• meg baird - waltze of the tennis playersb/wdear companion 7"
  on tequila sunrise records
  i love the cover of this record so much and i hope to meet meg someday so i can ask where she got her led zep necklace. the b-side is a lovely acapella version of a song  from her upcoming lp,but it's her interpre tation of an old fraser & debolt song on the a-side that keeps me coming back. probably my most listened to song of the year. i can play it 25 times in a row and each spin melts me a little bit more. "the liquor has made you a little bit bolder," indeed.
  
• jacques rivette - celine and julie go boating
finally out on dvd
this movie makes me want to be a magician or a librarian or maybe both. also, it introduced me to the expression "cosmic twilight pimps." seriously mind-blowing stuff on a classy region 2 bfi dvd.

• jarvis cocker - jarvis LP
  he's not my type at all (way too skinny), but i've had a long standing crush on mr. cocker. this record just cements our timeless love. big, yet subtle, rock ballads that make me wonder why everybody that isn't jarvis sucks it so hard. buy it on vinyl for the big pictures and a nifty 7" with "cunts are still running the world" on it.
• everything up to and including bilingual by the pet shop boys i don't know how i lived the first 29 years of my life without neil tennant and chris lowe, but now that i've let them in to my heart i don't think i can ever give them up. the double disc "further listening" versions of their first six lps are essential and often available at a reasonable price in our used section. sometimes when i'm sad i pretend that neil tennant and i are hanging out at the spotlight room,firing off quips like "oh, her?" and "THAT old queen?" every time somebody we don't like walks through the door. that fantasy always makes me happy.
• kousokuya - first live 1979
  cd on psf my token noise/underground pick for this list. seriously wild and damaged no-wave-synth-noise from an early incarnation of these tokyo psych legends. why can't all those new, handmade cdrs in the experimental section sound like this?

• modest mouse - we were dead before the ship even sank
  it hasn't come out yet (it drops march 20th), but i'm sure it will be fucking mind blowing. how do i know this? because it's isaac brock. and because i love modest mouse more than you.
• menomena - friend and foe
  
really amazing album.... i haven't actually listened to it yet, but they're so called "indie rock" and they're on barsuk, so i must like them. plus i thought listing them would make me look cool.

• royal city - little heart's ease + alone at the microphone
  i think these are somewhat stale releases, but i just discovered royal city, so they're new to me :). both albums are gorgeously depressing,with a tinge of bitterness...or at least that's what i get from it. "you will never know the places that i go to without you, you will never ever ever know." great lyrics for days.
• silversun pickups - carnavas
  i love these guys. especially the drummer, chris. he's fucking incredible. i saw them open for the elected at the el rey before i even knew who they were and later when i heard their album, i recognized them just from the drumming. my goal in life now is to learn how to play like chris.
• two gallants - the throes
  i had to throw in something from saddle creek, right? har de ha ha. but seriously, i really like this album.a lot,a lot.
• three six mafia - the most known unknowns
  i'm serious.

• Bright Eyes - Noise Floor : Rarities 1998-2005
  Genre: Indie Rock
  Words to live by: "I'm sorry about the phone call and needing you. Some decisions you don't make. I guess it's just like breathing, but not wanting to. There are some things you can't fake." - Happy Birthday To Me (Feb.15) Also, be on the look out for the Four Winds EP and the full length album Cassadaga.
• The Dresden Dolls - Yes,Virginia
  Genre: Punk mixed with a little bit o' Cabaret
  Words to live by:"Boys will be boys will be boys will be boys will be boys will be boys will be girls with no warning. Girls will be girls will be guys will be boys that don't cry over toys that they use to beat girls they despise by the morning. They always said that sex would change you..." - Sex Changes
  
• The Watson Twins - Southern Manners
  Genre : Folk/Country
  Words to live by:"And I'm not too brave, but brave enough to say you were wrong. Honey,you were wrong." -Hardly Undone
• The Science of Sleep - DVD
  Directed By:Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) Words to live by:"Everything will turn out the way you want,if you stop doubting that I love you." - Stephanie
  
• Conversations With Other Women - DVD
  Starring:Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart
  Directed By: Hans Canosa
  Words to live by: "The illusion of effortlessness requires a great effort indeed." - Woman
  

• The Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
  How this band doesn't get more recognition is baffling. There are musical visions on here that almost travel at the speed of light. I've had music in my head like this for years. These guys actually do it.
• Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose!!
  Some people would call these songwriters hacks, but the truth is they know more about composition, key changes, and lyricism, than most rock bands. And while the material on here would be challenging to most artists,Meat is like a method actor who outclasses just about every singer on the planet. Rocks harder than the previous 2 Bats.
  
• Ice-T - Gangsta Rap
  Who needs videos when you have Ice-T's incredible mastery of the English language. Rap at its best is like a movie in your head. Ice-T uses words like a tactician - no empty threats,he just levels you with the facts.
• Wolfmother
  This band’s uncanny sense of timing and chord movement, along wtih a good shot of adrenaline, makes me think of those formula high energy drinks. A good dose of Uriah Heep in here.
  
• Paul Simon - Surprise
  I was shocked and amazed at how viable and creative this guy still is.
  

Customer: What's the best way to kill a zombie underwater?
Me: I don't know, Ma'am, but have you heard the new album by Emily Haines and The Soft Skeleton?
Customer: Well,no,but -  
Me: That's okay. But you really should. It's called Knives Don't Have Your Back. It has this marvelous kinda flow to it. She's one of that Broken Social Scene clan, you know, that group that seems to scatter spin-off projects like the birth of the universe? She sounds like Jennifer Charles a bit. I mean, I dunno if you remember Elysian Fields -
Customer:Thanks, but look, I really need to know how to kill -
Me: My favorite track on the album is "The Lottery." I don't understand the meaning so much, but I love the flow. There's that word again. Flow. But yeah. It's nice. I mean, I think she has room to grow. I look forward to the next album. So if you're looking for a diverting little slice of musical meringue...
Tim Ranow: I would drag the zombie down to the bottom and get its toe stuck in the drain.

Customer: Do you guys have any CD's by Some Girls?
Me: OMG, totally.I can't believe someone's asking for this band! The new one just came out. It's called Crushing Love. Some people wouldn't give this CD the time of day because Juliana Hatfield's in the band. She gets a bad rap. I think it's because of her voice, which is kinda waifish and featherlight. But good gravy, does she know how to write a hook! I mean,say what you want about "Spin The Bottle," but that later album, Only Everything totally blew me away and I've been a fan ever since. This new band is cool because it's kind of an extension of that brief Blake Babies reunion that happened a few years ago. Remember? Hatfield got together with her old drummer and they did that BB reunion tour and now they're doing this Some Girls thing, which has a different feel than her solo stuff. But then, I guess you already know all this.If you haven't heard the album yet, a good jumping-in point is track six. The rest just kinda unfolds from there in both directions. Just like, like, like...a big ol' blooming onion!
Customer: Dude, I'm talking about the hardcore band from San Diego.
Me: Oh.

Customer : Hello.
Me: You're very beautiful.
Customer : Thanks. Do you have Volver yet?
Me : By the time you read this, we probably will. Customer: What did you think of it?
Me: I think that Pedro Almodovar is Athena come down off of Mount Olympus in the guise of an amusing Spanish man. I mean, no one writes women like him. The film is funny, sad, poignant, mysterious and horrifying all at once and the way it looks is like a handful of flower petals scattered across white sandstone. Penelope Cruz proves again that when she performs in her own language she's brighter than the sun.
Customer: That's nice of you to say.
Me : You know, you actually look like Penelope Cruz.
Customer : I am Penelope Cruz.
Me: Will you marry me?
Penelope Cruz: No.

John Gulager : What did you think of the film Feast?
Me: I thought it was way too unpredictable. It didn't follow any of the cliches of horror flicks at all. I mean there was no way to tell who was going to survive in the end and that drives me crazy. And where did those monsters come from? There was no back-story at all. I like to have my movies explained to me from the very beginning so that there's no mystery or intrigue to get in the way. I don't want surprises. I mean, if I wanted surprises, I would buy a box of Cracker Jacks! Seriously.And my God, the blood? Look,I know we're all human,and if something bites off our head there's gonna be a little red stuff, but I don't need it sprayed all over the room like a big ol' firehose.For once,I'd just like to see a horror movie where all the characters excuse themselves and go to another room to get slaughtered. We don't need to see that stuff. And what's with all that suspense? Seriously, if I wrote that movie, I would have just said,"This scene is gonna turn out okay, everybody," and "Oh, and in this scene,she's gonna have her head bitten off. Just so you know," flashing on the screen like subtitles. And you know what else? It took me half the movie to recognize Balthazar Getty! Why do actors always do that? Why do they try to be different in every movie they're in? Can't they just choose a personality and stick to it, like Ben Stiller? If they want to act,they should go,you know,have tea with James Ivory or Anthony Minghella. And why, why, why do modern horror flicks have so many jokes in them? I mean, this movie had me laughing and screaming, usually at the same time. Have you ever laughed while screaming? It's messes you up.I don't think a movie should be that confusing. Pick a tone and stick to it.
John Gulager: Um...
Me: Look, I apologize, but this just sets me off. I'll calm down.But I just want to go on record and say Feast is the epitome of everything I loathe in modern film. Whoever made it should have his brains scooped out with a plastic shoehorn and replaced by something more effective, like butterfat.
John Gulager: I directed it.
Me: I think it's the greatest movie of all time.

Customer: Do you have a recommendation for me?
Me: Hold on, I'm working.
Customer: What are you doing? Can I help?
Me: Sure. I'm trying to think of other names for the band, Dogs Die In Hot Cars.
Customer: Dogs Rather Like Rolled Down Windows.
Me: Say,that's not bad. This is what I got so far: Dogs Like Going for A Drive. Cats Dislike Like Rainy Convertibles. Rabbits Die Under Speeding Trucks.
Customer: Rhinos Step on Smart Cars.
Me: Fish Don't Have Much Use For Saabs.
Customer: Get Out Of My Car You Bad Pony.
Me: There's An Alligator In The Glove Box.
Customer: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.
Me: That's been taken.
Customer: Joanna Newsom.
Me: Can I help you with something?
Customer: I need a recommendation.
Me: Venus, starring Peter O'Toole. It's so good it'll make you hurt.
Customer: Thanks.

• Rockin’Bones Box Set - various artists
  Pound for pound,the rockingest box set to come out in the past year,chock full o' lots and lots of ‘50s punk and rockabilly to shake yer cast iron arm at! If this isn't your cuppa tea, then I don't like you one bit! NEXT!!!...
• Lil' Markie Now - Why Did You Kill Me, Mommy?
  I don't exactly know the full story on the genesis of this creepily hilarious little ditty, but I can only tell you this: It's an anti-abortion song sung FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF A FETUS!!! (Sung by a full-grown man in a child's voice). Boy oh boy, you right-wing Christians are hilarious!!! Keep it up!!!
• RAD!O D!RTNAPTM - Monthly Audio Zine
  Today Your Ears,Tomorrow The World's!!!
  
• John Waters film collection
  Just About Any And Everything! From the filthy and the revolting, to the raunchy and disgusting, you're pretty sure to find it in a John Waters flick. If you're easily offended, please oh please do yourself a favor and buy his movies!!!  You'll be oh so glad you did. They're fun for the whole family!!! If I may be your film sommelier, please let me suggest that you start with my personal favorite: Desperate Living. Enjoy...
  
• The Vagabundos - Aloof And Well
  Raised on whiskey and hard living,from the rough and tumble streets of Tuscaloosa (or so they claimed in their most recent interview), this brother/sister drum and bass guitar duo know how to rattle your bones until they SNAP while keeping the critics guessing as to what identity they'll take on next.V&J, CooCoo & Carlotta ... who are they,really?? Who cares, as long as they continue to rock us to the core with sounds culled from their Monastic learnings at the altar of rock!!! Play the whole album LOUD, if you dare. My favorites: "I'll Cut You From Here To Mexico!", "Seize Her And Fuck Her!", and the weepy ballad "Who Told You You Could Drink My Whisky!?!". You've been warned...

Hidden gems can be found throughout the store if you've got the patience or a search party with you. Search high and low. Check the dollar bins and clearance sections too, unless you feel you're too good to SAVE money. Find a used Bukowski or Hunter S. Thompson book on our book shelves. Reading's good for ya! And if you're a cute girl, leave your number with Johnny D! before you leave. He's the cute one...Adios!!!

• United 93
  The best film of the year hands down. I felt like I had been hit in the face with a shovel when I walked out of this one. One of the all time great depictions of both dread and heroism.
  
• The Descent
  Don’t listen to the haters.This is the best horror film since I can’t remember when because horror films have sucked so hard for so long.
  
• Sound Team,Your Eyes are Liars
  This is a song on their Movie Monster album. I don’t know about the rest of the album but this is the catchiest and happiest track I’ve heard in a while.I’m gyrating with glee just writing about it.
• TV Carnage vol.2,Casual Fridays
  If you are lucky enough to find this used in our cult section, just grab it immediately. Don’t ask any questions. Take it home and cherish it. repeat great pork / velvet, dragnet, trumpet / who speaks to him?" in "Iguana in Trouble"). Always a blast.
• Feast
  Horror comedy at its finest. Non stop gore and jolts served up with brains and wit by shockingly good actors. Hard to believe this was a troubled Project Greenlight production.