All of a sudden, the Yep Roc label is very high on my favorites list. My first run-in with the label was the Minus 5 album Down with Wilco. Now, I can’t stop listening to The Fast Rise and Fall of the South by the Kingsbury Manx.

Then, just yesterday, I stumble across The Standard on an Internet radio station only to read that Kingsbury Manx and the Standard are touring together. (Too bad I’ll miss them in Tucson on Nov. 25; I have to work, plus it’s the day of the Big Game: Arizona at Arizona State!)

Anyway, the Standard caught my attention with its piano-heavy hooks and somewhat mysterious yet warm vocals. The band released Albatross last month. Buy it here.

The Standard | Red Drop
The Standard | How Deep to Cut

One of my favorite pastimes is reading liner notes. Before the advent of mp3 blogs, that was the best way (in my opinion) to discover new bands. I figure if a band whose CD I purchased is thanking This Other Band in the liner notes, This Other Band must be good.

So what’s my point? I was checking tour dates for the Shout Out Louds, who are coming to (gasp!) Tucson on Nov. 22 but not Phoenix. (Get yer tickets.) One of the opening bands is The Sun, so I thought I should check ’em out. With a little digging I found some info:

>>It’s a quintet from Columbus, Ohio.
>>Their debut release, Blame it on the Youth, is supposedly the world’s first DVD album: 14 songs with a video for every damn one of them.
>>You can put yourself in one of their videos for Romantic Death, an interactive experience if you upload a photo. Do it here.
>>They have a My Space page here.
>>You may or may not be able to download two unreleased albums by the band here.
>>You probably will like them.

The Sun | Do You Really Want Me
The Sun | The Song I Committed Suicide To

Apologies (and thanks) to Chris, who recently posted on these guys twice (!) and introduced me to Dios at the Austin City Limits festival. Since they’re playing Modified in Phoenix on Nov. 17, I thought I’d do my share to build the interest.

For what it’s worth, I haven’t stopped listening to their new self-titled album for about the past three days. The choruses have a sing-songy quality that absolutely get stuck in your head — you know, the type you’re humming in your head from the moment you wake up and you’re not really sure why. The album definitely has an addictive pull.

I also quite enjoy the writing, which is plaintive and direct.

Dios (Malos) | EPK
Dios (Malos) | I Want it All

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Wrapping up some loose ends:>> I’ll be buying this today … after I file my TPS reports. Mmmmm, yeeeeeeeaaaah. Kill time at work and play “Ditch Lumbergh” here.
BONUS (kick your feet up and play loudly in your cubicle):
The Geto Boys | Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta

>> If you’re not watching Extras, you’re missing out. Ricky Gervais is a genius. Go get the Gervais and Stephen Merchant Show free, courtesy of UK’s XFM.

>> My fantasy league team in my pay-in league is going downhill fast. I lost Daunte Culpepper to injury and nearly Anquan Boldin. I’ve lost four in a row. And now I have David Carr or Kyle Orton to start at QB. Yikes. Good news is I’m holding second place down in the music bloggers league with a win over Ryan, who prematurely talked smacked earlier in the week. But he’s a Bears fan, so all is forgiven.

>>Cubs need to make serious moves this off-season. Like signing him. And trading him.

>> Jeff Tweedy is preparing to release a second album with his side project Loose Fur and wants to regroup with Golden Smog. Read it here. As if that whole Wilco thing doesn’t keep him busy enough.

It’s rare you’ll find me listening to/posting about electronic music. Typically, it just ain’t my thing. That is, unless a Nintendo GameBoy is being used to create the sounds. Which brings me to Seattle’s capitalSTEPS (born Matthew Kenall).

In a stroke of MacGyver-like wit, Kenall composes, manipulates and squeezes sounds out of a GameBoy and Nanoloop, a sound editor for GameBoy. Kenall calls it “gritty, 8-bit techno.” I love it because it appeals immediately to my jones for video games and rhythmic drum beats. And it’s just unique, a totally refreshing change of pace.

Matthew was cool enough to hook us up with two mp3s he didn’t post on his MySpace page, where you can stream four more tracks. While there, you can also purchase his July release, Stacy, a 10-track LP for only $10. Dig it.

capitalSTEPS | Evelyn’s Ride
capitalSTEPS | Stinky

Hailing from Encintas, Calif., the Jade Shader brings together parts of popular San Diego bands, Boilermaker, No Knife and Tanner.
Chris Prescott (of No Knife) and Terrin Durfey (Boilermaker) got together in 2003 while on hiatus from their respective bands. That was the genesis of what would be become a seven-song EP released this month: Curse of the Tuatara (out now on Seattle’s Sonic Boom Recordings).

There are traces of the members’ roots in previous bands. But — and I can only compare to my fondness of No Knife — the Jade Shader has a more open-ended feel to it: great tempo shifts, stops and starts and layered guitars. “Dissonant while tuneful,” is how the band’s bio puts it.

Visit the Jade Shader My Space page here to stream two songs. Buy Curse of the Tuatara here for $8 (that’s only 800 pennies, people).

The Jade Shader | Eraser

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By the way, thank you to all who took part in the sound test for me. You all were correct: The No. 1 tracks were recorded using the M-Audio device. In other words, Griffin’s iMic is shoddy at best, although I see now it has been updated.Whatever, I did some more digging and bought this precious piece of machinery from XPSound through Blaze Audio. RIAA-calibrated preamp? USB? With Bias SoundSoap software? Sold. I’m eagerly awaiting shipment, and I’m predicting much better sound quality on the vinyl-to-digital conversions.

It’s been a few weeks for a flashback post, and I’ve been meaning to pull out my Lucy’s Fur Coat for some time now.

In retrospect, I’m not really sure what drew me to this San Diego group. I suppose I was coming off an early 90s grunge high, trying to keep with those thick guitars and and strained vocals. But there was some melody hidden in there, I swear.

Anyway, the band’s debut, Jaundice, is one of those I owned on cassette and then — if only for nostalgia’s sake — had to track down on CD years later (OK, so it was like, um, last year). I even have a couple of the group’s indie releases on 45.

Regardless, I like Jaundice because, even if the music hasn’t stood up for the past 10 years, it always takes me back and puts me in a different place. It’s one of those albums that I’ll likely be able to recite some of the lyrics no matter how much time passes in between listens. I think we all have some albums like that.

Lucy’s Fur Coat | Treasure Hands
Lucy’s Fur Coat | Elementary