Albums

Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
- by Andrew Bird
With every album this man pushes himself farther while forging new lenses to help him see where to go next & he always sees something the rest of us don't. I don’t even like the type of music he plays now, but I LOVE it when he plays it. He's a genuine American genius and (un)fortunately most people don’t know it. I'm calling it now: "The Mysterious Production of Eggs" will be seen as one of the great albums produced during this millennium. I also would like to recommend "Masterfade" and "Skin Is, My" for inclusion in "Great Pieces in the Western Canon".
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Drill a Hole in That Substrate
and Tell Me What You See - by Jim White
The [word missing] progeny of Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner as reared by Harry Crews but, you know, as a musician. Critics draw kind-of unfair comparisons to Tom Waits, but White’s more like Waits' doppelganger… or Waits' is his… or…
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A New Commotion, A Delicate Tension
(and the Exquisite Corpse of Mr. Jimmy)
- from American Death Ray
In my opinion, the best all-around rock n' roll band in America today (except for maybe Harold Ray Live In Concert).
"Push and Pull" is a good example of what this albums sounds like but the theme song to my "New Commotion Show" is also on here.
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The Futureheads
- from The Futureheads
Okay, imagine it's 1978 and Elvis Costello decides that his next album won't be "Armed Forces" and opts instead to do a record comprised primarily of Oingo Boingo covers during which he will ocassionally swap The Attractions for The Jam. That's kind of what The Futureheads are like.

If you like any of the following you'll probably like The Futureheads (though it doesn't necessarily work the other way around):
--- Elvis Costello
--- Oingo Boingo
--- The Jam
--- The Killers (hopefully you'll like them more than The Killers)
--- Franz Ferdinand
--- The Cars
--- listening to Ewan McGregor talk
--- Weezer
--- The Clash (thanks Ca$h)
--- Kaiser Chiefs
--- Radiohead (though I still don't get why anyone likes Radiohead)
--- pre-"English Settlement" XTC
--- The Hives
--- Hot Hot Heat
--- Mando Diao
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Ascenseur pour l'echafaud
(Elevator To The Gallows)
- by Miles Davis
Although I listen to quite a bit of jazz, I've managed to keep myself ignorant of its intricacies. Please keep that in mind before you jump all over me when I say that this ("Elevator To The Gallows") is my favorite Miles Davis record. It's an album that brings along its little references while finding itself in my current mood. I remember the summer during which I first saw "Elevator To The Gallows" and whenever I listen to these recordings, fragments of that summer-past re-settle themselves into my present. During the first few bars of "Générique" or "Chez Le Photographe Du Motel" I immediately get brushes of the confidence, the clear-mindedness and the sense of possiblity that I felt during that summer, but they find their place in my life as it is now. It's not simply nostalgia, it's something better and more useful than that. [The same is true of the opening title sequence from Truffaut's "Farenheit 451".] So I love this album, not for its technical proficiency or its redefinition of american music (both of which could be challenged), but for personal reasons. I love it because of how it speaks and what it means to me. And while that probably makes me a jazz ignoramus, it's how I prefer to appreciate our music.
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Slugs for
BBQ
Compulsive Gamblers
are coming soon...


.

J.J. Oblivian Los Angeles, CA Age: 27 I'm in a gang called California.

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