I hate to say this, but I do sometimes feel like Hec's thing is liking stuff very few people listen to anymore, or have heard at all. Which I respect, since I have my own tendencies to adore the obscure. But Archies love is not mainstream in 2004. If he wrote a book about 3-11, that might make your case :-).

First of all, not offended. Second, the whole second book is based on Joe's assertion that it's SO FUCKING VAST it's hard to get a handle on it. Lots of stuff gets lost.

Now my taste is really incredibly sweet toothed, riff happy and funky monkey. In short, almost everything I listen to is accessible. I may refer to some obscure things, but it's not because they're obscure. It's more because I've got a lot of music and have been listening to it for a long time, so my newer discoveries are going to be less obvious.

As Joe also noted, when you've been following music for a long time you wind up having to make choices to deal with the vastness. As a practical matter, it's simply easier for me to discover music that interests me by going back historically. There are trails to follow, and writing and reviews. Whereas new releases haven't been vetted by time, and right-now reviews are too bound up with marketing and career expectations (for that particular band) to be as useful to me.

But like Joe, I value this thread precisely because people are listening to new stuff and I get exposed to genres outside my usual range.

And as much as I ragged on Stone Temple Pilots, I know some day I'm going to pick Vatican Gift Shop out of a discount bin because I suspect the guitarist had a knack for power pop hooks disguised as grunge. I'm always willing to revisit my opinions.

Blur crushes Pulp like a teeeeny tiny little champagne grape.

Best Bowie: I think I like Aladdin Sane best right now, though I'm also very fond of Hunky Dory.

Y'all are crazy. Station to Station is the best Bowie. At least in terms of listening to the whole album.

Y'all are crazy. Station to Station is the best Bowie. At least in terms of listening to the whole album.

Wha?!!1! Aladdin Sane has "Panic in Detroit" and "Cracked Actor" and "Watch That Man" all on the same album. To which I can only amend....Dude.

Y'all are crazy. Station to Station is the best Bowie. At least in terms of listening to the whole album.

Wha?!!1! Aladdin Sane has "Panic in Detroit" and "Cracked Actor" and "Watch That Man" all on the same album. To which I can only amend....Dude.

Ziggy Stardust, dammit.

t stands in Jilli's corner, pointing at Ziggy Stardust

Sean, I think there's a big difference between what happens here & what happens in the book thread. Anyway, that whole subject makes me feel nauseated now, so please accept my apology in return for contributing in any way to that feeling.

And you're all nuts. Low is the best Bowie album. However, Bowi is not the best Nick Lowe EP. But it's pretty good.

Ziggy Stardust, dammit.

Bowie's own quote on Ziggy: "I think we made better plastic music than The Monkees."

Jilli clearly got stuck on the "snow white tan" and "leper messiah" parts.

However, Bowi is not the best Nick Lowe EP. But it's pretty good.

Surely the funniest EP title though.

I'd agree with that.

Tonight is the bestest Bowie album!

Kidding. But I gotta mention Scary Monsters and Super Creeps as one of my favorites. And Lodger is pretty good. As well as all the albums that other folks have mentioned. Oh, and has anyone mentioned Hunky Dory?

I went through a big Bowie phase in college--can ya tell?

edit: my first two years of college I bought 21 or so Bowie albums.