PopTodd

Guess what just arrived in my mailbox -- a gift from an online friend? You might know a couple of their songs from the Repo Man soundtrack. But I've heard a few other songs from their couple of albums and they were super-excellent. Too bad the only things out there seem to be selling in the $50-$200 range. Thank you Internet! Just getting ready to really dive into these now!

This record is a freaking classic. A masterpiece that should be canonized, in a perfect world. Hard to describe, for sure. Elements of grunge (which was only just then starting to gain steam), but a lot more experimental than most bands from the era, as they play with form and song structure in a ton of different interesting ways. The songs are still recognizably "rock", but something about them just doesn't sound quite like anything else that was around at the time. Probably what doomed it. Lost to the ages due to poor promotion. But thanks to the internet, you can pick it up at Amazon for 1¢

Copyright - Love Story archival/bonus material

I had an ex who was obsessed with XTC. Had to take a break from them. But when a band is all that awesome, you gotta come back to them. Those who know me from this site know my feelings for XTC (love 'em). Go back to that record soon. You may love it again.

There used to be a special feeling in finding a certain album you had been looking for forever. I think that the internet has done away with quite a bit of that, but there are still the odd lost or hard-to-find albums out there. Including ones that maybe are out there here and there, but not for less than a small fortune. Back in the early 90's, I remember finding this album at a record store in Evanston: I literally did a little dance in the middle of the store and sang "Testify" as I raised it above my head in victory. It was easily the most excited I ever got over finding a record. Sti

Definitely Live After Death. Without a doubt.

Yes. It's the acoustic set that kills me. So great. But the rest of it is pretty damn good, too.

And for you Deadheads out there: we should not forget the Dick's Picks series! My favorite is the one from Binghamton, NY in 1972. What is that, No. 6?

Very cool, Lou!

I mean, I'm listening to a nice little shuffle now. And there's this pretty good little Kinks song playing now -- "Rainy Day in June". Great song, but EVERY time the chorus kicks in, there is a thunderclap, punctuating the first line: "And everybody felt the rain (BOOM!) "everybody felt the rain" Very aggravating. There is also a Guided By Voices song (on the Lounge Ax Rescue comp) that does the same thing. Would be in the top 1/4 or so of my favorite GBV songs if not for the same kind of punctuation, but this time with somebody kicking a guitar amp, causing that springy reverb noise.

I do think that, were the HOF located in London, or anywhere in the UK, The Smiths are first-ballot inductees.

Steve Albini vs. whoever doesn't agree with him.

Adrienne Shelley, too.

I saw that, but at $40 for a used copy, I think not.

I was a huge fan of his films in the 1990s and haven't heard much from him recently. I'm also having a hard time finding those old flicks of his on DVD or Netflix: • Trust • The Unbelievable Truth • Simple Men • Amateur • Henry Fool I just love the pure ridiculousness of them all. The self-consciously artsy-fartsyness. And Martin Donovan was always had an amazing deadpan way about him in these that made him one of my favorite actors of the time, too. Any fans here? Heard anything about him recently? Hopefully a new feature in the works?

• Cheap Trick at Budokon • Little Feat - Waiting for Colombus And less well-known, but just as wonderful: • Brinsley Schwarz - Cruel to be Kind It's Nick Lowe's early/mid-70's band with Ian Gomm and a nice chunk of the musicians that would form the core of The Rumour, who would back up Graham Parker on his best stuff. Consists of a bunch of stuff that they recorded for the BBC.

GG Allin vs. everybody (including himself).

How about the nonexistant one between Neil Young and Lynrd Skynnrd? (oops. mentioned already.)

Personally, I love Scrabble. But my 11-y.o. loves Sorry and Monopoly, so I play a lot of that. Chess, too. I am a horrible chess player, so he beats me a lot. Legit.

It's being promoted as just a record signing, but one can always hope for a performance, no? Sat. is my birthday so I'll see if I can get over there. http://www.facebook....34962199963356/ Hopefully he'll be coming to your neck of the woods, too.