The storm approaching

The big storm is set to pounce. Noisy wind and rain aside, this is actually the least interesting part. The anticipation is where the mind does its worst. And where my own tendency to envision cataclysmic events is free to run terribly wild. Hopefully, none of those visions will turn to reality. And if they do, hopefully we can live in the mental eye until it all passes.

Carlos Maria Trindade/Nuno Canavarro - Segredos M

Cloudless

A couple days of no clouds in the sky puts me right in a mind to crave jangly New Zealand pop. Especially when the feel is totally at odds with the lyrics. Case in point — this breezy little number about a murderer contemplating the dead body in the river and his comeuppance is going to go down. Ah, summer is surely in the air. And then it rains...

The Bats - Jetsam

Trying to get to you

Just can't resist going back to the well of classix. Of course, the Pixies are one of those bands whose weaker tracks are far beyond what most bands could ever aspire to. Last time I dug them up, I got all sentimental. And damned if it isn't happening again right now. This one goes back to some high school delirium that I suspect will get neither hazier nor clearer with time.

Pixies - Letter To Memphis

Bruisin' Susans 2

There are days when the worklife is just too much on the nerves. Theses are the times I wanna run around the city making home movies about running about the city, playing in a band, and generally not concerned with time meted out in scheduled blocks, with frantic activity in the margins. Oh wait...

Band Of Susans - Now Is Now

Silky sinning

OK! A week off the decks, and now I'm refreshed and ready to rock, roll, or some combination of the two. Metaphorically that is, because we're jumping back in with a rather un-rocking tribute to sin.

In the '80s, guitar strangler/late-model samba practitioner Arto Lindsay had the nifty idea of releasing a series of albums based on the seven deadly sins. So he hooked up with avant keyboardist Peter Scherer and created the Ambitious Lovers, a vehicle for state-of-the-art (now very dated) dance pop that was mostly outside their respective comfort zones. Results were mixed, and I think they only got around to three of the seven sins before the project ran aground. Here's one of the winners. I guess the coming-slowly-toward-you-at-the-bar groove is where the lust fits in.

Ambitious Lovers - More Light

Wait till I'm not there

Having been off the school year calendar for some time, Sept 1 isn't too meaningful a date for me. But thinking back to when entering the month felt like getting ready for a plane to take off, several songs come to mind. This one reminds me of high school freshman year, specifically my after-school job illegally operating the cardboard baling machine at the local supermarket. Those were the days.

I remember at the time not being able to decide whether the band name or album title was sillier. Still can't. And to that, I'd add a shake of the head to the appalling cover graphics. All the same, the record remains super catchy. Here's a fun review by a karaoke friend, who makes some salient points in no particular order.

Oh, and no, I never owned a Kill Yr Television T-shirt. I'm sure one of you did though. 'Fess up.

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Happy

Listen listen

Here's another grower. Good in the background or up close. Your 10 minutes of attention will be rewarded with a spiritual growth spurt. Next time you think you're in a rut, consider that these are the same dudes who recorded this a few short years earlier.

Talk Talk - After The Flood