Friday Again Already?

Seeing Other People - Belle & Sebastian, If You're Feeling Sinister
Mission – Phenomenauts, Springman Records Sampler #1
Dust Radio - Chris Whitley, Living With The Law
Clever - Jill Sobule, Happy Town
Papa Won't Leave You Henry - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Live Seeds
Voice Of The Voiceless - Rage Against The Machine, The Battle Of Los Angeles
Peggy-O - Simon & Garfunkel, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM
The Power Of Equality - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Renegades Of Funk - Rage Against The Machine, Renegades
We're Coming Back (Cock Sparrer) - Bouncing Souls, BYO Split Series Vol. IV

Actually, this is a pretty topical list. I'm hoping to see the Phenomenauts at Mr. Small's on Monday, and there was a nice, long piece about Chris Whitley on NPR last night.

It was great timing, as I was headed on a semi-long drive to the hinterlands (and back) with a stack of his CDs. Some of you may recall Living with the Law (even got airplay on the late, lamented WNEW in NYC), but he then effectively dropped off the planet, largely due to his consistent inconsistency. The followup to his Lanois-produced, Delta-inflected debut was raucous, nearly-cacophonous rock, then a quieter, more psychedelic album that got him dropped by Sony in the great mid-late ‘90s label-purge. Since then he’s done pure acoustic, electronica, and stuff approaching – but not really - Law. I like it all, and love most of it. It’s powerful, soulful, raw stuff, and the guy just lays it out there.