----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Seaman, Dave" <seamand@upmc.edu>

>Any feedback on Lily Allen?  What is her music like?  Check out, stay
>away?  Suggested CDs?  I like female vocal pop from Ivy to Nellie 
>McKay
>to the Pipettes to the Supremes to Carole King to the Bangles to... 
>well
>I could go on and on.

There's only one album, ALRIGHT STILL.  I love it: fizzy, bratty, 
unapologetically commercial bubblegum, very much like the Pipettes 
album if the Phil Spector pastiche of the Pipettes was replaced by a 
fondness for old ska records.  Get the US version, which has a bonus 
track, a Mark Ronson remake of "Smile" with the musical backing 
entirely replaced by a performance by the Dap-Kings, Sharon Jones' 
backing band who also backed up Amy Winehouse on BACK TO BLACK.

>How about the Magic Numbers?  Again, what are they like?  Check out,
>stay away?  Suggested CDs?

Meh.  They bore me to tears.  Good harmonies, deadly songs.

>Also, my exposure to Genesis is mostly limited to the post Gabriel 
>era,
>which I don't care for.  I do however like the song Lamb Lies Down On
>Broadway, and some of Peter Gabriel's solo music.  And I sometimes 
>like
>intricate and involved prog pop, as long as it is highly melodic,
>composed (as opposed to free form meandering), and interesting (for
>instance, Karn Evil #9, Song For America, the first few Yes albums,
>etc.)   Any suggestions on a good Gabriel-era Genesis album to try as 
>a
>first step?

I'd suggest either SELLING ENGLAND BY THE POUND or, slightly less, 
FOXTROT.  They're pretty much the canonical early Genesis albums.

S