three things i've been enjoying:

1- otis redding - the otis redding dictionary of soul
i procured a grand majority of the otis redding catalog for getting in character for my holloween costume, 'duckie' from 'pretty in pink.' the music is tight but smooth, total in the pocket from booker t. and the mgs. otis himself: on fire. chompin and stompin, spitting every word out and lickin it back up again. contains 'try a little tenderness' which is what duckie dances to in the movie. boys listen up, this song will get you the girl of your dreams (or just that terribly cute one at the other end of the bar who seems so elusive...).

2 - mogwai - my father, my king
my heart has always been with godspeed of all the 'post-rock' bands i first heard, for their emotional reaction. mogwai though, are pure raw power. they can be pretty too, but this, recorded by steve albini after their relase of the album 'rock action,' will clentch your fists, dilate your eyes, grit your teeth, and pucker your asshole. an old jewish hymn taught to the band by their touring manager (i think?), that goes from quiet and ominous to loud and ominous, to a quiet refrain, a loud refrain, a louder refrain, a louder refrain, an deafening refrain, and an explosion of knob twiddling amplifier prayer. i wish i could fuck as good as this song plays. (sidenote: i've seen them perform it live, and words are not appropriate).

3 - bark psychosis - hex
amazing 'band' from england. put out this, a handful of singles/eps/compliation tracks before it, and another album nearly ten years later. all i can say is it's beautiful music to walk around and look at the leaves on the ground to. read the wiki or allmusic entries for more of the story. also, really good at doing that thing where the song takes a right turn into someting totally fucked up but sounds completely natural.

thanks for reading!
-frank