You know, sometimes I wish my favourite bands would slow down a bit and stop releasing albums all the time. The number of essential purchases hitting the record racks right now is nigh-on overwhelming my limited resources.

I got a pretty good deal last week on the new Oneida and Dead Meadow albums - which I'd sure I'll soon tell you about whether you like it or not - but I still feel an overwhelming need to get my hands on hot new platters from Herman Dune, The Mountain Goats, Electrelane, Weird War, Boris, Six Organs of Admittance... (and that new Yo La Tengo box-set and those Dinosaur Jr reissues look mighty tempting too..)

What's with this crazed work ethic that seems to be prevalent amongst cool musicians these days? Whatever happened to lazy-ass, drug fiend bands who release one monumental album once every 8 years? I mean, we're talking a full length every 9 months plus a steady stream of EPs and side-projects from some of these groups! What's the matter guys, don't you have all-consuming spiritual traumas to overcome? complex drum tracks to obsessively re-layer for months on end? energy-sapping day jobs?*

At this rate I'm never gonna get round to checking out any of the cool psyche / noise records I want to hear from Shoryobuni or Volcanic Tongue..

Plus I've now got loads and loads of '50s/'60s/'70s era classic stuff of the kind I really SHOULD have listened to awaiting my attention courtesy of the marvelous, fully-loaded MP3 player I recently acquired off my friend Alex..

I'm drowning in music, drowning I tell you!

Maybe I should do what I did for a period last year when I had no money and ignore the whole thing altogether in favour of pissing off down the library to listen to Fairport Convention and Charles Mingus..

*actually of course, with any kind of historical perspective, this whole paragraph is ridiculous - just go to AMG and read some discographies for the big names in modern jazz - check out the amount of recorded output those guys were tearing through in the early '60s, consider the fact that it mostly laid down in one or two takes by musicians who often barely knew each other, and that it's all absolutely BRILLIANT, and realise why snobby jazz fans must think it the height of arrogant obscenity that we allow relative musical neanderthals two whole years to come up with a dozen four cord rock songs, and then THANK them for it.. (DISCLAIMER: not necessarily my personal opinion, but it's something to think about, right?)