My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me The Workhorse

PJ Harvey meets Bjork on We Were Sparkling and a few other tracks, although Harvey is dominant here. Lead singer Shara Worden sang on Denison's Are You a Dreamer? last year, and some IM fans confused her with Karen Peris. You wouldn't on this album.

Something of an End is a good DL (Becca, especially, I think would dig it). It's The Bell Jar set to music. Freak Out is as advertised. Also a pair of disturbing songs concerning dead pets. The Good & the Bad Guy is a darker, moodier Putting the Damage On. MBD a peg lower than MMJ among possessive-named bands. I will probably end up editing each of these blog entries multiple times, breaking my rule about "the blog stage" being "just one of them", but satisfying my needling perfectionism. Released: August 22, 2006. SPOOKED.

Video here.

Asobi Seksu - Citrus

If I had a Japanese lover, this would make me think of her. She'd want me to describe Hideki Matsui's locker and I'd be the largest person she'd ever met. When she'd ask me to sing karoake, I'd be powerless to refuse her.

New Years is worth the price of admission here and also worth translating one of these days. Goodbye and Thursday are also memorable off the bat. "Asobi Seksu", according to Wikipedia, means "Sex For Fun". Note: I will make every effort not to use the word shoegazing in this blog entry. Shit. Released: May 30, 2006. MONOMEZURASHII.

The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely

The strings in Moon Over Goldsboro make it. Darnielle's pathetic on Half Dead (Is it wrong for a breakup album to be pathetic - or is it a prerequisite?). Woke Up New is a sing-a-long of despair. You're not yourself, but you're getting there.

Jen says his voice is annoying, but she buys Christina Aguilera double albums. You could cry listening to this even if you started happy.

R., with his divorce, could treasure this album or despise it. Or wallow in it. Or maybe just avoid it entirely. I'm reminded of PJ Harvey, because of the MBD record, but this is not Uh Huh Her ("Can you see my pocket knife? You can't make me be your wife") even when PJ seems to be, almost self-defensively, pleading for her ex-lover. No, this is falling asleep in the weeds and being woken up by a security guard. Released: August 22, 2006. REENFORCED.