So, more ramblings.

Driving around today, I was listening to The Seconds “Kratitude” CD, an early Velocity Girl EP and Dntel’s most recent CD, Dumb Luck. I raved about the Seconds in a recent Screamer of the Day, so naturally when the Kratitude CD turned up in the clearance bin at Newbury’s yesterday, I snatched it in my greedy little fingers.

It started up and suddenly I felt my mouth fly open and my body nod rapidly to the bounce of the bass and the contrasting screams of two opposing vocalists, wailing against each other “MOVING SLOWLY!” and “MOVING FASTER!” against guitar chords that were so distorted they just broke down completely and stopped altogether, as if they’d just worn through every possible surface they could bounce off of. I started to laugh out loud, hysterically, and said to an empty car “This is fucking brilliant.” Yes, I love this band.

The Velocity Girl EP, “Six Song Compilation EP”, is just essential, and I grabbed this to give as a gift, since I’ve had a copy of this since it first came out. It compiles tracks from prior 7″ singles from the 1991 timeframe, and features the band at it’s un-produced finest. The out-of-sync layered vocals in “I Don’t Care If You Go” are not too precious, and the whole thing is just a charming affair. It kind of fits into the early 90’s shoegaze/4AD thing, such as the Pale Saints and Lush. Maybe if you’re real nice to me, you can have my extra copy?

Dntel is Jimmy Tamborello who is also part of the The Postal Service and, another favorite, Figurine. He features lots of guest musicians and as such, each release has a personality all its own. He started working as Dntel in 1994. A collection of tracks created between 1995-1997 (Early Works For Me If It Works For You) was released on the Phthalo label in 1999, followed by the release of an E.P. recorded in 1994 (Something Always Goes Wrong) in 2000. Both of those Phthalo imprint releases are very sought after, but they are also very different from his later releases out on Plug Research and Sub Pop. While Dumb Luck is actually a great read, His “Life is Full of Possibilities” CD offers some of his truly breathtaking music, such as “Why I’m So Unhappy”. Another band to just love to pieces…

And so, that’s what whirled around the air today here. In other news, Stereolab releases their new album, Chemical Chords, on – wait for it – 4AD. I’ve waited *years* for those two roads to intersect. Watch this space. . .