Real fast because I'm about to go to bed.

Found a new band- new to me, actually, they're big enough now to be touring with Coldplay- give them a listen. They're called Eisley.

My batting average in buying cds has been pretty good of late, if not fiscally responsible.

Purchased today:

TV on the Radio, desperate youth, blood thirsty babes

The Innocence Mission, befriended

The former is spunky, surprising and rocking. The latter mellow and lush (and, yet again, Christian artists - what's going on here?).

I had remembered previous posts (Jon?) mentioning the goodness of TV on the Radio, but I really bought both because the music store I spent forever in today (ahh the time of empty-music-store browsing that joblessness allows) does such a great job of cutting out reviews and attaching them to the name cards for each band. Every music store should do that.

I had remembered previous posts (Jon?) mentioning the goodness of TV on the Radio

Yep. A real grower.

<pokes head nervously into music thread> Does anyone here know anything about a band called "Rasmus"? I think they're from Finland. I saw a video called "In the Shadows" (or possibly "From the Shadows") which hit some of my buttons. (Said buttons tend to hover around Bowie, alt-feminist-rock, and weird combos of Mexican and Irish folk music like The Mollys, but show up in other odd places.) Anyway, I liked the single. Does anyone know if it's representative of their sound in general? Suggestions on where I can find out more?

Allmusic gives that album by The Rasmus a good review.

Thanks, Jon! I'll check it out.

Allmusic gives that album by The Rasmus a good review.

"The tone of the song is lightweight and resembles an edgier or meaner Ace of Base." That's funny. (Seems meant in earnest, FWIW.)

The latter mellow and lush (and, yet again, Christian artists - what's going on here?).

This made me think of Ollabelle. Dr. Tepper & I saw them open for Linda Thompson last year (pre-emptive correction: "You mean they opened for Rhett Miller.") and I liked them a lot. Three excellent singers, including Levon Helm's daughter, Amy. The Ollabelle search led to this link for a Richard Manuel bootleg, the connection of course being that Levon Helm & Manuel were members of the Band. Cheapest copy I found was $30+shipping. Kinda steep, but he's one of my favorite singers & the set list is intriguing. ("Miss Otis Regrets"!) The linked page has some clips. And if that isn't enough to get you to look, David, there's this quote from Van Morrison: "Me and Richard Manuel were thinking of making an album of Ray Charles songs." And out of the 15 gigs worth of songs on my player what popped up while I was reading the page? Yep, "Whispering Pines," the title track and one of the most haunted vocals from poor, fucked up Mr. Manuel, who killed himself just months after the live recording was made. RIP, sir, I hope you found some peace. Levon Helm: "Richard was always our lead singer - and I always felt real confident with Richard in The Band. I knew that nobody had a better singer than what we had."

I've just barely remembered that I made a promise to SA that I haven't fulfilled yet. It's been one of those months, I swear. But, this weekend, if not sooner, I swear.

Also, I have a couple of discs sitting around here that need to go out for the exchange, too.

Oh, and my fairly unscientific survey has determined that the three best types of music to get drunk to are Blue, Irish (not Enya, but Dubliners or Pogues), and Mexican, specifically mariachi music. But that's just me.

I haven't received a round-robin CD in 6 weeks. What's up with that?

The linked page has some clips. And if that isn't enough to get you to look, David, there's this quote from Van Morrison: "Me and Richard Manuel were thinking of making an album of Ray Charles songs." And out of the 15 gigs worth of songs on my player what popped up while I was reading the page? Yep, "Whispering Pines," the title track and one of the most haunted vocals from poor, fucked up Mr. Manuel, who killed himself just months after the live recording was made. RIP, sir, I hope you found some peace. Levon Helm: "Richard was always our lead singer - and I always felt real confident with Richard in The Band. I knew that nobody had a better singer than what we had."

"Whispering Pines" is prominently featured on my In the Pines tape. His vocal on "It Makes No Difference" might be his best though. Pure heartbreak. His voice has got woodgrain in it. Did you ever Levon's This Wheel's On Fire, Joe? It's a great read, though moreso for the wild rockabilly days than insights into The Band. But he talks a lot about picking up Manuel in the Hawks. He wasn't much of a piano player compared to the guys who had preceded him (legendary roadhouse boogie woogie players), but he could sing like Ray Charles and that was in damn short supply.