Aural Fixations

AMERICAN AMBULANCE
Stray
(Rustic)
Roots rock is such a voluminous genre that it's easy to overlook the gems hidden in the fluff. American Ambulance proved itself to be one of those shiny objects with its previous album Sweetness and Dark, and confirms it again with Stray. (more)

JEFF KELLY
For the swan in the hallway
THE GREEN PAJAMAS
Through Glass Colored Roses: the best of the Green Pajamas
(Hidden Agenda)
Jeff Kelly is best known as the leader of Seattle's great psychedelic pop band the Green Pajamas, and those attuned to such things (and there ain't many of us, lemme tell ya) also know him as one of the very finest songwriters in America. (more)

THE WINDBREAKERS
Time Machine: 1982-2002
TIM LEE
Under the House
(Paisley Pop)
The Windbreakers were (are?) a legendary member of the illustrious "New South" aggregation of underground guitar pop bands that dotted the indie rock landscape like so many flowering weeds in the 80s. What's that, you say? Though you've heard of R.E.M., Guadalcanal Diary, Let's Active, Don Dixon and Dreams So Real, maybe even Snatches of Pink and the Swimming Pool Q's, you're not familiar with the Windbreakers? It's true, the duo of Bobby Sutliff and Tim Lee never achieved the notoriety of its fellow travelers, except in the minds of devoted power pop fans. That doesn't mean they weren't good, though, as the long-overdue compilation Time Machine: 1982-2002 attests. (more)

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Cock 'n' Roll
(Sleazegrinder)
New York City Rock N Roll
(Radical)
Snake Oil Supercharm: A Super Rock Tribute to Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction
(Sleazegrinder)
There's a new rock in town. It's the kind of loud, sleazy, dirty rock & roll made by hip young metalheads and aging punks for whom Motley Crue is as important as the MC5 and Kiss is as radical as the Sex Pistols. It's gotta have high volume, obvious hooks and a whole back alley bar's worth of bad attitude. Sex, drugs and loud, loud music aren't just favorite pastimes for these folks—they're the stuff of life itself. (more)