Hate to see you two chaps trade words with no input from the rest of us so here goes. Liked the band guessing game there Brian just never got around to posting a response so don't forsake the idea completely just yet. Could have sworn band 2 was Nirvana. Speaking of which have any of you seen that dirge of a movie by Van Sant yet. It's called "Last Days" and you might never see yours if you watch this somnolent piece of indulgence.

As for music of the month I can say without doubt what my song of the month has been. Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek". If you're averse to the vocoder please run the other way. Personally I'm with the guy who does NPR's All Songs Considered. Every 10 years or so you need a really great vocoder song whether it be Laurie Anderson or Cher. This one's a beauty and I just can't get enough of it. Check out Salon's Audiofile (Oct 14) if you want to download a copy of it and please all your chums when you cut it as track #3 on all the Christmas comps. Only downside here is that when I went to buy the album last week at HMV it had that dastardly CC logo on it and so ixnay on that purchase.

Another piece of music that came to my attention courtesy of NPR is Orenda Fink's (love the names of these women) album "Invisible Ones". You can listen to the whole thing in streaming audio at http://www.orendafink.com/orendafink.html.

There's a bit of Kate Bush going on here and some Tori Amos I suppose but not in that idiosyncratic way that makes every Tori song sound the same and has me reaching for the mute button. If you like the Cocteau Twins you'll probably love track #6 "Miracle Worker".

I concur with Kyle on the Animal Collective but I'll say that "Sung Tongs" also grew on me. For me AC are a lot like BSS in that you would be hard pressed to pick out the "songs" on the record but there's a lot of primal emotion and when you're in the right frame of mind it can really rock.

I'm also digging the new Deerhoof record. I'm three records into these guys now and they seem to turn them out at a pretty fast pace. I was really turned on by 2003's "Apple O" but last year's "Milk Man" was a real chore and didn't see the light of day more than 3 or 4 times. Glad to say that the new record might be there most accessible yet so if you were scared off by the yelping of the Japanese female vocalist and the rather too angular riffs of records past this might be the place to parachute in.

Must check out the Ladytron disc as I've been on the verge several times then backed off. Still have the horrible sound of Electroclash ringing in my ears.