weather here is typically something to endure, not enjoy, but since monday, it has been sending me into paroxysms of pure joy. call them spontaneous joygasms, if you will. believe it or not, i've been out of the house, taking a breezy, sun-drenched stroll to tower records yesterday afternoon. after spending so much effort to rid myself of cds, i couldn't supress the urge to splurge on new music any longer. my cd selling has been much more lucrative that i had first envisioned, so instead of continuing to horde my stash of birthday cash, i allowed myself some celebration. as sally struthers says, HAPPY birthday.

what did i get, you ask? well, the new flaming lips, yoshimi battles the pink robots, which is quite simply a revelation, including the title track, an infectious slice of strumming electro-pop featuring a sing-along chorus of "yoshimi, they don't believe me, but you won't let those robots eat me." pure genius. the new beth orton, daybreaker, the official soundtrack to lazy afternoons in the sun room on perfect summer days. that voice flooding out the speakers, like sunlight shimmering through the trees outside my window. simply gorgeous. the vines, highly evolved, new garage meets brit pop. only i would be impressed by packaging, but the liner notes have a josef albers, homage to the square beauty and simplicity that satisfies. oooh, color and geometry. i recently described the international noise conspiracy as "swedish and they play rock music" to ms rfo while discussing our plans to see the aforementioned swedes with northern state and le tigre next month (huzzah!). the vines? they're australian and they play rock music. quite stunning.

back to the packing and such. don't be surprised if this is only the first of several episodes today. so much to wrap up in such a short time.