The Exceptions, "Mean Ole Malley"
I come to you today with an important piece of information: buying records from a band based entirely on a particular comic artist doing the cover art has a pretty shaky track record. NEWS YOU CAN USE. Blah blah books and covers or something. Anyway, Evan Dorkin is really good!
Son Volt, "Windfall"
An underrated aspect of country, whatever the variety, is that it's often a lot of fun to sing along with. Jay Farrar further has the advantage of being pretty reasonable to keep up with across his bands. I really only know Trace well enough among Son Volt's work to sing along with, but it's fun.
Pavement, "The Hexx"
This is the most Pavement-y song on Pavement's last album, and as long as you ignore (the fun but strange) coda of "Carrot Rope", it's kind of their swan song. And as such, it functions extremely well. I have to wonder a bit if the band knew that this was it or not. I would read a biography of Pavement! (looks) Turns out there is one that I haven't heard of. I wonder if it is any good? ("I know it, and it's not.")
Kid Koala, "The Darkest Day"
Kid Koala decided to make Music To Draw To, a huge departure from his previous work. Rather than being based primarily on samples and turntables, Koala decided to make an ambient record, playing all of the music directly and enlisting a vocalist to sing on the music. The end result is pretty atmospheric, but ultimately never really grabbed me. I'm not much an ambient guy in general, though.
Leprous, "Illuminate"
A repeat! SIX SONGS HELL YES
christian fitness, "pea (super)"
Can we take a moment here to admire the the album title slap bass hunks? It's excellent. "Hunks" is a criminally underused unit of measurement. Anyway, this is Andrew Falkous (Future of the Left, Mclusky) and a drummer. Falkous insists it's not a solo record, just a band with one person in it.