It's That Time Of the Month...

No, I'm not menstruating... yet. No, my eMusic downloads refreshed. Here's what I gots.

Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll
It's almost like they got together before recording this record and said "Well, Art Brut, what shall we put together that will make Dylan smile?" and then recorded it. Angular, rhythmic guitars, witty lyrics and short, fast songs - it's right up my alley. It's simple and fun and sarcastic and pretty freaking perfect. It's a little overlong, with 15 tracks, but it's worth the money. How can you go wrong with a song with lyrics like, "When I get off that plane, the first thing I’m going to do is strip naked to the waist/And ride my Harley Davidson up and down sunset strip./Hmm, I might even get a tattoo."? (from Moving To L.A.)

Islands Return to the Sea
These guys used to be (still are?) the Unicorns. I remember seeing a video for "Jellybones," on MTV2's Subterranean back in the day and saying to myself, "Man, now that was weird stuff. In a good way. I must check those fellows out some day." Well, I still haven't, bu tthey're on my list for next month. This is a more "serious," endeavor, but it's still weird... in a good way. A bit like Animal Collective or early Mercury Rev (man, I must find Yerself Is Steam on CD!), which, for the likes of me and my fly homegirl Martha, is a very good thing.

M. Ward End Of Amnesia
I loves me some M. Ward. I would have to say that the guy's one of my favorite artists producing work today. There's a lot of ink spilled talking about how "timeless," his music is, and it is, but I think that makes it seem somehow distant or academic (pronounced: "old 'music guy' music") when in fact it's still visceral and applicable. It's beautiful, haunting stuff and if you don't like it you're a Communist and I will personally turn you in to Senator McCarthy and see you hang like the freedom-hating pinko you are. Or at least write you postcards detailing how much you smell but never send them because I really do like you and would never hurt your feelings.

Anyway, so that's my downloads for the month. I'm pleased with them. Anybody out there heard anything recently?

P.S. - Jesse, still haven't heard Viva Voce's new album. It's not on eMusic, though a few of their older ones are there. I'll have to check on it when we're down in Vegas for Christmas. Also, I'll be looking for the new Mando Diao album. I saw it on Amazon, but it's still import only, which makes the angels cry little bitter teardrops