Thursday Random Eight (11/19/2009)

Cocteau Twins - Golden Vein: From a BBC Sessions CD, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, this was an impulse purchase I'm not sure I totally like. But they are creepy vocals, so that counts for something.

Parson Sound - Skrubba: 30 minutes of jammy, jazzy, horn-blowing, self-indulgent musicianship.

Cynthia Dall - Be Safe With Me: I first saw Cynthia Dall playing with Smog back in the 90's and have haphazardly followed her releases since then. They are minimalistic, often having little more than a guitar or two with her singing. It is very entertaining, and an interesting contrast to the overblown Parson Sound song that preceded it.

Husker Du - Broken Home, Broken Heart: From the punk-manic Zen Arcade, good stuff if you are into the rough guitar, rougher screaming sound of the old Huskers.

The Everly Brothers - Lonely Street: The contrasts keep coming today.

Philemon Arthur & The Dung - Scoutvisan: Just strange.

The Living Blue - Conquistador: This is probably one of my favorite recent bands that fizzled from their lack of success. Fire, Blood, Water is a remarkable, straight-forward rock album that is nothing but fun. It is really a shame no label picked up their subsequent releases.

Mission of Burma - 13: A consistently good band who I think will outlive me.