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)
“Brother and Sister” and “Texas Serenade” are the best songs here and both make me sing along and give me chills up my spine simultaneously. It often gets less attention than their also terrific debut Fire of Love, but that’s too bad because this has better sound, more diversity and better songwriting.
X – The Theater of the Living Arts (Philadelphia, PA) – December 8, 2005
Hands down, the best show I’ve seen all year. They played classic after classic from their 1st 4 albums including my favorite “Poor Girl” like they haven’t missed a beat in the last 20 years!
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?
Stars – Set Yourself on Fire (Arts and Crafts)
After getting it over the summer, I’ve gone back to this album recently and I think it’s absolutely beautiful. I like the dichotomy between all of the personal songs like “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” (which comprise the vast majority of the album) and the more political numbers like “He Lied About Death”.
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.
