The loneliest place in Pittsburgh

is not, in fact, the Wean cluster right before Thanksgiving break; instead, it is the Wean cluster DURING Thanksgiving break. Yessir, yessir, I locked myself out of my house. I'm a dumb guy.

Just got back from Florida, and while it did bug me to spend two days in slow motion, it was more than nice to see my grandparents and my uncle Jim. Plus I got to cook Thanksgiving dinner, which turned out really well, and made everyone a lot happier by sharing my good news.

Did I mention I have some good news? It's super exciting! Ask me if you haven't heard it! I have some bad news too, but the good news tends to cover it in my mind; you know how that goes.

And so I will continue to fritter away my time by doing a music vomit:

- I am liking the technoes more and more. (who am I, Jackie Bernard?) (not because she likes techno, but because she pluralizes things) And by that I mean, so far, Orbital, Aphex Twin, and the Prodigy. If you know what I should call those bands (besides just "techno"), or if you have any recommendations for similar bands, let me know!

- Patrick Wolf, "The Magic Position": RIYL David Bowie. (RIYL = "recommended if you like") This guy makes some pretty good orchestral pop.

- cloudDEAD: RIYL the Books but wish they were weirder. This is a little weird. Grows on you a bit though.

- Scissor Sisters: I started out hating them after "Don't feel like dancing", but now I kinda like them after "Lovers in the Backseat", "Music is a Victim", and of course their cover of "Comfortably Numb", which is gutsy but cool. Their pop is still the Spoonish sort of straightforward stuff that is not that great but still sticks in your head, but at least it's pretty good, and it sure is catchy, and also full of falsetto.

- Have I shout-outed Balkan Beat Box yet? They're great! Middle-eastern flavored pop, or pop-flavored Middle-Eastern, all a little bit hip-hoppy and dancey.

- Okay, the new Radiohead, it's awesome, shut up and die. Seriously, though, if you've never known what's the big deal about the Radioheads, this might be as good a place as any to start. "Bodysnatchers" is as good a rock song as anyone can make, of course "Nude" and "Reckoner" will grow on you, and I really like "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi", and even moreso "All I Need".

- Klaxons. They're like a band called "Portugal. The Man", which is like an accessible Mars Volta, but the Klaxons don't sound anything like the Mars Volta; instead, they're more like a slightly more sugary Bloc Party. Which is to say, there are flashes of brilliance (at least a few) and some dullness. The first tune ("Two Receivers") will drag you in to this CD. Epic rating: 2 1/2 epics out of 5.

- Pavement- I listened to Slanted and Enchanted again, disliked it again, but then grew to love it again. It's really good. "Conduit For Sale!" remains a favorite of mine, but this time it was joined by "Trigger Cut/Wounded Kite at :17" or whatever track 2 is called.

- Last and Most (not least!) Tegan and Sara, "The Con". Whoa. I was not prepared for the duo behind the catchy but annoying "Walking with the Ghost" to come up with something as sweeping as this! It's equally catchy, but in a minor key, and very grand! It's got a great album feel- 1 is a nice intro, 2-5 feel like one cohesive song, 6 is a dumb pop tune, then there are a couple of short tracks and a few with more meat at the end. Great drums and rhythms on 3 and 5. I love this album! RIYL: Mates of State