Reasons to go on living (musical version)

There are reasons to go on living. They come in the form of albums soon to be released. Namely:

Spoon: Gimme Fiction. Release Date: May 10.

I've only gotten into Spoon's last two albums (are they still called that?), Girls Can Tell and Kill the Moonlight. Both are near-masterpieces of seething minimalist cool. What does that mean? I'm not sure. But I know it sounds like something a rock critic would say, and I know that Britt Daniel's detached, adenoidal vocals and the assured swagger of the music mask some deeper emotion that touches me. Which is also something a music critic might say. Also, the songs really kick ass.

Full disclosure: I've already downloaded this album from the Internets, and so far it kicks sick ass. But don't worry, music industry: whenever I download a really good album, I always go and buy the CD like an old-fashioned geezer, and I will be buying this one ASAP on or after May 10.

The Mars Volta: Frances the Mute. Release Date: March 22.

If you've heard them, you either really, really love them or really, really hate them. I'm in the first camp. I know music snobs sniff and say, "Oh it's prog, didn't punk kill this genre decades ago? Oh, I am a lace-wearing foppish dandy. And where is the twee? Where has all the twee gone, long time passing?" I know they say this. But what I say is, "Eat it, foppish dandies." See, the guys in TMV were once in a band called At the Drive In, which was so full of post-punk fury that it simply melted the speakers. So these guys stepping into prog is like Nixon going to China: they've got the cred built up.

And anyway, it's not really prog, smart guys. It's more like Led Zeppelin with extended jams, if it's anything. Go here, and click on "multimedia" and listen to "Drunkship of Lanterns" and tell me it doesn't remind you of Zeppelin, if Zeppelin had picked up a salsa percussionist after Bonham died.

Anyway, I've heard the first single from the album, "The Widow," and it's a fairly simple, slow-burning song, similar to "Televators" on Deloused at the Comatorium. The rest of the album is supposed to be much freakier, but this is pretty decent. I can't wait to hear the rest.

Stephen Malkmus: Face the Truth. Release Date: May 24.

He is, of course, the former front man for Pavement. If you didn't like Pavement, you probably won't like him, though his sound has only gotten smoother and smoother. But then again, if you didn't like Pavement, I don't like you. He has produced some turd-like songs from time to time, both with Pavement and solo, but he has never produced an album that was not essential. I doubt this one will be any different. He's one of the few artists I can think of, along with maybe Radiohead, who have been consistently churning out great music for more than a decade.

Silver Jews: Tanglewood Numbers. Release Date: July Sometime.

This "band" is essentially a solo project of one David Berman, who is brilliant in his own right, so brilliant that he attracts a lot of other brilliant people, including the aforementioned Mr. Malkmus and then a staggering shitload of people for the upcoming album, including Will Oldham and a couple of ex-Pavement members. It's straight-ahead indie stuff, sort of like Pavement or Mr. Oldham or Refrigerator or ... pick your impossibly good indie band. Always excellent, if occasionally a little lazy.