Latest Iggy release and possibly the final Stooges album, not to be confused with the Notorious B.I.G. record with the same name. Just want to quick mention that I’m extremely biased here towards everything The Stooges do. Iggy is god, I simply won’t entertain any other notions. So far, the reviews of “Ready To Die” have been positive, most folks seem to like it. Even the people who won’t shut up about The Weirdness, as if we need that information dredged up and repeated for a thousandth time. Anyway. I picked this up the day it came out and remain quite pleased with it. Now onto the important details. The players: Scott Asheton on drums, Mike Watt on bass and James Williamson on guitar. “Sex & Money” could be an outtake from the doomed 1973 recording sessions (think “Rubber Legs” era). “DD’s” and “Ready To Die” are both classic Stooges rips with huge choruses. I understand the double meaning of the title, but really, I hope Iggy isn’t anywhere near dying. His last two solo records were a kind of slew of weird French inspired songs. Both of them are good records, (Last year’s “Après” is outrageously badass) but there is nothing like Iggy with his band.

Three-fourths of Swiz (that is: Shawn Brown, Jason Farrell, Dave Eight) are joined by former Bluetip and Retisonic drummer Joe Gorelick on this debut LP, which is pretty much unstoppable. Red Hare play post-hardcore, an extension of the sound that these guys pretty much invented back in the late 80’s – jilted, off-time guitar on top of some seriously heavy rhythms. Hellfire Records was resurrected for this release, which makes me very happy, all Bloodbats jokes aside. Swiz fans know that this release is a mere sneak peak at what these guys are capable of, hopefully they keep making records. A national tour that brings them outside the beltway would be great too. Just saying. There’s a short but sweet interview with Jason Farrell up right now on doublecrossxx.com, where Farrell names every band he’s ever recorded with. Some real treats there, both heard and unheard. Looking at that timeline, it appears as if Farrell took over guitar duties in Burn while Gavin was busy with Die 116, putting together a project named Dolemite which has never been released. Here’s hoping for that one, but not before a second and third Red Hare LP, please.

Implodes are an experimental post-rock band made up of Matt Jencik, Ken Camden, Emily Elhaj and Justin Rathell. They write incredible songs together AND have a knack for recording them very well. Recently picked up their self-titled cassette from 2009 and was surprised by how much this band has developed their sound in that short period of time.

Can’t get this off my turntable. It’s a collaboration between Liz Harris (Grouper) and Jesy Fortino (Tiny Vipers) that combines their superpowers into one grand spectacle, an lush, introspective downer worthy of repeated listenings. Both artists are divine by their own right in my mind, so having them together on one batch of songs is a real treat. With each new release, Grouper seems to be growing out of the experimental noise of their earlier releases, while Tiny Vipers seems to be moving away from melody and closer towards noise. Maybe that is one aspect of this project that makes it work so well. Both artists compliment each other in new ways that they couldn’t quite achieve on their own.

Seventeen song double-CD and quadruple LP set from Autechre, the masters of abstract, experimental electronic music. Their last LP, “Oversteps”, came out three years ago and was super glitchy and kind of hard to digest. Exai is still following that pattern, but I think these ideas hold up better. 1994’s “Amber” is still my favorite of the lot, but I’m going to give this one a few more spins.

2 x LP of ambient bliss by Mark Nelson, who has been writing and recording as Pan-American since 1997. Also: If it wasn’t painfully obvious, I really like most of the things that Kranky Records puts out.

Eh. That’s my official review. I’ve waited longer for far worse things. It’s not a bad record by any means, it’s just, uh, slightly hyperinflated. Trying to be fair to the recording, but it’s hard to do on this one. Something about the hype of this band really gets on my nerves. I’m certainly no judge of who should and shouldn’t receive accolades long after breaking up, but I know it’s probably not them. Most of their music is excellent, especially the wall-of-noise- effect they deployed on their Loveless LP. Not really into their early singles though. Personally, I’d rather have a new Slowdive record or a reformed version of The Sundays. “She Found Now” and “Wonder 2” are both excellent tracks, all BS aside. I guess really what it comes down to is simple: I was hoping for much more and the extended wait didn’t help. In the time they took off from music, eight thousand bands were born and dissolved. Some of those bands ended up aping the MBV sound better than MBV could.

Eleven song soundtrack to the Dave Grohl feature film, which I haven’t seen yet but still want to check out. Here, Grohl records showcase tunes with his pals, basically a laundry-list of who’s who musicians that includes Pat Smear from The Germs, Paul McCartney, Lee Ving, Stevie Nicks and for some reason, Rick Springfield.

Can’t remember if I reviewed this already, so if I did then excuse me. Nick Cave’s latest is pretty mellow, kind of reminds me of a Leonard Cohen album. Cave can still write a powerful love song though, even if the object of his love happens to be chained to some dungeon wall. Aging gracefully is hard to do. Aging gracefully while maintaing a career in the entertainment industry must be even harder, and for that I give him all the credit in the world. Sometimes I read about celebrities who get awarded their own TV show or their own line of marketable widgets, most of the time I have little to no clue who the celebrity is or why they deserve anything. But I know this. Someone should give Nick Cave something, like a line of hair care products or maybe his own dating show. Let’s be honest: he’s better looking than Chuck Woolery and dresses way better than Jim Lange. Because the real problem with these Hollywood shows is so obvious to the casual viewer – the personalities have zero personality. Nick Cave has so much personality that he probably has to give some of it away, just to keep himself straight. Also: “Wide Lovely Eyes” is a great song.

The new episodes of Arrested Development get the push Sunday night at Midnight. The program is well written and well produced, even with the sometimes cheesy voice-overs. I didn’t watch the show during it’s original run (the height of my not-owning-a-television days) but I’ve since come around to appreciate their brand of subtle humor. Plus I’m pretty sure that many of us went to school with a few Busters and a few GOB’s. I know I did.