Feel good hits of the 7th November

A bumper edition, seeing as it's been so long since the last one...

1. 'Some Kind Of Sad' - Ringo Deathstarr
2. 'All My Heroes Are Weirdos' - !!!
3. 'In A Funny Way' - Mercury Rev
4. 'Gilt Complex' - Sons & Daughters
5. 'Blue Line Swinger' - Yo La Tengo
6. 'Sleeping Lessons' - The Shins
7. 'Eyelids' - Fridge
8. 'Apreludes (In C Sharp Major)' - Stars Of The Lid
9. 'Be Prepared' - Shellac
10. 'Walk On' - Neil Young
11. 'Roll The Credits' - Peter Bjorn & John
12. 'Ban The Gin' - The Victorian English Gentlemens Club
13. 'We Live By The Lake' - Fanfarlo
14. 'The Diamond Sea' - Sonic Youth
15. 'Make Another World' - Idlewild

Thanks to Simon at Spoilt Victorian Child for sending me the Ringo Deathstarr EP (accompanied by a personalised thank you note written on an old postcard of Loch Lomond), and for putting it out on his label - and to Silence Is A Rhythm Too for introducing me to the Texan foursome in the first place.

Meanwhile, I came across the Stars Of The Lid song on their MySpace page when looking up some links to recommend to a friend who's taking some tentative steps into the world of sound art. I'd heard a bit of their 2001 album The Tired Sounds Of... before, but 'Apreludes (In C Sharp Major)', from And Their Refinement Of The Decline (their first album since) is better - a bit like Sigur Ros if they cast their drumkit overboard and set sail on the seas of abstraction. May have to investigate this "ambient classical" stuff further...