs are going to be a bit psychedelic. 'All Used Up' was the closest thing we have to a punk song, and I sort of said I wasn't going to write any more rock songs for a while." Pentland compares the recording process to that of Between the Bridges: "We were so tight for time that nobody, except Andrew on drums, played on my songs except me. Everyone had to work separately. At some point we'll start playing on each other's songs, but we're rushing it a little bit."

Pentland also describes opening for The Rolling Stones earlier this month and other assorted matters Sloan in the article. Sloan's playing several shows in Spain this month, as well as a concert in Camden, England on the 31st.

Sloan - Losing California (from Between The Bridges and A Sides Win: Singles 1992-1995)

Sloan - All Used Up (from A Sides Win: Singles 1992-1995)

Madeleine Peyroux Wins Borders Original Voices Award

Madeleine Peyroux's Careless Love has won a 2005 Borders Original Voices Award. This is the first year the award has been given in the music category. According to a statement attributed to "music committee members", "It is Peyroux's voice that first catches your ear, but it is her beautiful, laid back, melodic jazz treatments of everything from Leonard Cohen to Bob Dylan to Hank Williams that keeps you listening." Whatever you say, Music Committee Members Who Speak With One Voice! Although... I like to think of Cohen, Dylan, and Williams as people and not things.

Peyroux will get $5,000 for winning the award, and "will be honored at a special breakfast reception" at May's BookExpo America in Washington, D.C. Early speculation (by me) is that this will likely entail speeches and lackluster food.

Like all the winners, Peyroux's work will be "prominently placed in... Borders Books and Music stores nationwide, with a mention in Borders This Month, a free monthly shopping guide, which will offer a 20 percent discount the month the titles are featured." Incidentally, Amazon is selling Careless Love at 25 percent off. Though of course, it's always nice to buy from an indie record store...

Sure, the whole "Borders Original Voices Awards" smells of a very thinly veiled advertising campaign. On the other hand, corporate awards are commonplace. Arguably, it's not right, but it's okay. The British Phonographic Industry (the equivalent of the RIAA) bring us the Brit Awards "in association with MasterCard". There's even an award called "MasterCard British Album". I find this much more objectionable than Borders making itself some bucks while raising the profile of some authors and artists.

The nominees in Peyroux's category were chosen by employees at Borders stores and at their corporate headquarters in Michigan. The winner was chosen by "a committee of corporate staff members".

The other nominees were:

Amos Lee - Amos Lee
Illinois - Sufjan Stevens
Martha Wainwright - Martha Wainwright
Picaresque - The Decemberists
Un Viaje - Cafe Tacuba

Madeleine Peyroux - Don't Wait Too Long (from Careless Love)

Amos Lee - Soul Suckers (from Amos Lee)

The Decemberists - Of Angels And Angles (from Picaresque)

New Placebo - "Broken Promise" (feat. Michael Stipe)

The first single from Placebo's next album, "Because I Want You", is excellent. Here's another great track from the album:

Placebo - Broken Promise (feat. Michael Stipe) (from Meds, which will be released in the UK on March 13th)

Tea Songs

Here in the States, January is National Hot Tea Month. What better way to celebrate than with a few tunes? Hmm? By drinking tea? Eh, I'm actually in a coffee mood tonight. Maybe tomorrow. (I do quite like tea, really!)

The Robot Ate Me - Apricot Tea (from On Vacation)

Liquid Lounge Vs. Jazzanova - Lemon Tea? (from Sounds Of India (A Selection Of Chill And Funky Indian Tunes) and it is indeed both chill and funky; it's quite nifty)

The Police - Tea In The Sahara (from Synchronicity, etc.)

The Kinks - Have a Cuppa Tea (from Muswell Hillbillies)

Tremulous Monk - Tea Hippy (from Comes With A Smile Issue #19)

The Chalets - Tart, Sweet, Fizzy, Indescribable

The Chalets "must be indescribable", according to John Kelly, host of the Irish TV show "Other Voices", where the group performed several songs last fall. He claimed a "powwow" as to how to describe them had resulted in a "heated argument" rather than consensus.

The group's upbeat retro-pop has prompted many comparisons to the B-52s. The Chalets even have two female singers, just like the B-52s! There are other similarities, like playful male/female exchanges during songs and an offbeat sense of humor. But if the groups were that similar, John Kelly could have said "They're a zingier B-52s!" Or some such thing. Plus, were the B-52s Irish? I think not! In 2005, the Chalets won Best New Band at the Meteor Music Ireland Awards. This year, they've been nominated as Best Irish Band. Clearly, Irish!

More to the point, while they may tend to remind people of other groups -- sometimes very different groups (hence the "heated argument") -- I think they have a reasonably distinct (and infectious!) sound. They remind me somewhat of Blondie, The Brunettes, Stars, and B-52s, while not sounding all that much like any of them. They're also a lot of fun. Their lyrics are wonderfully tart, often as sour as their music is sweet and fizzy.

I first heard of the Chalets when Eddie Argos, Art Brut's frontman (as the kids say), told me he had learned to play one of their songs on the xylophone (an endorsement in itself, as he was a beginner on the xylophone). He asked if I'd heard of them, and said they were very good. So props to him, as I agree that they're very good. Hopefully it won't be too long before Check In is released in the States.



Streaming audio samples from Check In are available at The Chalets' website. The video for "Feel the Machine" is also available there.

Alas, their website is otherwise a bit "not dead, only resting" at the moment. Fortunately, the band member biographies that used to be there have been saved for posterity at their Wikipedia page.

"Beloved by all, his fan club boasts a membership in the tens of trillions. He is one of only two men ever to win both the Mister Universe Pagent and the Nobel Peace Prize for Physics in the same year. Generous to a fault, Enda is benefactor to many charities. Self-styled man of the people, Enda Loughman is one of the greats; An everyman. A philanthropist. A captain of industry. A true giant among men. Nah, just kidding. He's shite."
- from the official biography of Enda Loughman, guitarist for The Chalets

The Chalets - No Style (a single, also from Check In)

The Chalets - Sexy Mistake (from a double a-side 7" with "The Theme From Chalets", also from Check In)

Does Your Taste In Music Reveal Who You Are?

As discussed in today's Sunday Times, a study to be published in the journal Psychological Science in March proposes that there are some interesting links between musical taste and personality traits.

For the study, "Message in a Ballad: The Role of Music Preferences in Interpersonal Perception", researchers monitored dating couples during their "first six weeks of conversation", and found they used music to "check each other out" almost twice as much as they used books, TV, or sports.

Not revealed in the Times article: how many of the couples spent a substantial amount of time engaged in this sort of exchange:

MONITORED DATING PERSON #1: So... this is weird, huh?

MONITORED DATING PERSON #2: Yeah, tell me about it.

MONITORED DATING PERSON #1: Totally. Sigh

MONITORED DATING PERSON #2: Alright... wanna talk about music again?

We do have some info from the Mars/Venus Dept. Men and women tended to mention music differently. According to the Times, males did so to show their membership in a certain "tribe" (like, perhaps, "the emo tribe"?) while women spoke (yakked endlessly?) about it "to reflect moods" but "in both cases it had the effect of communicating their character types." I'm envisioning "talking stick guy who's in touch with his feelings" and "moody chick".

Peter Jason Rentfrow, one of the head psychologists behind the study (and, the article makes it a point to mention, an American), says, "What surprised us is the truth behind many of the stereotypes. If you like country or choral music, you are likely to be more plainly spoken than if you are into music without strong lyrics such as electronica. But we were surprised to find that, despite their love of aggressive music, rap and heavy metal fans were typically more shy than many other music lovers. I am not sure they want us to know that, though."

So he was surprised to find some stereotypes are apparently true, yet surprised to find another stereotype is apparently not true? Seems a mite disingenuous. On the other hand, isn't there another stereotype of a shy, picked-on loner who likes heavy metal and eventually turns violent? Eek.

For another part of their study, volunteers made mix CDs of their 10 favorite songs. Based only on listening to the CDs, people filled out questionnaires about what the people who made the CDs are like. The mix CDs were deemed a much more accurate way of quickly judging someone than several other means, like looks, clothes, and taste in movies. Researchers acknowledge that the majority of volunteers found it hard to narrow their list of favorite songs down to 10. I think the songs left out might be as telling as the ones on the disc. For instance, some people might have been reluctant to share the songs that mean the most to them.

Naturally, there are commercial applications for these theories. The Sunday Times article mentions a couple of dating agencies that emphasize shared musical tastes.

Huw Stephens, a Radio 1 presenter, notes that taste in music is an ever-changing creature. Someone might want to listen to "troubled" music at the moment because of their mood. Stephens says, "There can be an instant bond over music but, for instance, me and my girlfriend have very different tastes but we meet in the middle, and that is what counts." Oh, those two are so over.

Artists/Alleged Personality Type Associations: (more at the Times, but it's not laden with alt-rock artists):

Dolly Parton: "Personality type: upbeat, honest and conventional. Strong fixed opinions. You may also enjoy Top 20 pop music and film soundtracks"

Dolly Parton - Jolene (from The Ultimate Dolly Parton)

Paul McCartney: "Personality type: intense with a rebellious streak, a sensation-seeker. You may also appreciate alternative rock and some heavy metal music"

Paul McCartney - With A Little Luck (from All the Best)

Also, across the pond, The Guardian recently swapped 8 artists' iPods and asked them to guess whose iPod they had been given. It resulted in a fun article. The folks who participated: Katie Melua, Andreas Scholl, Mylo, Devendra Banhart, Lady Sovereign, Estelle, Matt Davies of Funeral For a Friend, and Rich Archer of Hard-Fi.

This experiment was also an attempt to make guesses about someone's personality. Gender was thrown into the mix as well (which was also likely true for the mix CD experiment). The usual assumption with the iPod swap was that women were more likely to choose emotional songs. The artists' analysis is interesting. One person arrived at the identity of their iPod's owner through unexpected means...

Katie Melua - Piece By Piece (from Piece By Piece)

Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll (from Destroy Rock & Roll)

Lady Sovereign - 9 To 5 (a single, from Vertically Challenged, etc.)

Devendra Banhart - Pensando Enti (from Cripple Crow)

KT Tunstall - Under the Weather

KT Tunstall - Under the Weather (from Eye to the Telescope)

New Pantheon Music Award Finalists Announced

The ten finalists for the first New Pantheon Music Prize have been announced. A hand-picked group of "respected musical figures" nominated albums to determine the finalists. The winner will be named at a "concert event" in Los Angeles early next month.

The prize has been established "to honor the most artistic and creative records of the year." Also, the "expressed goal of the New Pantheon is accruing audiences for what's next and what's best in current music." To be eligible for the prize, an album must have been released in the U.S. between July 1, 2004 and October 30th, 2005 and not yet have been certified Gold for sales of over 500,000 copies. Less than that, and an album could use a little help. Let's face it: 450,000 copies impresses no one. Would you put "Our album is only 50,000 copies away from being certified Gold" in a holiday newsletter? I think not! Me neither, and not only because I do not send holiday newsletters.

The New Pantheon Music Award Finalists:

Animal Collective - Feels

Animal Collective - Did You See The Words (from Feels)

Antony and the Johnsons - I am a Bird Now

Antony and the Johnsons - My Lady Story (from I am A Bird Now)

Arcade Fire - Funeral

The Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #2 (Laika) (from Funeral)

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Bloc Party - Pioneers (from Silent Alarm)

Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Follow You Into the Dark (from Plans)

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

Fiona Apple - Get Him Back (from Extraordinary Machine)

Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak

Kings of Leon - Razz (from Aha Shake Heartbreak)

M.I.A. - Arular

M.I.A. - Ten Dollar (from Arular)

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day (from Illinois)

The Decemberists - Picaresque

The Decemberists - We Both Go Down Together (from Picaresque)

The "respected musical figures" who selected this first group of finalists are: Shirley Manson (of Garbage), ?uestlove (of the Roots), John McCrea (of Cake), Ric Ocasek (of the Cars, but not The New Cars), Tony Kanal (of No Doubt), Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda (of Linkin Park), Nic Harcourt (author/KCRW music director) Josh Schwartz (who created the OC), and Adam Brody (who acts on it), Margaret Cho (comic), Elijah Wood (actor), Suzanne Vega, Elton John, Beck, Dave Matthews, Jason Mraz, Keith Urban, John Legend, John Cameron Mitchell, "Benjamin" Gibbard (who apparently goes by Benjamin now. But we still noticed that your album was nominated, "Benjamin"!), Alex Patsavas (Music Supervisor at Chop Shop), Jennifer Maerz (Music Editor at The Stranger), Peter Margasak (of The Chicago Reader), Ryan Schreiber (Editor-in-Chief at Pitchfork), Steve Hochman (of the L.A. Times), and Will Hermes (an editor and writer).

Each person on the "Panel" could nominate up to seven albums. The nominations are public, so you can see each person's picks for best album.

For instance, Nic Harcourt nominated six albums (Brazilian Girls self-titled album, Inara George's All Rise, Mary Gauthier's Mercy Now, Sufjan Stevens' Illinois, The Decemberists' Picaresque, and The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema), while John Legend chose only two (Extraordinary Machine and Damian Marley's Welcome to Jamrock). Keith Urban nominated only one! (Kings of Leon's Aha Shake Heartbreak). Did he love it that much more than every other album he heard last year, or did he not hear much music last year? Adam Brody picked three: Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, and Explosion in the Sky's How Strange, Innocence.

People Are Groggy Upon Awakening

According to a new study, "Effects of Sleep Inertia on Cognition", which appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, when people first wake up after at least eight hours of sleep, their thinking and memory skills are more impaired than when they have gone without sleep for 24 hours.

"Sleep inertia" is the groggy period of time when one first wakes up. Reseaarchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder studied only 16 subjects (9 of them paid). By "studied", I mean researchers monitored them over six nights of sleep, then each morning immediately "encouraged" them to take a test consisting of adding "randomly generated, two-digit numbers". While waiting for their next night of sleep, the study participants were given a special activity. They "spent several hours each day during their six-day, in-patient stay practicing the math test used to quantify sleep inertia."

Those 9 paid volunteers? Not paid enough.

Apparently the "the subjects exhibited the most severe impairments from sleep inertia within the first three minutes after awakening... The most severe effects of sleep inertia generally dissipated within the first 10 minutes, although its effects are often detectable for up to two hours." No coffee was provided during those first ten minutes, but good question.

While the study was pretty small, as lead study author Assistant Professor Kenneth Wright noted, "This is the first time anyone has quantified the effects of sleep inertia." That makes it an interesting study, one which Wright says has implications for those who work long and sometimes unpredictible hours (particularly those in the medical field, and other emergency personnel, such as firefighters, but applies to others such as commercial truckers).

According to the university's press release, "Wright and his colleagues said further studies are needed to measure the effects of nap interruption and 'recovery sleep' in on-call, sleep-deprived individuals."

The press release includes this super soundbite from Wright, "For a short period, at least, the effects of sleep inertia may be as bad as or worse than being legally drunk."

CNN.com's headline for the study: "Study: Waking up like being drunk". Oh my.

I'd like a grant to study studies and the way they're covered, ignored, mocked, and distrusted.

Did we really need a study to tell us that while you're pretty groggy when you first wake up, you get more alert pretty quickly?

LCD Soundsystem - Never As Tired As When I'm Waking Up (from LCD Soundsystem)

The Wonder Stuff - Inertia (from Never Loved Elvis)

New Order - Confusion (from Substance 1987, etc.)

Rilo Kiley - We'll Never Sleep (God Knows We'll Try) (from Take Offs And Landings)

Ivy - Four In The Morning (from In The Clear)

My Bloody Valentine - (When You Wake) You're Still In A Dream (from Isn't Anything)

Saint Etienne - Carn't Sleep (from Foxbase Alpha)

Random Tunes

Assorted tuneage...

Liquid Soul - World's On A Leash (from Liquid Soul)

The Frank and Walters - Plenty Times (a single, also on Beauty Becomes More Than Life and The Best Of The Frank and Walters)

Luna - Dear Diary (from The Days of Our Nights)

Apollo Sunshine - I Was On the Moon (from Katonah

Paul Weller - From the Floorboards Up (from As Is Now)

Bowie Snags Lifetime Achievement Grammy

David Bowie is at long last being given a consolation prize Lifetime Achievement Award Grammy. E! Online reveals that "Bowie has never won a Grammy." The poor thing! Though the San Bernadino Sun says he won one in 1984 for best short form video. They can't both be right! (Memo to E! Online: the Grammy Winners Search database is quick and easy to use).

So, after winning a measly single Grammy, Bowie is being given a Lifetime Achievement Award. Well-deserved. That he hasn't won more of the things is a good reminder that whether or not someone's won any number of awards doesn't necessarily tell us much.

David Bowie - Rebel Rebel (a single, also on Diamond Dogs, etc.)

David Bowie - The Heart's Filthy Lesson (Alt. Mix) (from the single)

David Bowie - Hallo Spaceboy (Pet Shop Boys Remix) (single, was also on the Japanese version of Outside)

Pop Culture Press CD & Mag

The Spoon guys are on the cover of the latest issue of Pop Culture Press. Not the most flattering picture. Singer Britt Daniel is smooshing down his ear in a sort of mock-scratch. He's scrunching his face, his eyes are closed, face turned away from the camera. Message: I don't even care about this photo shoot. But by making such an obvious dog-and-pony-show about not caring, he has proven that he cares about trying to look like he doesn't care! A-ha! Zing! The next one of us who sees him should singsong, "Britt Daniel cares about looking cool" until reasonably confident that he feels silly for striking that pose.

Behind the silly cover: interviews with Spoon (naturally), Son Volt, Graham Parker, Olivia Tremor Control, Nic Armstrong, Githead, Kinski, The Makers, Big Star, The Posies, Detroit Cobras, Band of Bees, and Volebeats.

Also, in a chat with The New Pornographers, Carl Newman waxes poetic about his taste in music ("I love songs that are strangely catchy"). He also explains the "yeah" thing, "I think I decided early on that was going to be one of the things I did - throw in stupid nonsense words just to fill up the space. It seemed funny to say c'mon' and 'yeah' and 'hey' in a song. Now I do it all the time and I don't even blink and nobody ever calls me on it. Nobody ever says 'Why do you say yeah at the end of sentences so much?' Because it's cool to say yeah at the end. It's like the exclamation point... Let's go downtown, yeah!" Now, sure, at that point, Brian Baker, who wrote the piece, added an exclamation point after the "yeah". He could have been making a subtle dig at Newman, as if to say "Without adding an exclamation point, this sentence would have had none. That 'Yeah'? It just fills up space, man. In all contexts." Or perhaps "yeah" only works as a verbal exclamation point.

Elsewhere in the mag, an interview with Michael Penn, who says of Mr. Hollywood Jr., "I conceived this record in two sides. One of the big things that CDs fucked up in the music listening experience is they presented too much music in one sitting... When I made my first record, I had long conversations with the tech guys at RCA to find out if there was a way that I could actually get the CD player to stop halfway through, so people would have to get up off their asses and hit the pause button to get to the second side."

There's a bit of cool news in this issue: for the first time in Pop Culture Press' 18-year history, they are offering subscriptions. The rate is $9/one year (2 issues), $17/two years (4 issues), $25/three years (6 issues). If you're interested, e-mail the mag at subs[at]popculturepress[dot]com or send a check or money order to:

Pop Culture Press
c/o Subscriptions
PO Box 4990
Austin TX 78765-4990

Pop Culture Press Fall & Winter 2005 Track Listing:

1. The Willowz - Tricks and Cons
2. Morcheeba - Lighten Up
3. Dipsomaniacs - Syd Barrett
4. Tribeca - Hueponica

5. The High Dials - Strandhill Sands

6. Moonlight Towers - I Sleep Alone

7. Parallax Project - Track A Whole Different Mary

8. Ken Michaels - So So (from Sit In the Sun)

9. Volebeats - Like Her

10. Michael Shelley - I've Been Trying (with Laura Cantrell, from Goodbye Cheater)

11. Doug Hoekstra - Giving Up Smoking
12. The Redneck Manifesto - I Am Brazil
13. The Morning After Girls - Run For Our Lives
14. Dr. Pepper Family - Million $ Bill

15. Friends Of Lizzy - If It's Wrong (from Perfect Little Pieces)

16. The Living Blue - Tell Me Leza
17. The Unrequited Loves - These Are The Unrequited Loves
18. Mannikin - Face the Wall
19. The Len Price 3 - A Christian in the Desert

20. Jack Stafford Foundation - The Hard Way (from Exes)

21. Hitch - Opposites Direct

Uncut February 2006 CD: New Music for 2006

The February 2006 issue of Uncut includes "rare archive interviews" with Bob Dylan, John Lennon, the Beach Boys, and the Who in celebration of the 40th anniversary of "rock music's revolutionary awakening." Apparently 1966 was teh bomb.

The theme of this month's Uncut CD, however, is "New Music for 2006". It includes Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's "Over And Over Again (Lost And Found)", coincidentally marking its 40th inclusion on a magazine compilation disc. Congrats to the Clap Your Hands kids. While the irony of "Over And Over Again"'s recurring role in magazine CDs has some humor value, I hope it will be retired at some point. Plus, while it's a great song, "new music for 2006"? Not so much!

Uncut New Music for 2006 Track Listing

1. The Buzzcocks - flat-pack philosophy
2. Jenny Lewis With the Watson Twins - Handle With Care
3. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Over And Over Again (Lost And Found)
4. Sparks - Metaphor (from Hello Young Lovers)
5. Kris Kristofferson - This Old Road
6. Belle And Sebastian - Dress Up In You
7. Plan B - Sick 2 Def (Acoustic)
8. Broken Social Scene - Fire Eye'd Boy (from Broken Social Scene)
9. The Television Personalities - May You Dream The Sweetest Dreams (from My Dark Places)
10. The National Trust - It's Just Cruel
11. Mew - Apocalypso (from And the Glass Handed Kites)
12. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Revolver
13. Pink Mountaintops - Plastic Man, You're the Devil
14. Neko Case - Star Witness (from Fox Confessor Brings the Flood)
15. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti 5 - Every Night I Die At Miyagi's

Tom Vek to Appear on the O.C. In Money-for-Hipness Trade

Tom Vek will tape an appearance on The O.C. this month, performing "C-C (You Set the Fire in Me)" for a group of mostly 20something actors portraying high school students in the program's "club" venue, "The Peach Pit" -- I mean, "The Bait Shop".

Although Vek is opening himself up to the same sellout accusations that have followed others who have brought their music to the O.C., it seems there's a minimal risk of much career damage. Besides, those criticisms are tired now, and were half-baked and not that interesting when they were new. It might prove a fun diversion for Vek to come up with snappy comebacks such as "I can't hear your complaints about my artistic integrity; my new money counting machine is too loud." Having the last laugh over a tall stack of Benjamins is the way they do it the O.C., bitches.

Tom Vek - C-C (You Set the Fire in Me) (from We Have Sound)

Jens Lekman - The One Dollar Thought (from the You Deserve Someone Better Than A Bum Like Me EP)

M.I.A. - Ten Dollar (from Arular)

Starbucks Challenge Success

I had rather confusing experiences at a couple Starbucks yesterday afternoon. I visited the cafes in search of fair trade coffee, as part of Starbucks sub-Challenge 3.5. At both Starbucks, I was given Cafe Estima coffee at the regular price quickly, by polite baristas who did not react as though I requested half rocket fuel, half ginger ale, one-third Zima.

At the first Starbucks, I asked for "a cup of fair trade coffee." The barista poured a cup of coffee, gave it to me, and charged me $1.50. I thanked her but couldn't help but feel a bit confused. Fair trade coffee, served immediately in a Starbucks? As I paid, I asked, "And this is fair trade right?" She replied, "Yes, it's fair trade, but it's called..." She paused and looked by the coffee pot for a moment. "Cafe Estima." I said, "Awesome, thanks."

Surprised but pleased, I snapped a photo of my prize in the most logical setting I could think of: atop a freebie newspaper dispenser on the street outside Starbucks.

I headed for the next Starbucks, the heady scent of victory and coffee thick in the air.

At Starbucks #2 the barista's face flashed with a momentary "a-ha" reaction when I ordered a "tall fair trade coffee". She might have thought: "I know what to do. They said this would happen!" Or possibly: "One of those damn bloggers, ugh. Regular coffee, and we tell them its Cafe Estima. Heh heh heh." Or maybe "Did I leave the iron on?" No way to know, really. I could have asked, but she might have lied and I surely would not want to appear paranoid.

The barista promptly poured coffee I really do believe was Cafe Estima and charged me the regular price.

Starbucks #1: 18668 Ventura Blvd, Tarzana

Starbucks #2: 19522 Ventura Blvd, Tarzana

James - Coffee & Toast (from The Collection)

Kate Bush - Coffee Homeground (from Lionheart)

Mojo Feb Mag & CD: The Who Covered

The February 2006 issue of Mojo features Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey on the cover. They look, respectively, very sad, and rather confused. Does this reflect their feelings about the "rebirth" of the Who, as the cover calls it? Maybe the guys think angst and confusion are what the kids are into these days. Perhaps they're disappointed that the Mojo CD this month includes covers of songs by the Who, rather than actual songs by the Who. Who knows? (so to speak)

The Fall's Mark E. Smith is also interviewed in this issue, as is Isobel Campbell (briefly... she reveals that a 7" of Taylor Dayne's "Tell It To My Heart" was the first record she bought).

Reviews-wise, Belle And Sebastian's The Life Pursuit is given four stars ("great songwriting galore on Belle And Sebastian's most danceable outing to date.")

Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins' Rabbit Fur Coat is given two stars - Mojo writes: "While her spirited soprano is impressive, Lewis's efforts here ultimately smack of dilettanism as she aims for a slow burning country-gospel sound more convincingly delivered by any number of contemporaries (Kelly Hogan or Laura Cantrell spring to mind)... Pretty but pointless."

Mojo: The Who Covered Track Listing:

1. The Jam - Disguises (from Direction, Reaction, Creation)
2. The Flaming Lips - Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (from Acid)
3. The Bards - My Generation (from Northwest Battle Of The Bands Volume Two)
4. Snuff - I Can't Explain
5. Fastball - The Real Me
6. The Greenhornes - Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
7. The Litter - Substitute
8. Doleful Lions - Heinz Baked Beans (exclusive to the Mojo CD)
9. Pat Dinizio (of the Smithereens) - Behind Blue Eyes (from This Is Pat Dinizio)
10. Tommy Keene - Tattoo
11. Richard Thompson - Legal Matter
12. The Waco Brothers - Baba O'Riley
13. Lord Sitar - I Can See For Miles
14. Sandy Nelson - Pinball Wizard
15. Petra Haden - Armenia City In The Sky

Technical Difficulties Suck

My post which should be done is being held up by technical problems...

have a song in the meantime...

The Salteens - Let Go of Your Bad Days (from Let Go of Your Bad Days)

Edited to add a couple more songs... not going to be able to reconstruct my poor intended-for-tonight-post tonight but I can do a bit better than one song...

The Yachts - Yachting Types (from D.I.Y.: Starry Eyes: UK Pop, Vol. 2)

Spookey Ruben - Wendy McDonald (from Volume I - Modes of Transportation and the Live in Japan EP)

Starbucks Challenge 3.5

Starbucks sub-Challenge 3.5 is on. City Hippy and green LA girl began the first Starbucks challenge last October to find out how easy it is to get fair trade coffee in Starbucks. It should be easy given that Starbucks claims fair trade coffee will be brewed by coffee press upon request.

Too often, it's not easy. I did a handful of challenges last go-round, got fair trade coffee once and it was a hassle. Green LA girl even encountered a rude barista during her first challenge this time. Still, the challenges can be kinda fun. It's a good feeling trying to do good... there is value in holding corporations accountable for their policies.

"Cafe Estima" (currently Starbucks' only fair trade-certified blend) is Starbucks' Coffee of the Week this week). Their employees should know it's fair trade-certified, and offer you some if you ask for "fair trade coffee".

The Challenge
1) Visit your local Starbucks this week (Jan 2 to Jan 8 ) and ask: "Could I get a cup of fair trade coffee?" (Don't specify Cafe Estima!)
2) Tell us what happened next. Ideally, the barista should immediately offer you a cup of Cafe Estima, which should already be brewing.

See the Starbucks sub-Challenge 3.5 post for more info...

Copeland - Coffee (from Beneath Medicine Tree)

The Cautions - Coffee Shop Girl (from The Cautions EP, available from Not Lame Recording Company)

Supergrass - Coffee In The Pot (from Roed to Rouen)

Q Names 100 Greatest Albums Ever

With timing that could perhaps best be described as "questionable", Q magazine chose the first issue of the new year to name the "the 100 greatest albums ever!", as determined by a poll of their readers. Q clearly did not get the world's memo about list fatigue. C'mon, guys, would it have hurt to give us one list-free issue? Ah, well, the readers have spoken! Perhaps the editors were too excited to wait to tell us the results.

I don't have the issue, but the top 20 albums on the list have been revealed...

The Allegedly Top 20 Greatest Albums Ever:

1. Radiohead - OK Computer

Radiohead - Lucky (from OK Computer)

2. Radiohead - The Bends

Radiohead - High & Dry (from The Bends)

3. Nirvana - Nevermind
4. The Beatles - Revolver

5. Oasis - Definitely Maybe

Oasis - Live Forever (from Definitely Maybe)

6. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses - Elephant Stone (from The Stone Roses)

7. R.E.M. - Automatic For The People

REM - Nightswimming (from Automatic For The People)

8. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
9. U2 - Achtung Baby
10. Radiohead - Kid A
11. U2 - The Joshua Tree

12. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths - Cemetry Gates (from The Queen Is Dead)

13. Jeff Buckley - Grace

Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye (from Grace)

14. The Beatles - Abbey Road
15. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon

16. The Verve - Urban Hymns

The Verve - Lucky Man (from Urban Hymns)

17. The Beatles - The Beatles

18. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

The Beach Boys - Sloop John B (from Pet Sounds)

19. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

20. The Clash - London Calling

The Clash - Rudie Can't Fail (from London Calling)

On Strike Until My Flying Car Arrives. Oh, Okay...

I have a few problems with this new year. I still don't have a flying car. Food is still not available in tiny, yet enormously delicious capsule form. Most people still seem to accept the concept of a mail-free, government shutdown "holiday" the day after a real "holiday" that's pretty iffy anyway. The real celebration here is at the very end of December 31st and the very beginning of January 1st. Just because January 1st happens to fall on a Sunday, why should the following day be transformed into a holiday? I believe the technical term for this is "bogus".

Still, 2006 and I are getting along pretty well so far. My only gripes have been minor ones (although a flying car would be mighty convenient...)

A few songs with varying degrees of connection to a "new year"/future theme... sorry, no Timbuk 3, though I heartily endorse their message.

Azure Ray - The New Year (from Burn and Shiver)

The Breeders - New Year (from Last Splash)

Motion City Soundtrack - The Future Freaks Me Out (from I Am the Movie)

The Stills - Yesterday Never Tomorrows (from Logic Will Break Your Heart)

The Zombies - This Will Be Our Year (from Odyssey and Oracle)

Edwyn Collins - Low Expectations (from Gorgeous George. Not a dour song, despite the title)

There's a rather lovely update about Edwyn Collins. He returned to the studio on Christmas, for the first time since his brain hemorrhage in February. Collins is working on mixing his new album "with the wonderful assistance of Sebastian Lewsley, his right hand man and sparring partner for the last 12 years." His recovery is by no means complete, and messages of support are still welcome at his website and via e-mail. Cards may also be sent, to this address:

West Heath Studios
West Heath Yard
174 Mill Lane
London, NW6 1TB