When I think jangle, I think Phoenix in the early 90s, specifically Gin Blossoms.

My brain immediately jumps to the Paisley Underground.

I did a jangly mix not too long ago.

I too am making one for a friend; that's why I was listening to All Over The Place. My mix, however, blushes in the presence of your mix.

Places That Are Gone Tommy Keene

Do you have that from Songs From The Film? 'Cause the CD reissue is fetching a pretty penny on Amazon these days.

Ivory Tower The Long Ryders

As is some of the Long Ryders stuff.

My collection is pretty limited, though: a little Altan, some Solas, everything by Susan McKeown I can get my hands on. Who else should I be checking out?

I can't speak knowledgeably about Irish music but Mary Coughlan has a tremendous voice and Mary McPartlan's last album had a mountain of praise heaped upon it. If you can do without musical accompaniment and lyrics in English, I recommend investigating the sean nos. I'll try to upload some onto Buffistarawk, if you're interested.

Jon, I can always count on you.

From allmusic:

Devin Davis spent two years crafting Lonely People of the World, Unite! in the studio, playing just about all the instruments himself as well as writing and producing. All that time and solitary effort have paid off in a big way, because this is the kind of guitar pop record that comes out of nowhere and leaves your jaw scraping the floor in amazement, sort of like the New Pornographers' Mass Romantic or Sloan's classic One Chord to Another. Davis' songs are an exciting blend of chamber pop (horns, keyboards, lush layers of acoustic guitars), power pop (hard-hitting electric guitars, jumpy rhythms, vocal harmonies), and classic '60s pop (glimpses of the influence of the Kinks, the Small Faces, and pop-psych bands like the Move and the Easybeats). Best of all, they are suffused with an alarming amount of energy, with Davis' slightly geeky voice straining at the seams, the guitars careening wildly, and the chords and words flashing by at a blinding pace. Not too many bands these days are writing songs as hook-filled and alive as "Iron Woman," "Sandie," and "Moon Over Shark City," or as sweetly innocent and melodic as the quieter songs on the record, like "Deserted Eyeland," "Giant Spiders," and "The Choir Invisible." Davis' production touch is remarkably assured as well. He knows just when to cut the dynamics or jump them up a notch, and the record flows like an exhilarating live set. The whole record is filled with moments of head-nodding agreement with his choices, hilarious lyrics, and moments of audacity, like when he samples the Monkees' theme song ("We're the young generation and we've got nothing to say") in the boy band-dissing "Transcendental Sports Anthem," drops a perfectly blaring E Street meets Archie Shepp sax solo into "Iron Woman," or hits the accelerator halfway through the Kinks-ish barrelhouse piano rocker "Paratroopers With Amnesia," leaving your heart doing crazed jumping jacks. Lonely People of the World, Unite! is a small-scale triumph, and Devin Davis has left the competition in the dust. There are few guitar pop records of the last 20 years that are as exciting, well-constructed, and memorable as this.

Am downloading now. The internet and the instant music gratification of it all is really and seriously the coolest.

Mary Black is easily my favorite Irish singer.

Somehow I knew you'd say that. Where do you think I should start with her?

If you can do without musical accompaniment and lyrics in English, I recommend investigating the sean nos. I'll try to upload some onto Buffistarawk, if you're interested.

That sounds right up my alley, on all counts. Thank you! Mary Coughlan isn't a name I'm familiar with, either; I'll have to see if eMusic or iTunes have anything by her.

The internet and the instant music gratification of it all is really and seriously the coolest.

No kidding! Since I (finally) got a computer capable of downloading and playing music, I have been in music junkie heaven. Which reminds me to thank all y'all who recommended eMusic. It is wicked kewl.

Buffistas should seriously be getting a cut of emusic profits. If there are any, that is.

Which Vashti Bunyan album did you download? Just Another Diamond Day pretty much hasn't left Li'l Sphere's CD player since it went in.

Which Vashti Bunyan album did you download?

Lookaftering. I've really never seen reviews like it's getting. Pitchfork has been pimping it for like two months now.

As my friend S would say, the Devin Davis? Is totally my jam.

It's deliciously fun and pop and different from song to song (I'm on Cannons at the Courthouse - Willie Nelson and reefer and Starbucks! Whoo!) . And he's a Chicago-an. He just played at Schuba's last week and is playing at the bar I saw the Mountain Goats at last month this Friday. I will be not here - but still - I can't wait to catch him here. And will be looking forward to Friday's BoC.

Ah, I've been thinking about getting Lookaftering. I like her collaboration with Animal Collective, too, but haven't heard the Devandra Banhart stuff. And I think that's the whole of her 30+ year recording career right there.

Some random quotes from Lookaftering reviews:

"it will take time to realize just how enriched with subtle evocation it is."

"Lookaftering is some kind of miracle."

"... with the arrival at last of her stunning second album, Vashti Bunyan need no longer worry about her music going unheard"

"... stronger than the gravest clock and gentler than a stray sigh. "

"The record's treasure is folded into layers which make it an endlessly rewarding place to invest a couple of months of your life. "

"Pastoral doesn't quite describe it, this seems to come from some place more eco-protected than any in existence."

"a joy to behold, pure and simple"

I am getting from these that just possibly the critics like it and I'm thinking that listening to it may, in fact, change my life.

There may be a bit of hyperbole in those reviews. Just Another Diamond Day is some sweet and lovely Nick Drake-meets-early-Joni Mitchell-ish folk, but my life hasn't changed much. Li'l Sphere seems to like falling asleep to it.

There may be a bit of hyperbole in those reviews.

I especially like the "gravest clock/stray sigh" one. But who knows - maybe tomorrow I will come in here and proclaim that it is actually stronger than the gravest clock and the bestest thing ever. The reviews have me excited about listening to it if nothing else.