One really cool thing I heard today was an interview with Thurston Moore posted by the folks at One Louder. They set it up pretty well so I’ll just mention that it’s worth listening to if you’re a Sonic Youth fan.

Saxon Shores - Luck Will Not Save Us From A Jackpot Of Nothing (2005)
This one is a Pandora discovery. Despite its bitter sounding title, plenty of hope rings through these five tranquil, atmospheric instrumental songs. They feel both naturalistic and futuristic, like maybe watching the sun rise over the smooth glass surface of a lake surrounded by mountains, thankful to have survived the alien invasion.

Parlour - Hives Fives (2005)
Another Pandora discovery, sort of. I already knew these guys and have another one of their albums (Googler - 2002) but didn’t realize they put something out last year. Upbeat and melodic instrumental post-rock, more concise than what I’ve heard from them before.

The Greenhornes - Sewed Soles (2005)
A very good anthology from Cincinatti’s finest garage revivalists. I have and really like 2002’s Dual Mono so this served as a nice sampler to fill in the gaps for what I haven’t heard. Last Saturday I checked out The Haunted’s anthology. I’ll bet if you queued up that one along with Sewed Soles and played all of the songs at random for an unsuspecting listener, that person would not guess The Greenhornes weren’t from the sixties. They’ve got that classic garage-soul-r&b-rock sound down cold.

Versus - Let’s Electrify (1993)
Ah, the nineties. Some day when I’m an old man I’ll be huddled in my flannel shirt to keep the chill off, remembering the glory days of indie-rock.