Whispers In The Rain

Recent musical acquisitions:

• Thursday, War All The Time
  
• Don Henley, Building The Perfect Beast
  
• Test Icicles, For Screening Purposes Only
  
• The New Pornographers, Twin Cinema
  
• Cat Power, You Are Free
  
• Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine
  
• Embrace, A Glorious Day: Live In Leeds (DVD)

I've only ever briefly heard of Thursday, but have always found something worth listening to in the contemporary post-hardcore movement, and frankly I was drawn in by the cover art of the album. I sometimes don't understand people who won't buy an album or a single unless they've heard something by that band before and liked it. Don't you ever just wonder what something might sound like because of the name of the group, or because of the cover art of the CD? It always makes me think that, if you won't open yourself up to new music in that way, then surely you're not all that interested in music in the first place? How do you ever hear anything new?

Don Henley, because I have a soft spot for The Boys Of Summer. Whichever version of the song you hear, be it the original or one of the many cover versions out there, it always comes across as a good song: in other words, a classic. And I think it would be an understatement to say that the Eagles were kind of important as popular bands go, so surely Henley's solo material is worth checking out?

Test Icicles because (A) I heard a track on Zane Lowe's show on Radio 1 the other night and thought it sounded bizarre, but very interesting (B) because the name of the band is a stroke of genius and (C) because the word of mouth about these guys is feverish. I had to check me them out.

The New Pornographers because I bought their first album on the strength of single Mass Romantic, loved it, and then managed to ignore them all the way through the intervening years and albums, until now. Reading a review of the new CD, I was reminded of the time when that first purchase was made, why I liked it so much in the first place, and was greatly relieved that they were still around and making music.

Cat Power because someone who I basically consider my soul mate once sent me a song of hers, and I was captivated. I had also read very good reviews of the album when it came out and have repeatedly been just centimetres away from picking it up and buying it. Now seemed to be as good a time as any, albeit a little late.

Fiona Apple, because I've been a fan since hearing the amazing Fast As You Can way back when. Okay, okay, so it took until her second album for me to catch on and realise that she was worth listening to, but frankly she hadn't made much of an impact here in the UK until the release of that single, so don't blame me! I used to check her website regularly, hoping to hear something about a new song or album, and it took long enough! Anyway, following the rumours and hearsay about record company wranglings and failed attempts at albums, I hope it's worth the wait. Yet to listen to it, so I'll let you know.

Finally, the Embrace DVD for three reasons. The first, I think Embrace are a great band. Regardless of the tag of "Poor Man's Coldplay", I've always thought of them as a good band in their own right. The second, the band come from a small place just a couple of miles away from where I currently live, and it's always good to support your local music scene. The third reason, because I was at the concert on the DVD, it was great, and I might see myself jumping about in the audience!! Can't wait to watch it.

But enough about all this, there are other entries in this blog. Look! Just down there! Another entry! It might be worth reading. You never know! So go read it!