Dog days

Catching up on a ton of listening, here's what's shaking down for next week:
6/26: MSTRKRFT, Best of 86/06 (from Q Magazine), Wed-Rock.

All sorts of stuff coming across the desk, and we hope to get to it in July, including new Junior Boys, Amy Millan, Jolie Holland, Matmos, and maybe, belatedly, Foo Fighters. I actually have a copy of the new Yo La Tengo (out in September) and am positively transported, but it appears to be a cheeky advance copy that cuts off the last several seconds of the songs (I thought the fades were a bit too abrupt). I'm on the one hand annoyed and on the other kind of applauding this because all it does is whet my appetite even further for what will be one of the best albums of the year. (I would have bought it no matter what.)

Speaking of which, no show on July 3 as we'll be out of town at Sheila's family's annual bash down near Corning, but July 10 should see the Spotlight Review's annual mid-year report, the best CDs of 2006 so far. We'll reveal a bit a little closer to the date, but it will be an extra-long one, as several of my favorites haven't even been officially released yet.

I haven't posted on here any books lately because mostly it's been reading a slew of short stories and several books simultaneously. I will reiterate though, the best book so far this year by far is Julie Philips' masterful bio of James Tiptree Jr. It works on so many levels, but some of the best parts are reading the lengthy selections of letters from and to Tiptree by a variety of authors, including some of my favorites like Joanna Russ and Ursula Le Guin. The highest recommendations.

Got to see this last week: go support what is becoming one of the finest theatre companies around. And in the great Distillery District to boot.