Mew and Immi on the shelf today

2 of the highly anticipated cds are released today in Mew's "No More Stories" and Imogen Heap's "Ellipse."

Andre Matos new album also is released this week, except I suspect will not be stocked at any store I shop at considering his last cd never was either. Possibly something to look for at ProgPowerUSA in a few weeks.

Although last week was kind of big too in Mute Math, Ramona Falls and As Tall as Lions

BLK JKS debut lp "After Robots" requires more time, and I won't deny, I'm fishing for something new, different, and with good songwriting. This could be 1. I was impressed by it anyway, yesterday and the brief amount of time today I replayed it.

Thrice new album kind of underwhelmed me. I'm not sure if they are a band I'll ever get that into.

And Of Montreal I may say the same about having revisited one of their older albums today. They have their moments, but for one thing, they are a lot more like The Apples in Stereo than Apes and Androids. Way more power-pop, and more analog-sounding. I can't get the ELO/Jeff Lynne influence out of my head. But I'm really not sure if they even compare favorably to The Apples, let alone Call Florence Pow or A&A's.

Speaking of CFP, I'm continually amazed the talent Brian Jacobs and David Tobias have for songwriting. Even though we have yet to hear a ton of it from them, every song they've done, I appreciate the thought that was put into it. I started a new list on rateyourmusic called "A-List Modern Songwriters" (and mean to create 1 or 2 others, involving A-lists involving Actors/Directors and Live Acts) and it hasn't been published yet, but beyond 2 obvious names, I'd put the tandem of Jacobs and Tobias right behind them in the best songwriters working today (or in the last couple of decades). Which is why I sincerely hope they give us as much new music as they can over the next 5-10 years at least. The idea of prog + Electronica being a new genre like prog + alternative rock was in the 00's could quite possibly happen. And these guys I might trace as the forefathers of it (with Matt Mahaffey being the grandfather).

I really can't get enough of their stuff, in that i probably have a number of more entries to focus just on them. If not sooner, certainly when any news comes out about the next Apes and Androids, a whole backstory analysis/review should happen again, as I think they're the most fascinating musicians I've enountered in many years.

In Plain Sight: I finally caught the season finale. No, Mary's not dead. But it was a different way to end the season, with a cliffhanger of sorts. The girl she was protecting; something was messed up about her judgement. She either should have come across as more careless, looked-that-way, or perhaps there's more to her character than we know yet. Because by wanting to hang with those thugs across the street, even the way she treated that government rep, and his whole approach to throwing Mary into the job with her. I dunno, it didn't seem very accurate of all the characters, the writing. She would have been more concerned for Mary and how hostile those thugs seemed. The drug traffic too. Which of course raised the idea of them doing a crossover with Breaking Bad, given where both shows are set. The network conflicts I suppose hurts that, but in a better world, that would happen. Maybe one of Walt's family members ends up a witness, or Mary deals with Walt's brother-in-law who works for the DEA. A story could happen really easily.

But given it began in April, it was a good, long season. I'd have gone for a Winter comeback again, but maybe once Monk is gone, that'll happen.

Warehouse 13 and Royal Pains I'm playing catchup on now. Hopefully before the TV Previews, those will be all done, since it will be a potentially busy non-network fall with Psych and Monk along with another new USA show White Collar airing. Plus Caprica and however long Warehouse 13 goes on skeefee.

I'm headed to see local Cabaret duo The Bewitched this evening at Bryant Lake Bowl. My 3rd show seeing them since January? Maybe a belly/cabaret dancer will be there too. And it's an early show thankfully at 7:30, given it's a weeknight.