And so on...

Yep, still here, let's get some stuff out of the way.
The rest of the year's best here at the Review:
1. Sleater-Kinney--The Woods
2. The New Pornographers--Twin Cinema
3. Broken Social Scene--Broken Social Scene
4. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah--Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
5. Low--The Great Destroyer
6. M.I.A.--Arular
For anybody who follows the show, pretty predictable, but still, what a great year for music. Speaking of #3 above, if the show I saw at the Kool Haus on Jan. 21 was actually in 2005, they might have moved up to almost (not quite) tie with my number one spot. BSS played what was one of the finest, most generous shows I've had a chance to see in years. I can't remember enjoying a concert on so many levels. Even my hard-to-please wife was duly impressed (though admittedly, the nearly-three-hour playing time left her understandably drained). For more detail and links to pix, why not go troll the wonderful Broken Telephone board?

A quick look at some stuff for next week and upcoming:
2/6: Arctic Monkeys, Beth Orton, Controller Controller (again)
2/13: Final Fantasy, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
and ahead: Pretty Girls Make Graves, Richard Hawley, Clientele, Mendoza Line, Hem, Amy Rigby, Magneta Lane (hopefully) and a whole slew of stuff from last year and still pouring in.

I was going to link to a song from Neko Case's forthcoming album until it started appearing in every blog out there as well as cover-mounted CDs, so I'll simply sit back and gloat and say that I have actually heard my most awaited album of 2006 a month early as of last weekend. Do I even have to tell you what I think of it? Definitely more to come...

Meantime, how about a link to some cool mixes, courtesy of the fine folks at DFA Records.

It's been pretty busy in general, what with my boss at the library out on medical leave and me trying to get thru a backlog of books, music, comics, and housework, but life is still good. Hope everybody is feeling the same. More to come...