>Matthew Sweet

EH, SORTA LIKE. I've never connected very deeply with any Matthew Sweet
material; some of his songs, frankly, I find uninspired, if extremely
well-crafted. A rule follower, IMO.

>Squeeze

LIKE. Hit and miss seems to be the phrase most often associated with
Squeeze. One of those British '80's first-wave MTV bands for me initially;
after a renewed interest in pop music, I've come to discover a lot of very
good Squeeze material, veddy good indeed. Master craftsmen.

>XTC

LOVE. The Beatles if they hadn't broken up. Andy Partridge is my personal
melodic god. Unbelievably innovative and original approach to song
construction (see: That Wave). Lyrically on a par with Lennon, Davies and
Townsend (the writers, not the law firm). Either breathtakingly perfect or
irritatingly annoying; either way, XTC's music is *going* to affect you --
get used to it.

>Owsley

LIKE. One of what I categorize as the "Ken West" bands; ask Ken, he knows a
million of 'em. Classic, modern powerpop, well-crafted and hooky, yet, to me
anyway, suffering a *bit* from that "here we go again, I know exactly where
this melody is going" kinda thing -- I dislike that, intensely. A promising
writer, for certain.

>Splitsville

LOVE. Dope, phat; hippy-sizzle to the shizzle-dizzle. Melodic mastermind
scientists, concocting elaborate musical visions in some stinky garage in
Baltimore. Seriously, some extremely well-conceived material, performed
passionately. The Brothers Huseman are, in my opinion, the American version
of the Finn brothers, Neil and Tim. Not to single anyone out, but something
about Matt's voice completely destroys me. Impeccable pop instincts. Don't
like GBW nearly as much, sorry to say (way too simplistic IMO, these guys do
*so* much more with SV).

>The Merrymakers

LIKE-ISH. I've only heard Bubblegun; "Saltwater Drinks" contains what could
quite possibly THE perfect chorus; an astounding album opener. Nothing
else -- other than the awesome Sturmer-assisted "April's Fool" -- gets to me
in *quite* the same way. Slightly less than a yawner, but more than a snore.

>Myracle Brah

LIKE. Okay, so I *love* "She's So Young" and "Whisper Softly"; incredibly
inspired pop songs (polished gems, actually). Some of the other records I've
heard ("Plate Spinner") didn't quite do me, do me right. Someone I will
always endeavor to check out, just 'cause the dude is capable of *anything*.

>Teenage Fanclub

HATE. Hahaha. Sorry, but TFC *define* cookie-cutter, buy-the-book (pun
intended) pop, IMO. Perhaps this explains my TFC hatred: I recall the
irritation I felt when seeing them on MTV (in the midst of the early grunge
wave), with all their samey-sounding-songs, when all I wanted to hear was
Alice in Chains "Them Bones" or "Would?" or some Soundgarden, or Nirvana
(yeah, Nirvana!). Perhaps there is some lingering resentment on my part, I
can't be certain. I'll admit, they're good at what they do; it's what they
*don't* do to me (ha!) that keeps me away, in spite of Mike Simmons, Mike
Randle and Ken West's insistence that these guys are GODZ. Me, I smell
cookies burning.

>Cherry Twister

LIKE. Haven't heard a lot of Cherry Twister, but I felt the songs were
unique, sporting a definite early Brian Wilson vibe, to me anyway. Not
really enough listens to form a cohesive opinion. Rather, not. On a scale of
apples to zucchini, I'd give 'em a lettuce. A band with the future very much
in front of them (as opposed to being a band with a past very much behind
them). Sorry, I'm rambling again. Mommy!

>Aimee Mann

HATE. There's just something about the "jittery artiste" thing, coupled with
some very melodically-uninspired songwriting, that keeps Ms. Mann at arms
length from my brainspace. I don't get her music at all, but her lyrics
rule. Why so sad, butterfly?

>Sloan

LOVE. I enjoy conjuring the vision of a bunch of young Canadian dudes holed
up in a saltbox house on the coast of Nova Scotia in the middle of a fucking
blustery winter afternoon, smoking some pot and jamming out. These guys are
soooo loose, willing to give anything a try, and always imbue each and every
song with a genuine, authentic rock and roll spirit. The good stuff.

>The Vandalias

NEVER HEARD 'EM.

>The Shazam

LIKE. Blew me away, live -- balls, moxie galore. On their records, nothing
really all that interesting happening, other than some reliably predictable
songcraft coupled with an energetic delivery. I detect no tangible melodic
imagination at work, frankly. Capable of great things, but not *quite* there
yet.

By the way, W-E-L-C-O-M-E to all these new Auditeer's suddenly crawling out
from underneath the floorboards -- post like mad and be honest and
respectful!

Like I should lecture.

kErrY kOMpOsT

www.mp3.com/kompost