It used to be that I would actually write about music and movies here and not so much about myself. So in realization of the fact that nothing much is going on right now I've decided to write a little about the records I'm currently listening to with the hope that some of you might get inspired and check some of them out (I'm also currently reading Nick Hornby's 31 Songs, so that's kinda where I nicked the idea from).

Red House Painters: Songs for a Blue Guitar (1996)
One of the most beautiful records I've bought in a long time. It starts out with the acoustic Have You Forgotten, which is so melancholic and beautiful that it makes you want to cry within a minute of putting the album on ("Have you forgotten how to love yourself?" he sings quietly over and over again). The second track is the title track which is similar in style. But with Make Like Paper the album starts changing. The songs starts quietly, but after a while builds up and goes into several minutes of guitar noodling before it goes into a more electric version of the song it started out as. The song goes on for more than 12 minutes, but never gets boring, which is quite remarkable. By song five you know in your heart that love will only bring you misery and no matter what happens you'll never find anything as true as the love you've lost. But then I Feel The Rain Fall pops up with 2 minutes of happiness and even though the lyrics are almost suicidal the music is merrier than Christmas with the Cunninghams.
For the rest of the album the songs shift from being quiet and acoustic to being more electric, but the melancholy goes on throughout the record and no matter how long the songs are Mark Kozelek's voice carries them through with lyrics like "And the one thing she found/As she gazed at the sea/Was that she lost her faith/Her faith in me". The album actually includes three cover versions, but the only one which is on par with Kozelek's own tracks is All Mixed Up, which is taken from the first album by The Cars.
I'm a huge fan of Kozelek's "What's Next To The Moon" album and I've listened to "Old Ramon" a lot as well, but this record makes me want to buy everything Kozelek has ever been involved with. So the Sun Kil Moon record will have to be bought next month and I guess I'll just have to buy the older Red House records one by one, because if they're anywhere near as good as the ones I already have I'm not sure I can live without them.

The New Pornographers: Electric Version (2003)
This is a record I've wanted to buy for months, but it wasn't until I found it in London I finally picked it up and boy am I glad I did. I've honestly never heard a Neko Case album, but I found the idea of her doing a Power Pop album interesting and it's probably the album I've listened to the most in the last few weeks (even more than the Franz Ferdinand record!).
The lyrics haven't made a real impact on me, but the songs have cheered me up more times than one and the harmonies are to die for. The album is packed with pop gems, but my favourites include The Laws Have Changed, All For Swinging You Around, and The New Face of Zero and One. I don't really know how to describe their sound, but I think you'll dig this record if you like Guided By Voices and The Shins (or just like good music in general).

Other records I've been listening to a lot lately:

Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand (2004)
Everybody and their brother is loving this album and I really like it as well. I wouldn't say it has completely blown me away, but maybe it will at some point.

The Stills: Logic Will Break Your Heart (2003)
Logically, I should realize that these guys are just a pop version of Interpol and that they've listened to entirely too many albums by The Smiths. But for some reason I think this is a great record. The bassline in Still in Love Song is killer and lyrics like "And logic will break your heart forever" and "And I'm just so bored of wasting my time/Love and death are always on my mind" appeal to the melancholic poseur in me. They may not be doing anything new, but the stuff they are doing is well worth checking out.

Preston School of Industry: Monsoon (2004)
The main reason I bought this record is that Scott Kannberg used to be in Pavement (the other reason was that some blogger (Chromewaves? Coolfer?) mentioned that Kannberg was actually the talented one out of Pavement). Right now I think it's a pretty decent record, but at first I was a bit disappointed that it wasn't weirder. It's a very simple record with regular songs, which after a while though turn out to be fairly charming. If you need proof just check out the sweet Caught in the Rain, which is a definite highlight.

The last two records are more from the don't-believe-the-hype department. Now, I'm a huge bandwagon-jumper. If you have one I'm sure to jump it as soon as it starts rolling. But once in a while I stop and go "Yeah, maybe not" after I've given a band more than its fair share of chances. That's how I feel about Whirlwind Heat: Do Rabbits Wonder? (2003) and The Thermals: More Parts Per Million (2003) right now.
Whirlwind Heat have gotten written about a lot because of the Jack White/Brendan Benson connection, but after listening to the record a number of times I'm still far from being impressed. Also, I was a bit disappointed to find that their version of You're Pretty Good Looking isn't on the album (although it's nowhere near as good as the original anyway).
With The Thermals it was the Chris Walla/Sub Pop connection along with buzz different places, which made me buy the album. But I'm still not getting why people like it and have described the band's songs as catchy and melodic. But as with Whirlwind Heat I'm going to give The Thermals a couple more chances before I swap them for something else.