Hey Kylie - thanks for the post. Some good pop there, and in particular I like the Whitefield Brothers. Great mix of jazz and soul stylings with a mild hip hoppy thing. Yes, that's right, the kind of hip hop that I can enjoy.

For the rest of you, get the frig off the schneid and start writing about music. For the love of Christ. I know you're reading this.

I've got to say (and this won't come as a big surprise to most of you) that I am not caught in the Arcade Fire thrall. They are perhaps the most overhyped band of the past decade - and hype is a BD killer...hmm, perhaps Derek's not the only contrarian in the group. To me it speaks of a generation desperate for a band they can believe in, and there aren't enough of 'em right now. I'll have to give the Suburbs a few spins over the next couple of weeks to see if it gets my blood moving...the single didn't move me much.

Some of the music I've picked up on recently is:

Port O'Brien - Threadbare. Not that new, this one came out in October of last year, but I just found it a coupla months ago. I would describe it as nice morose roots pop. An amalgam of influences without a dominant one, you don't necessarily want an entire album of POB, but it's well done and immediately likeable. Start with "My Will is Good", then try "Threadbare".

The Thermals - Now We Can See Also a year old or so, but this is great post punk with lots of energy, humour and a unique straightforwardness in its delivery that separates them from the pack. They have a new record coming soon.

Young Rival - Hamilton power poppers have some panache on their first two records. We should check these guys out sometime. Definitely a strong sixties ethos here but it doesn't necessarily detract from the fun - I may prefer last year's 7 song EP (linked here) to the more recent album that arrived a few weeks ago. Start with "Your Island".

Dean and Britta - 13 Most Beautiful Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests FInally a brand spankin' new one. Interesting story behind this one, as the Andy Warhol Museum commissioned our favourite 90's mood popper to write a soundtrack for thirteen short films made between 1964 and 1966. This is an ambitious and perhaps overlong record, but it really connects with me. It ranges from trad (and wonderful) Luna-style medium tempo drive-alongs, to ultra-trippy acoustic and found-sound musings (at times making me realize that Dean was a perhaps a bit of a Church fan...see next review). Doesn't hurt that it starts (well,song two) with a bitching version of one of my favourite Nico songs, "I'll Keep it with Mine". Have I mentioned recently that I'm a Nico fan? Great Sunday listen - Dean Wareham lives! Start with "Knives of Bavaria" and "Herringbone Tweed" (and the Nico song).

Steve Kilbey - Dabble. Lead singer and bassist for the Church is an occasional solo artist and has been a long-time hero of mine His ability to deliver a song with a sense of the dreamy, wearying mystery of life gets me every time. This record, which was apparently recorded in 2001 and released in Australia a number of years ago (but only 2006), oddly just showed up in NA this year. It's very strong Kilbey / Church material, and if that interests I would seek it out - start with "Keeper" and/or "Blessed One".

Couple more in brief. Look 'em up on emusic if you want to hear more. A highly enjoyable blowing session with staunch jazz bassist Wilbur Ware in a rare (perhaps only) role as leader "The Chicago Sound" has been getting lots of air time chez Doyle.
And the modern classical work of Giacinto Scelsi has held my interest in the past couple of weeks. They have a number of his collections on emusic but it's volume 2 that I've been hooked on. And not to steal anything from blog hermit Adam, but Avi Buffalo on first couple of listens sounds very promising (and thanks for the recommendation).