There are many bands over the years that I have been obsessed with. At one point it was Depeche Mode, The Cure, and The Smiths. Then it was Suede, Pulp, Blur, and The Verve. Once your obsession reaches a certain point, I think it never really goes away. Part of it is always there or it just builds and gets bigger and stronger. I have no doubt that these bands will be with me the rest of my life. Depeche Mode and The Cure are my Rolling Stones and The Who. The Smiths are my Beatles. My obsession can live on in Morrissey's solo career much like that of Paul McCartney does for fans of The Beatles. The Verve could not have come at a better time in my life. I sort of needed them. I needed a new band to latch on to and get obsessed with. My shoegaze bands like Ride, The Pale Saints, and Slowdive were starting to break up and dissolve away. The first Blur album had come out a couple of years prior to 1993, but I didn't really get into them until 1993. This was the year of the first Verve album, A Storm in Heaven and also the year of Blur's second album, Modern Life is Rubbish. The album that really made me a fan. 1993 was also the year of the self titled album by Suede and my first Pulp album, His 'N' Hers. Pulp had already been around for a decade or so but I had never heard of them until 1993. I suddenly had all these new bands to obsess over. The albums were all excellent and easy to get obsessed with. Many of my friends, and most everyone else in the world, were all into Oasis, but I remember seeing Oasis in some interview and right then deciding that I didn't want to like this band..but they obviously played a part in this period of music. Their debut album Definitely Maybe would come out a year later in 1994. These bands were also all over the magazines and a lot of my friends were also getting into the same bands. It was just an exciting time for music.

Remember that band called Stereolab? Yes, they are still making great albums. They never really stopped, you just may have forgotten about them. They have a new album out this week called Chemical Chords. I think it might be like their 20th album by now. They were on a major label for a long while, but they are back on the indie label 4AD now. They had that EP collection out last year, but this is a real new album. I have not had a chance to listen to it yet, but I can't really wait. They are one of those bands that I got really obsessed with when they first came out. I had lost a bit of interest over the last 5 or 6 years, but I feel ready to be a Stereolab fan again. I just hope the album is as good as I want it to be. I like the song that I have heard from the album. I don't really see how you can't like a Stereolab album. They are always so fun and catchy. I am just glad there are some releases out this week that I actually want to bother listening to.

The Dandy Warhols also have a new album out this week. I have had sort of a love/hate relationship with the Dandy Warhols. I still don't really know how I feel about this new album. I am going to give it one more listen before I make up my mind. I also have been listening to that new album by The Uglysuit. It is slowly growing on me but I doubt it will turn into one of my favorites. There is also the debut album from Uh Huh Her. I have not heard this one yet either-- however, I do love Leisha Hailey. She plays Alice Pieszecki on The L Word. She is the funniest thing about The L Word and the only reason that I watch it. Many years ago she was in the Murmurs, so it's not like this is her first time making music. There are also some great other albums that are coming out this week that I just fell in love with.

This is another sad week for new releases, but it does come in waves. You just have to wait a couple more weeks for some great new albums. I really wish that just one label had decided to put out something good this week. It would have been really easy to get your album to the top this week. It would have also been really easy to get me to talk about your album this week. I just can't bring myself to talk about Daddy Yankee or David Sanborn. The number one selling album of the week will probably by the Jonas Brothers, who I am tempted to talk about. I guess they are sort of the "new" New Kids on the Block, so it is fitting that this week also sees the release of a greatest hits of the New Kids. They seem to be a bit more hip than the New Kids but I guess that it just because they are more up with the times. They wear tight fitting suits and drive the kids crazy. It will be interesting to see where these kids go in the next couple of years. It is weird to have to grow up in the public eye. One out of these 3 "brothers" is bound to have some trouble with the law, or at least some explicit photos show up in the tabloids. The music offers absolutely nothing new or interesting, but I guess it serves its purpose. The tweens've got to listen to something. I guess there parents would rather them listen to the Jonas Brothers than Judas Priest, but I personally think that the Jonas Brothers might be more damaging.

I've got to go back a couple of months to find an album to talk about. I don't usually find myself listening to comedy albums. I especially tend to avoid "crank call" albums...but maybe I have been missing out. I put on a sampler album advance of this new album by Earles & Jensen a couple months back, but I really was not expecting very much. I listened to it on a Monday morning with my coworker. It was really early in the morning and I was barely awake, but we both could not stop laughing for the entire length of the album. I wanted to listen to it again. I couldn't wait for more Earles & Jensen. Luckily this was just a sampler and there would be a 2 CD version out soon. The album is actually a reissue of stuff that was out before. I had never head of them before, so I am happy this came out to a wider audience. This double CD Earles & Jensen present...Just Farr a Laugh: The Greatest Prank Phone Calls Ever Vol. 1 & 2 was released by Matador Records. The folks that brought you Belle & Sebastian and Cat Power have managed to put out the funniest comedy album ever! I seriously love this album and love introducing people to it. It is sometimes hard to convince people to actually pick up this album and give it a chance, but it is worth your time. You will never laugh more than this.

I don't know if it was intentionally planned or not. But this week The Faint is in a battle with old label mate Conor Oberst for the number one indie album. It may not be as publicized as the album battle of Kanye West and 50 Cent, but it is no less significant...for me, at least. Conor Oberst was actually a member of the early incarnation of The Faint for about 5 minutes and they both remained on the same label up until now. Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst) has put out a couple more albums than The Faint. Saddle Creek helped to make them both household names across the world, at least in the indie rock community. I was always more of a Faint fan. I didn't give in to Conor until years after my Faint obsession began. But I became a Faint fun much like how I became a Bright Eyes fan. I was sort of forced into it-- I had resisted The Faint for a couple of years. I had heard about them and knew some of my friends were fans but just had not gotten around to listening to them yet. I was going through a big R & B phase in my life at the time, so indie rock was not as much of a priority. I was intrigued as soon as I found out that The Faint were using keyboards and sort of adopting a more synthy sound. My first Faint album was actually their third album, Danse Macabre. A friend of mine gave me the record for my birthday. It was actually just a couple of months before I made the first big move back to Los Angeles. He told me that he knew I would love it, and I fell in love with the album, as did many of us. Sort of like with the Teaches of Peaches album by Peaches, I became obsessed. The album just seemed to take over many peoples lives. I couldn't stop listening to it, it was so good. It was one of those albums that I was so glad to have discovered. I was just so glad that it existed.

I still can't believe that summer has already started. I am sure that it will be over even quicker. Soon it will be Christmas time again. The year is a little more than half over and I have been back in Los Angeles for about 6 months now. The boyfriend just moved down last week and it has been a busy couple of weeks for me, but it has been a bit slow for the new releases the last couple of months. Some big things are right around the corner for the next couple of weeks, but not so much for this week or the last. Last week was the week of the debut album for the Black Kids and the release of the second album by CSS. There was another Nine Inch Nails album and a new Dr. Dog.

This week is basically a new Neil Halstead album and a new one by Rick Springfield. Not a very big week. I am a huge fan of both Slowdive and Mojave 3, so I am a bit excited about the new Neil Halstead, but I have not yet heard it. Next week we get new albums from both The Faint and Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes. They both were on the label Saddle Creek Records up until these new albums. Bright Eyes put out a ton of albums on Saddle Creek and helped to make a name for the label, but he has made the jump to Merge Records for his new solo album. The Faint decided to go with their own new label for this new album. Conor is one of those guys you either love or hate. Most people I know have some passionate opinion about him. I know I have talked about this before. I was on the hating side for a bit, but crossed over to the fan side about 4 years ago. Conor Oberst will also be playing a free show at Amoeba in both San Francisco and Hollywood. The Hollywood instore is this coming Monday, August 4th. We will also be selling the album the day before it comes out since the actual street date is the day after the instore. He is playing at the San Francisco store 3 days before the album comes out, on Saturday August 2nd. There will be tons of people at both these instores, but I think it is worth dealing with the crowds just to see him perform live. It might convert you to a fan as well.