Heavy Rotation: Week Ending January 22, 2010

01. Various – Rainbow Quartz Label Sampler, (Rainbow Quartz.2009)
02. Sonic Youth – The Eternal, (Matador.2009)
03. Paramore – Brand New Eyes, (Fueled by Ramen.2009)
04. Jay Reatard – Watch Me Fall, (Matador.2009)
05. Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications, (Rough Trade.2009)
06. The Soundtrack of Our Lives – Communion, (Haldern Pop.2009)
07. Mos Def – The Ecstatic, (Downtown.2009)
08. “Come In Alone” by My Bloody Valentine, (Sire.1991)
09. The Hunches – Yes.No.Shut.It., (In The Red.2002)
10. Smith Westerns – Smith Westerns, (Horizontal Action.2009)

This week I have been jamming that Rainbow Quartz Label Sampler quite a bit (“Duh! It's at number one, dumb shit Short.” Simmer down). For those who don't know about RQ – as if any of you, my discerning music listeners, would be unaware of the label – it is a premier purveyor of indie-pysch-pop/neoclassic-power-pop/post-punk-pop/jittery-punk-pop/groovy-70s-beard-power-pop/etc. etc. pop.

That groovy-beard rock comes from the great “Tiger Rider” by Deleted Waveform. You like it jangly and ringing guitar riffs and soaring harmonies? Check out “Sketches of Sound” by The June. How about some bombast-garage-pysch-rock? Immediately cue up “Run for Our Lives” by The Morning After Girls. Pretty cool shit, eh? Not only are the tunes tops, but the roster has some of the best bands you will ever hear spoken: Elusive Parallelograms,Deleted Waveform Gatherings,Broadfield Marchers,The Capstan Shafts, The Pillbugs, The Telepathic Butterflies, & more.

Thanks be given to eMusic for carrying this record.

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