The following comes from this week’s edition of Insound.com’s “Insound Clips” email newsletter. I can’t find any online version, so it’s copy and paste time:

8 analogies that are just so true and smart that if you use them at cocktail parties we almost guarantee you’ll score.

Cat Power’s Moon Pix (Matador) is the modern day equivalent of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks (Warner Bros). The flutes. The slow, weird tempos. The delicate genius/damaged mental thing.

Built to Spill’s Perfect From Now On (Warner Bros.) is the modern day equivalent of Television’s Marquee Moon (Elektra). 8 songs. Guitar solos sent down from the future. Wonderful lyrics by guys who can’t sing.

Spoon’s Series of Sneaks (Elektra) is the modern day equivalent of Wire’s Chairs Missing (Restless). Tight. Angular. Sounds like art school in England.

Broken Social Scene’s You Forgot it in People (Arts & Crafts) is the modern day equivalent of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (Reprise). A feast. About love. And loss. Both sold 25 million copies.

Love As Laughter’s Sea to Shining Sea (Sub Pop) is the modern day equivalent of The Rolling Stones’ Goats Head Soup (Virgin). Awesome songs that are loose and easy and dirty and sad and romantic and rocking and underrated.

The Mars Volta’s Frances the Mute (Universal) is the modern day equivalent of King Crimson’s In the Court of King Crimson (EG). I’ve never heard either album. Maybe one song from each. At most.

Beck’s Sea Change (Geffen) is the modern day equivalent of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks (Columbia). Life is so sad and hard and poetic and women will be the death of us all.

The Fiery Furnaces’ Blueberry Boat (Rough Trade) is the modern day equivalent of Patti Smith’s Horses (Arista). Channeling Jim Morrison and Lou Reed and both gals are pale white and dress great and forget about what I said in the previous one about women and the death of us all.

Nice new music tip from Mystery & Misery – Ottawa’s As The Poets Affirm produce some lovely strings-heavy instrumental post-rock not unlike a less apocalyptic Godspeed. I’ve only listened to a few tracks, but it certainly seems like the sort of thing that I’d like to hear more of. Fortuitously, they’re playing at the El Mocambo upstairs on May 27 as part of their cross-Canada CD release tour for their first two albums, now available from Zunior.com. I don’t currently have anything else going on that weekend, so I’m planning on going to check them out in person.

JS Online chats with Drive-By Trucker Patterson Hood about the inspiration for Decoration Day‘s “Deeper In” and life on the road. Via Largehearted Boy.

Also from Largeheart – Boston.com talks to Feist about the imprecision of genre labels and the making of Let It Die.

Glide profiles M Ward.

Further Down Films now has the trailer online for A Good Band Is Easy To Kill, the Beulah concert DVD out August 2.

Went out last night to properly celebrate my 30th birthday and am feeling properly wiped out this morning as a consequence. One way in which the 30s is already better than the 20s – I made it past midnight whilst staying conscious and not throwing up on anyone. This is progress. Thanks to everyone who came out, I had a great time. And I should really go back to sleep.

np – Engineers / Engineers

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