Feel good hits of the 28th April

An extended one today...

1. 'All And Everyone' - PJ Harvey
2. '(I'm) Stranded' - The Saints
3. 'Nothing But Heart' - Low
4. 'Crazy For You' - Best Coast
5. 'Baby' - The Drones
6. 'Do It Every Time' - Ringo Deathstarr
7. 'Fall Of The Empire' - And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
8. 'Music For A Forgotten Future (The Singing Mountain)' - Mogwai
9. 'Heat Distraction' - Women
10. 'Dusseldorf' - Billy Mahonie
11. 'My Name Is Jonas' - Weezer
12. 'Apparitions' - The Raveonettes
13. 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots' - The Flaming Lips
14. 'Black Leaf' - The Cave Singers
15. 'Lotus Flower' - Radiohead

Notes:

1. Yes, Polly Jean's masterpiece continues to entrance me.

2. How had I not heard this band before?! '(I'm) Stranded' is a pure distilled hit of classic Ramones and Buzzcocks. Back catalogue ordered, all in one handy box set.

3. So, is C'mon a conservative retreat to safer ground after the admirably difficult and experimental Drums And Guns, or is it a welcome step back from the brink into more familiar territory in which Low excel? The latter for me, and 'Nothing But Heart' is a definite highlight (even though it should probably have closed the album).

5. Think I may have snared another convert to the Church of Drones. But then that's what you get from me if you post Birthday Party videos on your Facebook page: this and 'Jezebel'.

6. "Tonight, Matthew, we're the Jesus & Mary Chain." "What, are you sure? I've got 'My Bloody Valentine' on the card." "No, no, no - that was the last song, Matthew - do keep up..."

7. While Jen's damning comment that parts of Tao Of The Dead sound like Nickelback is thankfully unfounded, there's no getting away from the fact that it's a hugely pretentious album. Don't even get me started on the artwork and the booklet featuring an excerpt from Conrad Keely's graphic novel Strange News From Another Planet: The Voyages Of The Festival Thyme...

8. ... while there's nothing remotely pretentious about a 20-minute-plus instrumental commissioned to accompany an installation created by Turner Prize winner Douglas Gordon and Olaf Nicolai...

10. A song revisited as a result of the Audioscope tenth birthday bash write-up. Should have been heard - and should be heard - by a lot more people.

11. and 13. Say what you like about Reading, but if Friday was anything to go by they seem to know how to enhance the shopping experience there: play good music the instant you step into any emporium.

12. First impressions of Raven In The Grave suggest a gothy ethereality smothering their usual Mary-Chain-'n'-girl-groups vibe - a promising new direction, perhaps.

15. Time will tell, but at the moment I simply don't get The King Of Limbs and it's well on course to be my least favourite Radiohead album since Pablo Honey.