Banging out this bad Larry before the big football game (uh, match?) between the home town team and an undefeated rival. This weekend was spent assembling my best-of discs, hopefully the few final touches will be applied tonight and shipping can commence in mid-December.

Algebra Is The Ultimate

Bad Lieutenant – I wonder if Werner Herzog paid a product placement fee to Sumner, Morris & crew to promote his new film? Well, the music sounds nothing like the amoral mayhem on the screen, and Bernard indulges in his lighter electronic side to make music for airport lounges and drugstores. Better than Pablo Cruise, I suppose.

Section 25 – Meanwhile in another abandoned part of the factory here’s some more 80’s electronic innovators gathering for a spin around the fountain. It tastes so much fresher, perhaps because we haven’t drank from this cup in a long while. The brainy subject matter alone gains it several points on the final exam.

Jookabox – Dropping the Grampall from the name suggested less barnyard influences and more stylized rock and electronics, and that’s basically what’s happened. Their former melding of hoedown and hellbound was far more urgent than this lethargic effort, which seems content to gaze at the blackness of its own navel.

The Black Drumset – I’m not one to turn down a date with a silent partner, especially if there’s a familiar mischievous look in the eye. A bit too fun for the coffeeshop but at the same time too unruly for hip car commercials, perhaps they’ll find some warm water in someone’s movie trailer.

Swimmers – These fine fellows are not merely treading water, but instead try to increase the turbulence by splashing as many keyboards and drumbeats in seriously syncopated fashion. No need to worry, there’s plenty of fun to be had as well.

Ad Frank and the Fast Easy Women – Yes, this is the same gent who honored the great Mark Eitzel with a song title reference on one of his previously bright but sarcastic efforts. This tune is all concept and execution, I’ve always had a thing for songs that give away the lyrics in the title but while it’s easy to envision it’s equally difficult to pull off.

Owen – A friend will not allow me to make any negative comments about anything Kinsella-related so I’ll just note that there’s always one super smooth song per release that goes down like tapioca pudding, and usually that song clocks in at 5+ minutes.

Dutchess and the Duke – This song was reserve purely for the reference to my astrological sign in the title, and it’s somewhat fitting in its own reserved and taciturn way. I just wish they were a bit meaner.