Busy but here

A lot of things I should have gotten to before now, but haven't had the time. What with best-of-2005 list pondering (to be posted something in the third week of December), cookie baking and Christmas shopping . . . Which reminds me, if you're dying to buy me a gift, I'll gladly accept an iPod pirate costume or set of great psychologist finger puppets.

First up, Celestial, a Swedish (Gothenburg I think, but don't quote me) pop band that sure sounds English. It could be their professed devotion to The Smiths and Ride or the sweet jangly guitars, diffident, mumbling vocals or rustle of tambourine. "Dream On" is an instantly likeable tune and Celestial's MySpace page has several more engaging numbers available for download.

Dream On - Celestial

Lake Como - Celestial

Even though B Side's main (or only) player, Chris Clark, is 24, it's billed as "one of the longest running bands in Western Massachusetts history." Possible? Yes, if you've been making bedroom tapes since you were 12. Clark claims an affinity to early 90s guitar heroes Nirvana and The Pixies, but I'm addicted to this simple, low-fi acoustic stomp, "Memory." It's from B Side's Love Rehab CD, which is being offered free at download.com.

Memory - B Side

Hula may cleave a little too close to the boy-girl harmonies and catatonic pace of Low, but as these songs illustrate, the band is capable of making pleasingly pretty, well-structured and polished tunes. Grab several more tracks and buy the band's debut CD on their Web site. (Thanks for the tip, Mike!)

Over The Ground - Hula

Taking Pictures - Hula

And just cuz you can always use a couple of speaker shredders . . . Bellini is made up of members of former Italian punk band Uzeda and drummer Alexis Fleisig of Boys Against Girls. So yeah--loud, abrasive, strangely cathartic.

The Buffalo Song - Bellini

Conflict Between Fire and Wet Wood - Bellini

Bellini's latest LP is Small Stones.