quick update...

i'm in the same boat as a lot of people on the blog; i have a ton of new stuff and i've been doing my best to sift through it. i have GB after GB of music that needs to get listened to, and i'm trying to give everything a fair shake. having said that, here's the new new that's passed through my eardrums lately:

THUMBS UP!
Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (still don't like it as much as David Gilmour-era Floyd, though)
Clues (good, well-written rock)
Liars (innovative weirdo rock)
Erik Satie (piano compositions)
James Blackshaw (ambient, spacey, open tuning guitar)
Merriweather Post Pavilion (Animal Collective...bizzarre electro-pop?)
Kaki King (bare-bones acoustic arrangements)
Nels Cline New Monastery (crazy, at times aggressive jazz, amazing sounds, amazing musicians)
Fifths Of Seven (mellow, stark, extremely well-arranged compositions, chamber rock)
Black Moth Super Rainbow (synth-laden psychedelic vocoder pop?)
Mountains (ambient soundscapes, acoustic guitar, laptop, very minimalistic)



THUMBS DOWN!
The Tallest Man On Earth (a little too backwoods for my taste)
Slint (nice ideas but they sound dated and too repetitive)
Dirty Projectors (can't stand the singing)
The Hold Steady (for fuck's sake! the shit you can apparently get away with these days...)
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (suicide-inducing)
Lil Wayne (gave him a listen, he really cannot rap...sorry. i've heard illler flows from swine flu victims)
Band Of Bees (left me flat, on the side of the road, with sad ears)
Larval (just because you write mopey instrumental music doesn't mean it's good post-rock)
Dan Deacon (blah)
Super Furry Animals (not really into rock/pop/dance club unless you're Depeche Mode)