The Grates - Teeth Lost, Hearts Won

With bands like Bis and Yeah Yeah Yeahs slowly shifting over to a more electro-disco sound, it's kind of great to find a band that's still rocking that late-90's good-natured-Riot-Grrl rollerskate-punk sound. If Bikini Kill had to play at a high school sock hop, it would sound a lot like this.

The Magnetic Fields - Realism

So, I tend to listen to The Magnetic Fields a whole bunch at a time, and while that's always a great thing, it lets me forget how different in both form and content they are from other bands. They always have this weird folky instrumentation, and on this album in particular, the lyrics are really simple but describe situations that are kind of fascinating and weird, and combination of all of it makes me wistfully remember a fictional time when I was in the circus in spring and all day long clowns were straightforwardly professing either their love or dislike for each other, regardless of whether there happened to be an audience there right then or not.

They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science

I've been really digging "Here Comes Science", TMBG's 4th children's album, the last few weeks.  Their other children's albums were varying degrees of ok.  But this one stands out from the others.  I think I actually like it better than their last "grown-up" album, The Else.

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul

You can read the convoluted story and listen to the album free and whole here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104129585

The opening track just kills me, and was one of my top songs of the summer, and now that I've bothered to find the above-listed website I can get further into the rest of the album.

fun. - Aim and Ignite

I played this at Katie, and she said, "It this The Format?" Turns out, the lead guy is the same. I'm gonna go ahead and call this genre "Symphonic Pop". I'm a sucker for "Na na na na na na" choruses. And for albums where you probably need a decent pianist onstage.

Fanfarlo - Reservoir

This band is a weird collision of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Devotchka. It totally works.

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Vaguely electro-indie band. If you're leaving in the early afternoon for a road-trip towards the West to find high adventure, you should probably be listening to this album all the way through, on repeat.

Say Hi - Oohs and Aahs - Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

The rest of this album is pretty laid-back, and sounds like Pela, which is really pretty admirable. But this track is awesome.

"It's the shape of her legs,
It's the way that she curses."

You've never heard synth-horns used this well.

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

So last night I had the opportunity to see Neko Case as part (all?) of the annual PDHVH Day festivities. I had yet to purchase this album, and had only heard a few of the songs. Still, I found these new tunes to be my favorites in the live show, which is really saying something. Of course, she didn't play anything off Tacoma-themed Furnace Room Lullabies, which I bought in CD form at the show along with Middle Cyclone. Man, this living in the TC thing is going to increase my spending on music by astronomical proportions. Perhaps ironic, as here I can listen to The Current free and easy, yet that seems to be what drives me to pay for great music and shows. Anyway, Neko Case = the loveliest, still.

Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel - Return of the Grievous Angel

Is this the best song I've ever heard? How have I lived til now without knowing this album? Read the damn heartbreaking story ( http://www.avclub.com/articles/week-7-gram-parsons-solo-years-life-hurts,26634/ ), and mourn / celebrate this life.