TheMaker

I was about to write this big spiel about Sufjan's incredible literate pop, but then I noticed that you'd used the word "dirge" when you meant to say "dearth." Then it clicked. In sum, he's brilliant, but not for everyone. There are people who don't like Bob Dylan, too! And the only Will Oldham record I like is his new one. Go figure.

Re: this lineup, Holy Shit.

Alejandro Escovedo isn't good live. He's incredible live. Don't even think about it; if seeing him live is ever an option, you take it. It's a rule, I think.

Blood on the Tracks Being There One Chord to Another Highway 61 Revisited Rain Dogs The Modern Lovers Funeral #1 Record The Velvet Underground Marquee Moon There you go. So dashed-off that you poor bastards don't even get the names of the artists responsible for these albums. And I already feel guilty about having omitted The Band and The Stones.

"Miss Being Mrs." is the killer here. What a song.

Wild. On first listen, I figured it was their best record. Subsequent listens have made me readjust my opinion a bit, but I still think these guys are getting generally better with age and experience.

I still haven't bought it (broke, boo hoo sob), but I listened to my buddy's copy in his car tonight when we made a quick out-of-town trip. It's great, definitely the best record since the '90s, but the Murph may have hit an all-new low with the schmaltz on this thing. Jay's songs are all brilliant (no major shock there), it is VERY nice to hear from Mr. Scott again, and I think Patrick's Beatlesque, Navy Blues-style pop songs are maybe the high point of the album. It's a return to form, but it's an uneven one, largely because of Chris's unnecessarily sloppy April Wine '80s Love Songs (sorry

Thanks so much for this! I'm flabbergasted by Bottom of the World. I think it's probably my favourite Waits song in a long, long time. Absolutely gorgeous.

Oh, come on. Nobody actually likes Presence better than Houses. Jesus.

"Little Green Bag," by the George Baker Selection. That bit was lampooning Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. I used to think that too, but judging from the last year's worth of episodes or so, it's degenerated beyond even self-parody. The joke formulae remain the same, but the plugged-in punchlines feel like a tenth grader's idea of funny lately. And yes, I watch the show only out of habit (and I guess because it's on just prior to Seth MacFarlane's shows). Switching the dial over to Fox when the Simpsons starts is almost like a reflex. You know, like when a depressed old man goes through the

Woo! Local show! To hell with driving to T-Dot or Buffalo for once! L3 is actually a great little club. The ground-level stage is on an elevated platform of sorts, and the bar is down on the first floor. Folks who are there to mingle and drink are free to do so, while those interested in geeking out over the band can enjoy them from up close. The Kool Haus ain't a bad club, but if you're considering that show, you might want to give L3 a shot instead.

Yeah, you'd think that. Hmm. Tell it to Hootie and the Blowfish, from whom Dylan won a large out-of-court settlement a little over a decade ago (this was over their use of lyrics from Idiot Wind in one of their interminably ubiquitous hits).

Can't wait for this one! After a mostly disappointing decade, this is beginning to sound like a real return to form. The band have been posting some fun YouTube clips on their site (http://www.sloanmusic.com), and they're worth checking out if you'd like to hear some tantalizing album snippets. I'm surprised this one hasn't leaked yet, given the last three did.

Yeah, but you're just south of BC, and ha ha, oh man. Sorry, I can't even finish!

Blood on the Tracks and Shoot Out the Lights (Richard and Linda Thompson) are generally hailed as the best breakup albums, and that sounds about right to me. And a big, big second to "Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning." My favourite song from my favourite CJ record. I've never understood why that album seems to get crapped on compared to some of their others.

Objectively, MT is maybe, if it's lucky and on a very generous day, one-fifth as good as the preceding two albums. 1) MT is barely an original album. The songs are all, without exception, neither strictly linear nor creative enough to fall into the "impressionistic" category, and they're about 60% the result of appropriation of standards and old blues. The bells of St. Mary's, two Muddy Waters songs that Dylan didn't actually "write," in spite of what the credits have to say about things, Levee's Gonna Break, phrases copped from Stanley Brothers, and on and on and on and on and on. Forgiva

I listen to almost everything, but this irritating broad gets no second chance from me.

It's Neil's best since Silver & Gold, certainly, but I don't know how it's holding up for me a few months down the line. On first listen, I was nearly ready to call it the greatest thing the man has ever done, but its arresting immediacy hasn't translated into staying power for me and my stereo. It's a good album, but it's already starting to feel dated. Fortunately, the themes will last longer than any presidential administration.

Given the Sadies unsurpassed talents, I'll go out on a limb and say literally anything.

Thank you so incredibly much for this measured response to a terrible song. Honestly, "change your bag?" I thought I was the only person laughing at that one. Edit: and no, I'm not one of the people clamouring for a return to the "hoity-toity" stylings of the last few years. Just come on: What Light is painfully mediocre. The lyrics are basically, "Everything is great, chill out, let it all go, be yourself." Trite! Trite to the point where I'm embarrassed that the song hasn't been retired yet, and I've never, ever said that about anything Tweedy-related before.

You pretty much have to with Dylan, don't you? I'm a little worried at this point, having listened to MT a good 25 times over the last couple of weeks, because the stagnant blues numbers aren't really doing anything for my head, even as they keep my toes a-tappin'. Musically, I'm really astonished by what he and his current road band managed to kick out in the studio, but the lyrics aren't giving me whiplash like L&T did from first blush. Nettie Moore and Workingman's are great, but I find most of my enjoyment of MT stems from its production and performances. I think about all the absolu

Big Iron World might be my favourite album of 2006. James River Blues and I Hear Them All are fine examples of thoroughly perfect songs.

I'm actually not that into the Toronto scene (give me TAF and Wolf Parade any old day of the week), but I'm very glad that the international community has finally discovered this country as a source of music that has nothing to do with Bryan Adams or Celine Dion.

A lot of them are really bad (hey, don't shoot the messenger!) but Thanks I Get and Impossible Germany are both great. Also, big thanks to whoever upped Jeff's incredible song "Lullaby for Rafters and Beams" in one of the other forums. Possibly one of his best songs, and I love the hell out of the line "The drunks were ricochetin' off the old buildings downtown / Empty and alone."

Semi-off-topic alert! I really don't get the waiting-for-the-CD mentality. At all. We all wait months to hear a given anticipated release; why prolong the agony? For me, nothing approaches the kind of glee I get from finally being surprised by a new album when it leaks a few months/weeks/days in advance of the official release. If anything, that sort of experience recalls the old days - the pre-media saturated ones, I mean - of walking into a record store and discovering out of the blue that a favourite artist has just released a new record... certainly moreso than than marking the calendar wi