That whole post-punk era has been in vogue for the last several years and very influential. Rhino did three compilations under the name Post Punk Chronicles that I like. Mojo did a good sampler on that period. There's another comp called Senses Working Overtime (from the XTC song) that's good.

Thanks for the recs, David, I knew I could count on you. I'll have some fun looking these up...

I think the whole thing is super solid, but if it was just "Party Pit," "You Can Make Him Like You" and "Massive Nights" I would be just as happy.

I've just been listening to the whole thing on repeat, and man does it really set the mood. I like "Party Pit" and "First Nights," though I really do like the whole thing. There's no tracks I want to skip.

I am loving the new Decemberists as well.

I heard the bonus tracks before I got the album, and I freaking adore the bonus tracks--they have that usual Decemberists edge, but with a little more sophistication than they showed in Picaresque. Without making a grand pronouncement, it feels like the kind of surly adolescent from Picaresque has grown into a more circumspect (if still dangerous) adult.

But an album I bought last week that I cannot stop listening to is the new Thermals. It came out a few months back I think, but it only came on my radar after someone sent me the link for the video of "A Pillar of Salt." . The whole album sounds pretty much like that song and that is actually a GREAT thing.

Hm. Have to look into them.

Which, have y'all discussed Nellie McKay here, because brilliant. And how many new artists get a double album for their first?

I think we did, Raq, but it was a couple years ago when the double-disc first album came out. I remember because I bought it when I was living in Chicago and it didn't come out of my cd player for like three weeks. Of course, the consequence is that I get tense when I listen to it now, but it's still technically accomplished with a side of controlled lushness that seems to embody Nellie McKay."Pretty Little Head," her sophomore album that hasn't been released on a label yet, showed up on the net (much like Fiona Apple, actually) and tracks from that have been trickling down for the last couple of years. I've liked what I heard. It's hard to believe she's only two years older than I am.

Thanks for the recs, David, I knew I could count on you. I'll have some fun looking these up...

Alas, if Jim Eaton-Terry were still around he'd drop in and say, "Those are fine (if obvious) choices but what I really think sums up that era is...[_______}"

Also, Corwood will pop in any second to point out that the Rought Trade Post Punk comp is the one to have, not the dippy Rhino one with the crap-ass synthpop numbers mixed in.

Hey, the Rough Trade Post Punk comp is the one to... ah, never mind.

I haven't yet fallen for the new Decemberists album, and downloaded the new Hold Steady last week, but have yet to listen to it. Does this make me a bad person? Perhaps. I'm digging the new Yo La Tengo, and can't quite recommend the new Eric Matthews, which breaks my heart, because I love to recommend that guy's work. This one's only ok, not quite up to his previous two full-lengths. I'm a bit so-so on the new Mountain Goats, too, but those albums always take a couple of weeks to really sink in.

Anyway, I heartily second the Gang of Four's Entertainment!, which blew my socks off when I first heard it and still does today, nearly two decades later. And, on that note, to hell with poverty! Let's get drunk on cheap wine!

Don't click on the link. I posted it before I realized that the video is gone now. Here's a blurry, inferior substitute.

Two steps forward...
six steps back
six steps back
six steps back
six steps back

Love will get you like a case of anthrax

The Gang of Four's drummer now teaches at the Art Institute of Boston, btw.

I'm a bit so-so on the new Mountain Goats, too, but those albums always take a couple of weeks to really sink in.

My love for Darnielle knows no bounds, but I just don't like the new album. Too sad. Too mellow. To focused on one subject. Many of the lyrics are gut-punchers for sure - he's a badass at telling you how lonliness feels - the whole package is just not doing it for me. I'll give it another listen in a few weeks and see if things have changed.

In other news - I saw the Pavement documentary The Slow Century for the first time last night. It was really great, but it was also like the most boring Behind the Music ever. Very little drugs. No sex. No angrily quitting the band mid-performance. Just great music and relatively humble musicians talking about said music. What's up with that?

hmm. I think I'm going to have to find a good record store. There's one that I sort of know of, but I haven't been that impressed with their selection when I went in before. but they could probably give me leads on where to go to look.

But an album I bought last week that I cannot stop listening to is the new Thermals.

Have you heard their previous albums? I think I like them more. The new CD is mixed funny I think, with the vocals too far in front.

I just listened to Power, Corruption, Lies and I think I went into like a music coma. It was so ridiculously good.