Been down for the count the past three days with a small grouping of symptoms that a hypochondriac would call H1N1 but I call a cold brought on by breathing too much leaf-dust as I was mulching up my yard in another fine New England autumnal rite of passage. Either way, spending the last three days in the same clothes is slightly liberating, though my cats now see me as nothing more than a rather large heating pad for their mid-day naps.

Nature Makes Us All Compete

Flaming Lips – If I had only one criticism of the previous few Flaming Lips records it would be the seeming self-satisfaction they have with creating a conjured sense of whimsy while providing little else to dig into beyond an impenetrable layer of production. The elements of that criticism are still present, but at least we have the concentrated effort of creating a song or two on this release, instead of a soundtrack for dancing teddy bears.

El Perro Del Mar – All things Swedish do not necessarily get an automatic pass here, and while her previous efforts have had songs worthy of praise the nuggets are buried a bit deeper on this new release. Which isn’t to insinuate this particular example of 1985 style portending doom leaves me cold, just that it has the intended effect.

Javelin – Fans of the Yello Magic Orchestra or the credits to Buckaroo Banzai will pleasantly appreciate the multi-layered synths that blend an appropriate level of hope and melancholy without forcing you to face that nostalgia complex it’s taken you 25 years to so carefully cultivate.

Neon Indian – Progenitors of the addled attention deficit style of electronic music, these songs seem to barely begin or coalesce before they suddenly disappear into another bleating track, BMSR style. This is easily the most cohesive one of the bunch.

Mum – Delicate and ornate without forming any fears of accidental breakage, Mum continue to craft their energetic solutions to life’s moments of ennui in hopes that their earworms produce an equally intricate reaction.

The Amazing – Side project from the most authentic retro 60’s psych-rock outfit to date (Dungen for those still flipping through their scorebooks), as you’d expect it sounds like a long lost but now re-issued side project from another time, gentler in scope and no less compelling in execution. I was gonna namedrop Balloon, but who the hell remembers them anyways?

Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Has nothing to do with Kurt Vonnegurt, nor the inoffensive folk-rock duo that released failed major label records in the mid-90’s. Instead it’s just proof that a well-executed cryptic spoken word piece will eventually find its way to the floor regardless of the worthiness of the rest of the release.

Bird Names – Playing caboose on this mix is as accurate a rendition of Don Van Vliet cacophony as I’ve heard since the last Old Time Relijun record. Odd and unpredictable in it’s construction, it still somehow transmits the sense that they know where they’re going and just enough planning has been done to reach the final destination, even if the path was not picked.