Nothing worse than the sound of one hand clapping, eh? I too get glum when my posts generate zero response but I assume it's because everyone is so enthralled with what I've written that they're stressed about producing something approaching my genius.

Switching off jackass mode for a second...I like the monthly music pick thang and will here attempt some of my own...

I'm warming up to the new Animal Collective disc, 'Feels' quite nicely. I downloaded one of their previous albums and found it a little too...what's a good word to use...abstruse? Abbrasive? Difficult to appreciate unless one is the process of commiting a terrible act of violence? To hear an example, click here. 'Feels' has been described as one of their most accessible discs to date and while this latest may not get them on heavy rotation in Much More Music anytime soon, it does manage to channel some of the ready-to-explode energy into catchy melodies on several tracks while slowly building pretty, string-laden incantations on others. I think it's worth giving some time to get to know.

Equally challenging but yet to 'find my wheelhouse' as mon amis Ecossais would say, is the Coco Rosie disc 'Noah's Ark'. Though I like the title track, I'm still trying to get into the rest of the disc. I dig the the gauzy, discombobulated, jazzy female vocals and the overall production, but I find some of the songs get bogged down in their own esoterica. Perhaps this will change with a few more listens.

What else...the new Elbow disc, "Leaders of the Free World" is a bit of a disappointment on the first couple of listens. I really liked 2003's "Cast of Thousands", which managed to sound fresh and confident throughout while drawing immediate comparisons to Spiritualized, Catherine Wheel, and Coldplay. In the latest disc, the lyrics seem a little more forced and the vocals a little lethargic...kind of more lethargic Coldplay which I don't think anybody needs. Still, it's on the mp3 player so a few more listens it will get.

More of a pleasant surprise is Ladytron's 'Witching Hour', which I wasn't expecting much from, having not really enjoyed what'd I'd listened to previously. This album got some decent reviews so I bought it (emusic). When I listen to it, I hear Lush, Curve, M83, Kraftwerk, and maybe a little Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab, which hits all the right notes for me but maybe not for y'all out there.

Whatta you boys been listening to lately?