Here's the mid-January round-up as a plethora of releases are streaming into the radio station.

1. Love of Diagrams - "Pace or the Patience"
Aussie post-punk new wavey band now on Matador, ep sounds very strong. Hopefully they get off a full-length.

2. Static of the Gods - "2.33"
Boston-area band with a female singer and crunchy sound, a few decent tunes here but many more that just sound like a cut-out bin mid-90's major label failure.

3. Of Montreal - "She's A Rejector"
Their sound just keeps getting bigger ... for some reason I kept thinking "Supertramp" as I previewed the new CD. They tend to be a little too precious for me but this one worked better than Sunlandic. I still prefer their initial LP with "Tim Wish You Were Born A Girl."

4. The Early Years - "So Far Gone"
UK band with a very nice retro-rock early 90's sound, oh those guitars. Even the long ones worked for me. Like The National meets Mercury Rev (oh I hate cross-breeding namedrops but it must be done here)

5. Clinic - "The New Seeker"
This one didn't grab me until the last few tracks. Couldn't find a standout hit.

6. Dear Leader - "Empty Chair"
Good for one song every release, took me a bit to find this one. Borderline playable. Former singer of Sheila Divine, liked it better when Jack Drag and Blake Hazard were in the band but now they're on the west coast doing The Submarines thing.

7. The Vinyl Skyway - "Don't You Like It?"
Local (now bi-coastal?) band with a nice Pernice sound. This one didn't go down as smoothly as their first, but to be fair their first took a bit to warm my ears. Played this track 1/18/07.

8. Hands and Knees - "Bicycle"
Let the surge of local releases continue, stripped down pop band with some catchy tunes and nice boy/girl vox. Spun this on 1/18/07. I like the jangly tracks the best.

9. The Shins - "Split Needles"
I'm not the best judge here, but the production seems much more polished and together. Less catchy than the previous release, the fuzziness is just about gone.

10. Deerhoof - "The Perfect Me"
After the opening track this one just falls flat. None of that off-kilter chimey charmingness, it never seems to gain any traction. Way too much space.

11. Ut - "Evangelist"
Either a re-issue of In Gut's House or a station purchase (or perhaps both). What I hoped Deerhoof would sound like. Herky-jerky hammering fun.

12. Jaggery - "Javelin"
Ep of piano-based quasi-goth with a female singer, this is the only song I thought really came together. The rest sorta meander and the vocalist is too up-front. Just recently played the Middle East.

13. Last Days - "Your Birds"
Potential background music, supposedly about getting lost as sea. Morose instrumentals with some talking (to advance the plot I guess). I predict a Bats in the Belfry appearance.

14. Bonobo - "The Fever"
Used it as background music on 1/18/07. Really fun instrumentals with an organic feel, maybe one of the vocal tracks will resurface on a future show.

15. She, Sir - "The Clandestine"
Shoegazer guitar wash ep, some nicely buried tracks. From Austin TX. Not sure of that comma in the band name ...

16. Relay - "Season (Start)"
More shoegazering, but more powerful than above. Played this 1/18/07, looks like a hit already. From Philly too, keeping that All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors sound alive.

17. Planetakis - "World Without Love"
Another release from the Patty Duke fanzine, this is a monster 2-CD compliation of modern bands covering every song Patty Duke ever performed (or at least it sure looks like it). This song is better know as a Peter & Gordon tune, one of the few Lennon/McCartney songs that wasn't done by the Beatles.

18. The Mitchells - "Darts in the Phone"
Closing out the local quotient on the disc, local rock band with a few potential cuts. Male vocals are strong & throaty in that odd almost out-of-tune way.

19. Sondre Lerche - "John, Let Me Go"
Well, at least it's better than his last one. I'd still prefer he go back to the sound on the first two, that full pop sound. Instead he rocks more on this one with a few decent power-pop shots. Played this on 1/18/07.

20. You Am I - "By My Own Hand"
Aussies get a deal on Yep Roc and respond by stepping away from their typical power pop sound for a more earthy rock feel. Not sure if it's working for me, the sweatiness seems rather forced.