field music - "you're not supposed to" (from the field music lp, released april 11, available for preorder here.)
darren hayman - "perfect homes" (from the table for one lp, import available for purchase here.)
les incompetents - "how it all went wrong" (from the how it all went wrong single, import available for purchase here.)
the noisettes - "iwe" (from the iwe single, import available for purchase here.)

four, you say? yes, good reason--keep reading.

starting alphabetically w/ field music. they've typified the sort of band to date whose reviews read to me like the precisely the sort of band i'd love, but that hasn't panned out. until now, natch. "you're not supposed to," a single in the uk and a bonus track on the proper us release of their debut, is like fellow northern england types maximo park and futureheads collaborating, i.e. it's a bit herky-jerky and has marvellous vocals all-around, except it's all set in the distant past, 1967, say, and brian wilson is blowing minds and not just his own.

darren hayman was in hefner; this is from his solo debut. by now, you've probably made your mind up. but if hefner rings no bells, "perfect homes" is a lovely bluegrassy kind of thing, like something off of the stones' flowers, right down to the vocals. it's music to listen to under trees w/ a warm wind blowing through the fields.

les incompetents aren't so unlike the fratellis : one detects the faintest whiff of the libertines (or is that just rock & roll?), but they're doing something interesting w/ themselves. les incompetents sound a bit like the new york dolls, stranded not in the jungle but maybe in a jim steinman theatrical production. to these ears, i should note, this is a v. good thing.

lastly not leastly, the noisettes. i've been sitting on this one for awhile, mostly b/c i've been waiting for it to make sense to me. early pub on it was excellent, but the allure passed me by thorougly--which is historically my reception to what later became my favorite bands (pixies, roxy music, velvet underground, &c.) not ready to put noisettes in such a category quite yet, but they are another triumphant find by transgressive records, home at one point or another to bands that rhyme w/ "ettes" such as the pipettes and the mystery jets--oh, and the rumble strips. "iwe" scratches and screeches and basically has its way w/ you. but you like it that way, don't you.

so i will be taking next week off, which is why i wanted to leave you w/ some things to think over and listen to. i hope you will be back when regular service returns on april 10. enjoy the music, enjoy the weather, where ever you are.