I have piles of cd's staring at me, shoveled in between my plant and my computer, they are gaining in stature and I know I must start listening to them soon. Perhaps tomorrow. Yesterday, Jagjaguwar sent me the new Minus Story, 'My Ion Truss'. I took it home but the noise of cards shuffling, rummaging, and conversation stood in my way. I'm excited to give it a proper listen; 'No Rest For Ghosts' was one of my favorites from 2005.

There are a few albums that I can't stop listening to lately, one is Jolie Holland's, Springtime Can Kill You. For whatever reason I didn't really like this album when it first came out, it probably had to do with it being different from her previous albums. I got over that and really started to listen and I think it's fantastic. I heard an interview with her on The Current when she came through Minneapolis and she talks about how timid she sounds when she listens to the album. This was one of my let downs about it as well, after having seen her recording a radio broadcast on the Austin City Limits stage where the sound is impeccable, the album sounded restrained. Live, her voice just captures you. She produced the record and attributes her timidness to having too much responsibility and being scared of wasting the labels money. She won't be producing her next album and I have a hunch that it will better capture the vibrancy of her voice.

The other album I've been listening to a lot lately is, Beat The Devil's debut EP. It's only five songs, but they are a powerful five and they stay with you. Their hub is New York City where it looks like they've been drawing a lot of attention. Lead singer, Shilpa Ray's vocals differ quite drastically from Holland's, but are equally captivating. She adds to her vocals with her harmonium. Alongside her are Mitchell King and Mishka Shubaly, who I think play drums and bass respectively, however when I caught two songs in Austin this year, Mishka was banging on a huge marching band drum and Shilpa was smacking a shovel with a stick. Whatever is going on, I like it, and the artwork isn't bad either.

It has started to snow very lightly here, I'm attempting to embrace it, what else can I do in April?