I'm seeing Weezer/FF in a few weeks in Philly. It'll be my fifth time with Weezer and first seeing FF.

Foo Fighters maintain an awesome energy level. Dave Grohl's voice box must be made of X-Metal because a normal humans voice box would be destroyed with the amount of screaming he does. It was so much fun!

Foo Fighters rock so much arse...I want to catch them when they come to Aus.

Todd, did they play DOA? Was it AWWWWWEEEEESOME?!

mike, dude, Bela Fleck is WICKED. I listened to my friends CD, and I was just wowed. I really gotta pick up that cd. I enjoy a huge range of music.... alot of jazz, rock, obscure japanese stuff, alot of trance and happyhardcore too

Just picked up the new matthew good band CD. Anyone else?

I love the Kaiser Chiefs. I saw them here in Tokyo around the same time I saw the Killers. Both bands rocked. But, the best live gig I ever saw was the Living End at the Power Station in Auckland in 2000. Those guys are awesome. Foo Fighters and Weezer are two of my favorites too. Right now I am totally into System of a Down.

Yes, they did play DOA but one of the most surprising & coolest songs they did was Stacked Actors. They got all Concerty on it with solo's & banter & such

I think Muse is probably my favourite band - are they big over in the USA? They still have an almost cult following over in the UK, but a very large one at that!

Did any other O-reviewers go to Reading / any other festivals this year?

My Juliets got a good wearing (the Gold Iridium / Plasma ones that is!)

Oh, and best live gigs - either Meatloaf or Muse (though for pure comedy value, Goldie Lookin' Chain!)

im really liking the new Depeche Mode album, its darker than my usual taste but is kind of calming in a weird way

Ive been listening to the Cinematic Orchestra a lot lately,it takes a bit to get used to,as some of it is a bit dark,but its good stuff.

Anyone like Apocalyptica

nothing beats FRANS BAUER , his classic ; "Heb je even voor mij "

he rocks

im a big nine inch nails fan... alot of u2 and stuff like that too... im gonna buy with teeth as soon as i get the extra money

It's on par with The Fragile.

got a few things this past month...

Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better:
not as exhuberant as the first one, but still a fun record nevertheless... there's even a few Beatles moments thrown in.

Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel:
yeah... i'm a pretty big DM fan, so i basically buy every album that comes out. i think this is better than the last one, Exciter... but still no Violator. regardless, this is a really good quality DM album.

Kaiser Chiefs - Employment:
have not heard it yet

Muse - Origin of Symmetry:
wanted this one for a long time, but never wanted to pay the huge import price. bought it when i was in HK for a somestic price at HMV. nice to finally hear the album that slots between the artsy Showbiz and the nearly flawless Absolution.

New Order - Singles:
i'm a New Order nut, i'll buy anything this band releases. so they release another greatest hits package, so what!? this one has rare 7" versions of early singles never released on CD, so there! :p

Simple Minds - Reel to Real Cacophony:
nevermind the "Don't You (Forget About Me)" mid 80's stuff. early Simple Minds were dark, brooding, and experimental... especially this album. slots nicely with Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures and Public Image Ltd.'s Metal Box.

oh... and i'll probably pick up Elbow's Leaders of the Free World to complete their album discog i have... despite the mixed reviews.

wow Bong most of those bands are from the UK. do you like any yankie bands?

I was trying to think of the last CD I bought, and for the life of me it took me all morning long to remember. There's just not much out that I'm listening to just now, but I picked up the newest Granddady EP, Excerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla. It's good. Not Sophtware Slump good, but def a teaser for the new album that's supposed to be more synth driven and less poppy than Sumday. Right now it's stuck in the vast shuffe of my ipod though and I've only caught one or two tracks since the first listen.

heh... Lex, in fact all those bands in my last post were from the UK, with Franz Ferdinand and Simple Minds being Scots.

i'm well known to love UK based indie stuff, but these past few years there has been a handful of US based bands worth listening to IMO... strangely enough, these bands also do very well in the UK indie circuit. stuff like Interpol, The Rapture, The Killers, The Bravery, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, etc.

Phil, quite a while ago someone recommended me Grandaddy, but never picked up on the tip. what are they like?

fook, i didnt know Muse were from the UK.
i swear i heard them talk and they had yankie acents.

They get thrown in the same cirlces with Radiohead quite often, and you will def see the relation but they aren't quite the same odd expiremental style that Radiohead has evolved into. Well, no one can really compare to Radiohead now. One of my thoughts after first hearing them though was how much they sounded like The Flaming Lips current sound. I would suggest picking up The Software Slump.

I think they stream music at www.grandaddylandscape.com.

Good call on Origin of Symmetry Bong, that album's got some total masterpieces (space dementia...). I really couldn't choose a favorite out of any of Muse's albums though... All good in different ways.

Just picked up the Japanese Deluxe Edition of Frances the Mute by The Mars Volta..... at first I didn't like it so much because it wasnt really like De-Loused in the Comatorium, but after a few listens, I really think it's an absolute gem.... more than just prog rock.

Don't we have any metal-heads here.

Any one heard the latest Fear Factory, thats my next purchase. I love that band, second to TOOL in my opinion.

heh... Lex, Muse are definitely English. very few yanks know about them, strange considering how well Radiohead and Coldplay does on the Billboard Charts, as Muse are just as artsy as both bands and rock harder than either. thanks for the Muse comments Tom... i'm gonna have to hunt down Hullabaloo next, damn import prices! Hullabaloo is gonna cost a pretty penny, considering it's a double disc too.

thanks for the Grandaddy comments and link Phil, i'll definitely check it out.

Dann, i used to be a bit of a metalhead many moons ago. strangely enough, i still seem to follow Iron Maiden, and Metallica to a lesser extent. stopped with all the Megadeth stuff though...

I bought the latest Fear Factory a few weeks back. It's good, but not the best. The last song 'Moment of Impact' totally redeems the album, but many of the songs are too upbeat. The last one had hopes of returning to Demanufacture, but this one trails away a bit. Not to say don't get it, but Soul of a New Machine, and Demanufacture were classics for Death Metal and Industrial Metal respectively. Fear is the Mindkiller is worth the price just for the remix of Scumgrief. And the re-release of their old material on Concrete is a nice addition if you miss the Soul of.. album's sound.

Tool's good too. I listens to Ænima every night when I was 18 or so, never got sick of it. Lateralis got too experimental for me. The box-set with the DVD and live album was cool though.