NOEXTEHO

As the subtitle states, this compilation is about the "The Rise of the Independent Music Industry After Punk." Pretty much every song is great, and if you're like me and haven't already heard all the bands on here, this will provide a great jumping off point for more exploration. Oh, and in case the "Independent Music Industry" bit is scaring you into thinking you're getting a disc of Blind Mellon and Violent Femmes, you can sleep safe... it's mostly 1970s/early 1980s British post-punk or post-post-punk, not cheesy American early 1990s "Indie." Thank god.
(By the way, you can rarely go wrong with a release on the Soul Jazz label. They're usually (always?) compilations, sure, but they're great compilations! Unless, of course, you already have all the stuff they're compiling.)

Because it was just sitting there, already open (I swear!), I decided to see what the new Nine Inch Nails album sounds like. I was surprised with it, as was this cute girl who may or may not have agreed just because she was flirting with me (I can't tell). It's not Downward Spiral, but it did not embarrass me the way some NIN albums have, and it held my attention all the way to the end. I'll have to listen to it some more to decide whether or not I actually like it, but on first listen, I'm pleased, and I may have to learn some new NIN songs to help me relive junior high. (By the way, the new Avril Lavigne does not get my recommendation, even though my friend wrote an stunning argument for her being the epitome of punk, where irony and non-irony meld into a higher plane of existence.)