First currently listening of my 30s

1. PJ Harvey - White Chalk LP (Her best yet. Really)

2. Shocking Pinks - Shocking Pinks LP (classic New Zealand indie rock in the Flying Nun vein; all the more surprising for being on DFA)

3. V/A - A kind of Awe and Reverence and Wonder LP (none-weirder compilation from Twisted Nerve, featuring prog rock, Eastern psych, folk and 'concrete siphoned from natural sources'. Impeccably packaged too)

4. Scout Niblett - 'Elizabeth (Black Hearted Queen)' (the new Niblett LP, This Fool Can Die Now is brilliant, and all the better for the presence of Bonnie Prince Billy and some Americana arrangmenents - this is the pick for me so far)

5. Buffalo Tom - Let Me Come Over LP (now, amazingly, fifteen years old - and still sounds awesome)

6. Port O'Brien - 'Close The Lid' (decent debut single from the Californian fishermen types; solid signing for the new End of The Road label, too)

7. David Thomas Broughton - The Complete Guide to Insufficiency LP (Quite astonishing at the End of The Road, I'm awaiting his new album with enthusiasm. In the meantime, this 2005 attempt is still dead bewitching)

8. Misty's Big Adventure - Crumpled Up Guy (best lyrics of the year, surely: "grave-robbing beast, grave-robbing beast, you drew a picture of me as a grave-robbing beast, so they sent for a priest")

That's yer lot.