Sleater-Kinney just announced plans to go on "indefinite hiatus." I'm pretty bummed out; they're the only band that I'm unapologetically fanboyish about. I had been pretty excited to see what they were going to do after The Woods.

Thanks for the rock and roll. sk1bt.

Last time I was at Home Depot, I was there around closing time. The woman who made the "Home Depot will be closing.... please check out soon" announcement over the PA sounded exactly like Annie Hardy from Giant Drag. 

Ever wondered what it would be like if you got models to line dance to Camera Obscura's "Happy New Year" in front of giant candy bar wrappers? Well, wonder no more.

I'm avoiding the unpacking of boxes involved with moving-in tonight, so I've decided to listen to everything I bought at Tower after work today and record my initial impressions, as I listen:

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country

Hmm. I don't know. Doesn't seem as good as previous albums. I'm definitely not a fan of the production. Sounds like it was recorded in an echo chamber.

Jamie Lidell - Multiply Additions

As much as I like Multiply, I might like this remix/live album more. Some of these remixes are very good, but the live tracks are really great. For some reason, the instrumental mix of Multiply reminds me of the Astro Chicken mini-game from Space Quest III. Could do without the Four Tet mix. Could probably do without Four Tet.

The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers

I'm a sucker for the modern retro-blues rock guitar sound, so I was curious when I saw that Jack White was in this band. It seems the band is holding him in check, to good effect. I'm curious to hear what Brendan Benson's solo work sounds like. Wikipedia tells me that he's worked with Jason Falkner. Curious.  I really like track 6 ("Level"). The whole album seems to be wrapped in a dull, warm haze. Jack should back off the compressor.

Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime

This is part of my ongoing attempt to educate myself in modern rock canon (previously visited: Marquee Moon... next stop: Daydream Nation!). This album was originally a 2xLP. It consists of 43 90-second songs. I'm really sure how to describe the sound. Jazzy art-punk? It's (a lot) more listenable than it sounds. At moments, D. Boon's singing reminds me a little of Craig Finn from The Hold Steady. Starts to get a little too long around track 33.

Gang of Four - Entertainment!

This is good. This sounds like the pure source from which Radio 4, Futureheads, and Bloc Party all seem to borrow. Lively, angular, political. I really enjoy Hugo Burnham's drumming. I can see how Janet Weiss lists these guys as an influence.

I went to the mall (ugh) to buy a suit (ugh again) today. Express Men was playing Yeah Yeah Yeahs ("Phenomena" from Show Your Bones) mixed among assorted soul-crushing pop music. Not really surprising, considering the Express demographic.

Everything at Express fit terribly (remember the kid at the end of Big?), so I ended up getting my suit from Nordstrom. Unexpectedly, Nordstrom was rockin' it old-school with some older GBV  ("Twilight Campfighter" from Isolation Drills) and Fruit Bats ("When U Love Somebody" from Mouthfuls).

Leave it to Nordstrom to show some real cred by playing choice tracks from older albums. Oh, wait. This is Nordstrom we're talking about. What the hell is going on?

P.S. Suits are damn expensive.