Statistics, Often Lie - purchased because I love the cover; on first listen it sounds like the kind of stuff they use as soundtrack for Scrubs during the obligatory angst-ridden montage at each episode's climax. The music is a little Phil Collins-ish, but well produced. The lyrics are heavy-handed. I would have loved this record when I was 14.

SND, STDIO - OM just got a couple of huge collections of used stuff; I picked this up as well as a couple of samplers off the TOUCH label - cheap! Especially since these are out-of-print and impossible to find.

Tape, Milieu - folktronica, a little like The Books. I think Häpna is my new favorite label.

Jame White, James White's Flaming Demonics - more vintage NYC.

On Monday night Colleen [Cecile Shott] did a short, in-store set at OM. Shott uses samplers in a manner similar to the looping experiments of Steve Reich, Gavin Bryars, and Robert Fripp - unlike those guys, even Fripp, she's able to use that grammar to actually make songs - beautiful ones at that. The first album, Everyone Alive Wants Answers, was an inspiration to me when I was in residence at St. Mary's College in the spring of '04.