The Clientele – Strange Geometry (Merge)
A terrific, moody jangle-pop album that reminds me of Galaxie 500, Robyn Hitchcock, The Church and The Go-Betweens, but all at once. Melancholy beauty.
Jeffrey Lee Pierce – Wildweed(Sympathy for the Record Industry)
This is a reissue of his 1985 solo record and it’s awesome. It takes a while to get used to the sound with big, booming mid ‘80s-sounding drums, but Pierce’s excellent songwriting comes through regardless.
The Fall – Fall Heads Roll (Narnack)
While this is not as strong as their amazing last record, it’s still a very impressive effort from the new, rejuvenated lineup with more of an emphasis on straightforward and dare I say “pop” songs.
The Gun Club -Miami(Sympathy for the Record Industry)
Of their 1st 3 albums, I consider this one to be the weakest. With that said, it’s still a stellar set of songs and it sounds fine unlike what you may have heard, but maybe the remaster really helped. “Brother and Sister” and “Texas Serenade” are 2 of the standouts here.
The Magic Numbers – Mercury Lounge (New York) – November 27, 2005
Much improved from their set at Sin-E back in March, they played most of their excellent debut album and a great cover of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”.
Gilmore Girls (Tuesday, WB)
This is the best show on television, complete with great musical and literary references and more importantly, terrific writing and characters.
The OC (Thursday, Fox)
I’m a recent convert to this show and yes it’s a bit of a soap-opera, but how can I diss any show that uses Bob Mould’s “Paralyzed” in an episode?
Patti Smith – BAM (Brooklyn, NY) – December 1, 2005
On this night we got all of Horses in its entirety and then a second set of other songs from her back catalog. Plus, the sound was immaculate. Wow!
Wilco – Kicking Television (Nonesuch)
The versions of the material from A Ghost is Born in some cases is far superior to the album versions. Otherwise, this is proof that Wilcoare one of the great live bands of our time.
Rogue Wave – Descended Like Vultures (Sub Pop)
It’s really hard to get past the excellent first 2 songs (“Bird on a Wire” and “Publish My Love”), but once you do, it becomes apparent that the rest of this album is quite stellar as well and more accomplished than their debut Out of the Shadow.
