----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Douglas" <ccosmos_64@yahoo.com>
> Anybody want to chime in on early favorites at this
> (hard to believe already) midpoint of 2008? C'mon,
> let's talk about music!

Bearing in mind that there's a number of things I haven't gotten to 
yet (Sloan, Sparks, the Fleet Foxes full-length, that Bon Iver album I 
keep hearing so much about, etc.), here's some current faves, in 
alphabetical order:

FIXATION PROTOCOLS--The Capstan Shafts (as noted last  week, 
stripped-down DIY pop songs a la Guided By Voices)
MOMOFUKU--Elvis Costello (the most fun he's allowed himself to have on 
record for ages)
TROUBLE IN DREAMS--Destroyer (yet another solid effort, and probably 
their most immediately accessible album yet)
VISITER (sic)--The Dodos (probably my favorite new discovery of the 
year so far, largely-acoustic folk rock with a noisy edge)
CSI: AMBLESIDE--Half Man Half Biscuit (new album from arguably my 
favorite band of all time)
THE PORTRAIT IS FINISHED AND I HAVE FAILED TO CAPTURE YOUR 
BEAUTY--Hello Blue Roses (side project by Dan Bejar of Destroyer/New 
Pornographers, with himself on music and instruments and his 
girlfriend on lyrics and vocals, with an unexpected mid-'80s UK feel a 
la Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera or early Everything but the Girl)
LONG GONE AND NEARLY THERE--Julie Ocean (terrific debut album from DC 
pop vets that hasn't gotten its due yet)
CATHEDRAL SQUARE PARK--The Lackloves (strong return to form after a 
couple of rather lackluster albums)
GET BETTER--Lemuria (solid, unpretentious indie rock in the Merge 
Records tradition)
FALLING OFF THE LAVENDER BRIDGE--Lightspeed Champion (leader of noisy 
UK post-punk-revival act the Test Icicles unexpectedly goes acoustic 
and countryish)
DISTORTION--The Magnetic Fields (Stephin Merritt gets nostalgic for 
PSYCHOCANDY)
FLIGHT OF THE KNIFE--Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears (wildly over 
the top '70s-FM-pop-inspired art rock goofiness)
VOLUME ONE--She and Him (I fully expected to hate this, but you can't 
argue with a song like "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here," which may end up 
my single of the year)
PHYLACTERY FACTORY--White Hinterland (new album from local-to-me 
singer/songwriter Casey Dienel, who for some reason decided to stop 
recording under her own name)
THE WHITSUNDAYS--The Whitsundays (Canadian indie-electronic act 
heavily inspired by late-era Zombies and '60s sunshine pop)