bit of new , but mainly my old stuff, of which ,I am getting much more familiar thanks to my ipod....
new,
henderson power to the people, ( great early 70's sound, I am trying to get more stuff from that era), tatum and ben webster classic 56 session, mellow , but I love websters understated but heartfelt easy style, Molvaer, Khmer, thanks to marc, modern cold , sort of the opposite to Webster, but good for late at night...
old stuff,
Alice Coltrane, Ptah, thanks to you Brian, i love the repeated grooves , it sort of errupts and then holds off , plus whoda thunk a harp would work, plus great band ( whoever they are...thats the drawback when listening on ipod, hard to quickly see whos playing what) and chet baker , 2 albums , Chet and New York.....I ve been thinking a lot about that talk we had last fall and how I dont really focus on the instrument playing, but rather on the somgs and albums as a whole, and in that light, he would be on my list of favorite trumpet players in that he can be sad and mournful like no other check out "alone together" from "Chet"my favorite Baker album...I think it equalls some of miles' game here, but I may be inciting some of you yobs now...

I'll bet the farm on it being a phase Stu....but since you mention it which jazz have you been listening to lately?

I think we are in agreement with much of that Brian, and thanks for the tips to all....I guess part of my problem is I am listening to 70% jazz 20 % classical and 10% pop now...so i am not buying much of it, but I truly love pop still so it may just be a phase....I hope...

I feel relatively guilt free on this as well. My current fave new ones (may not be 07 but close enough) are The Broken West, Midlake, and also Besnard Lakes (thanks to Derek and Kyle for this one)...it's all about the Lakes in 07. Broken West is a fantastic summer groovy power pop record for those of you who don't remember its unveiling at the last CD club.

I would argue that if anything there is a tendency to put too much emphasis on finding something "new", and therefore discount bands' second, third, or fourth releases. How much time do spend talking about the latest from The Shins, Arcade Fire, etc? Despite loving their previous releases.

Finding new music can be akin to a sugar high, where the latest is the greatest and nothing else matters. I defintiely play this game so mea culpa....but from another perspective (a) I think each generation produces only a few great artists (Bjork is one of them in my view - I can see a list question coming up), and a few times greater number of strong contributors (say, Built to Spill for ex) , and it makes perfect sense to chase down each artistic step from these few and/or check in on the others (b) Great bands get better over time, not worse, so I'm pretty comfortable with following their progress to see if they continue to grow (or not). (c) Great music is great music whether the artist is cool, young, and British, or 72, Jewish and has no teeth, or in the case of Elliot Smith, dead. To me it's always about finding the great music - or so I tell myself, and so try. And I know you believe this too Stuart so I'm not trying to convince anyone.

agree with your observation, stu. like you, i am probably buying more from artists with whom i'm already quite familiar, like sea & cake, clientele, dino jr., arcade fire, shins, panda bear, the national to name a few. however, i am able to meet your challenge in coming up with three new bands that i've discovered in 2007 that i'm digging. these include:

-the previously blogged about The Besnard Lakes, whose "The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse" continues to delight with each listen. The first couple of tracks are, as noted, airy and Beach Boys-like, but others seem to veer deeply into early 90s shoegazer territory, at times reminiscent of early Catherine Wheel and Ride but not as out and out derivative as the Mahogany disc that I brought to the last meeting

-the Comas "Spells" quite possibly the best pop/rock record i've heard this year, though jangly and rocking, the songs are all quite well structured, smart lyrics, and there's a layer to the sound; a little too produced at times but still a treat

-Explosions in the Sky "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone" a band from Austin, TX are similar to bands like Tortoise and godspeed you black emperor!, and their album a collection slow-building instrumental epics

all of these were purchased from emusic, btw.

whether that means you are an old fart is for you to decide. or perhaps for the rest of us to decide, in a dramatic vote, with consequences/punishments should you be found guilty.

Guilty as charged unfortunately. I can only come up with one disc that falls under the guidelines that you set out Stuart and even though the disc came out in 2006 I didn't pick it up until a few months ago. The album is "Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up" and the artist is Cortney Tidwell who has a voice that reminds me very much of Harriet Wheeler of the Sundays. Tidwell's music however covers a lot more territory than the Sundays and I'm still discovering new things with each listen.

Reading through the last weks worth of email, it seems to me that we are all a little guilty (myself included) in not finding new pop artists. I too am a little tired of some of the new releases lately, but I too am looking more at artisit I am familiar with then fresh faces....could it be that we are all getting a little old and boring.....god forbid... but answer this one lads...What is the best 3 new pop discs bought in 2007 from artists you had no other previous music from .....downloading a handfull of tracks does not count as a new disc purchase
of course, if you have all done this then I am the only boring old fart (in terms of pop music)...

The few snippets that I've heard from the Elliot Smith disc are quite good, if similiar to the Either/Or disc. I do hope that this is the final release of his material, though, and not the first of a string of Tupac-like studio releases.

And speaking of "everything old is new again", the "new" Elliott Smith is out and available on e-music. I have d/loaded it but haven't listened yet. I'll admit to being quite pleased to see he had some unreleased music coming up, but will leave it there until I hear it.

Despite suggesting that I would do so, I have not yet picked up the new Feist disc. I did 'acquire' the Bjork album earlier this week upon its release and three listens in, I'm wondering what the fuss is about. Of both discs, this review opines: Don't Believe the Hype.

Not sure if 'Volta' is as bad as DeRogatis and the folks at Pitchfork, who'd played a part in hyping it, suggest. And it's probably not possible to give a disc a fair assessment after only 2 full days in release. But still, wasn't expecting to be this underwhelmed.

Of course, it's possible I'm just getting nearing artist fatigue. I also downloaded the latest Clientele and Sea and the Cake discs this week, and while they seem to be up to their usual high standards, I can't help but think, I've heard all this before.

What say you on 'The Reminder', Deeman?

aside from the eye-candy, marc, how was the performance? as is usually the case, when i find myself in the city for a week with no travel plans and start looking for things to do, the play or performance that seems most interesting is closing--their last performance was saturday, yes?

I think you missed one Derek.

I had the pleasure of attending Opera Atelier's staging of Orfeus and Eurydice on Friday and we had second row centre seats. I found the performance wonderful, but Tafelmusik's violinist, Julia Wedman, was to say the least, just a little distracting!

m.e. and i have set our travel plans for the end of May and will therefore be seeing youal at our next get together.

My initial impressions of the first disc were that it was too sweet, lacking some kind of edge, but that she had a pretty great voice. Kind of grew on me with repeated listens. I never bought the album but would hear it while dining at nicer restaurants and think, "This is nice".
Might be interesting to play some of this album and contrast it with the Lily Allen or Amy Winehouse discs. Alternately, we could just trade pictures of attractive female singers/musicians and see if they elicit the presumed pavolian response in herr watson.

Just watched the video and....well....not for me would be a nice way to say it. "yuck" would be another.

she has had a h=uge spread in the new york times that says just that Kyle, pitchfork and the toronto papers all did about the same....the hype machine is howling, but perhaps it will be good..the funny thing is that I was a huge early fan of the first disc and I find it gratingly sweet now and I have not been enjoying it for some time....

Feist song is catchy, in a Sesame Street kind of way. Thought she sounded a lot like Olivia Newton-John on the first album. Apparently, this time around she's going for visuals to match. According to my sources (ie. Reuben, who works at Six Shooter Records around the corner from my house) this new disc will be the one that launches her into the big time. Perhaps I'll pick up a copy as well.

Despite the comment previously about the death of brick & mortar record stores I will be venturing forth this weekend to pick up the new Feist disc. Have heard a few tracks now and looks like its a keeper. Still scared though to see it front and centre in Starbucks. Didn't seem to do much for Sean Lennon's career. Check out this video for the song 1234 which could be the song of the summer here in the big city.

right on, stuart! and should the friday hangover prove painful, a few laughs at some terrible album covers will get you through the day.

know that other sites have posted some truly awful covers and that we discussed the koolaid-influenced bjork record a few weeks back but these covers put all others to shame. or i should say, they hog all the shame for themselves.

thursday the 7th it is and in the words of the late Ray Curtis...." come on you can always get through a friday"...