It was a slow week at work, only seven or so albums to listen to. I did, however, get a kick out of the name on the back of one of the jackets: Kimchee Records. How cool is that? I love kimchee.

The sad thing is, we don't really have any "Dos" this week. Nothing was shocking or fascinating in its genius. But the show must go on, so, I'll instead mention a few tracks that caught my attention.

Dos:
KISS KISS "Drifts and Pulls"-Sounds a little like the Doors or Queen from way back when.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE-Been around for a while. They're like a British take on Death Cab for Cutie and, in some songs, they throw in a bit of a blue-grass feel just for the hell of it. "Grass" was the song I picked off their tracklist, but there were a couple of jewels mingling with the mediocre on this album.

Don'ts:
THE BLACK ANGELS-Not so bueno. I would say they suffer from post-modern disillusionment, but they aren't eloquent enough to convey that to their audience, so I can't be sure. Mostly, they just try to sound classic rock and end up with the whinny-factor of pop-punk bands. I do have to give them props for the female drummer, though.

Honorable Mention:
HILKEN MANCINI and CHRIS COLBOURN-Two of their songs deserve the honorable mention slot: "Wedding Cake" and "Moonbeams." Otherwise, their music is unmemorable; everything they do has been done before and, often, better. Listening to the album set me in a trance of boredom while I worked. "Moonbeams" jolted me out of it with an odd first line which praises moonbeams and vasiline in the same breath. I kind of started to worry what the rest of the song was going to be about. Luckily, that's the only iffy line in the song. Then, while it still had my attention, it stepped up a notch and actually became good. Imagine my surprise.

There you have it, another week in my musical history tour. Hopefully the scenery wasn't too bland.

*Muah*