Echo & the Bunnymen

It's not that I'm not an Echo & the Bunnymen fan. Far from it. Seeing them live in 1987 along with New Order was one of the seminal moments of my youth. However, I'll admit that my affections haven't been constant. Far from it. I haven't bought one of their albums since Songs to Learn and Sing (unlike some of my co-contributors, I suspect). So, when their latest album, Siberia, was released late last year I was indifferent at best. However, after reading some positive reviews and hearing some songs from more recent Echo & the Bunnymen albums that sounded pretty good to me, I decided to download Siberia from eMusic.com. So far, I really enjoy it, particularly the AllMusic.com picks. And, without actually having heard any of the intervening albums in their entirety, I can say with absolute metaphysical certitude that Siberia is Echo & the Bunnymen's best album of new material since Ocean Rain.

Envelopes

Envelopes is a Swedish group that sounds a bit like Pavement and the Pixies. Their new album Demon came out last month and Insound.com is currently offering a free MP3 of one of the singles, Sister In Love.