Whilst out doing some other shopping, I ended up near Second Spin, and, well... :

• Arab Strap - The Red Thread : I really liked a remix of Turbulence that turned up on a spunk sampler I got with last year's Smog album - it had a nice dark (but warm) electronic feel to it. And okay, upon very first listen, the original isn't quite as good, but I'm fairly confident there's something for me inside this album, once I let it grow on me a little.

• Johnny Cash - Live at San Quentin (remastered) : to sit alongside the remastered Live at Folsom Prison. boom-chaka-boom-chaka-boom-chaka-boom. I haven't put it on yet.

• They Might Be Giants - Apollo 18 : I saw this staring at me from the racks on the way over to the counter. I didn't previously have this, since my sister had, at the time, picked up the TMBG baton and run with it, so I figured I could just listen to hers. 9 (10 ?) years later, I guess it's one of the albums I look back more fondly upon, along with John Henry. I notice this one's got the split-up Fingertips, which ought to be fun to play on random/shuffle mode (I guess that was the whole idea).

• Spiritualized - Let it come down : Coming to appreciate Spiritualized has been a slow process for me, and I must admit I've still got a fair way to go. I'd picked up Pure Phase years ago as a completely random purchase based on it having a cover of Laurie Anderson's Born, Never Asked. It was ok, but didn't grab me straight away, and got put off into the cupboard awaiting a sufficiently rainy day. I didn't quite jump on the bandwagon when Ladies and Gentlemen we are now floating in space came along, and it wasn't until somewhere late in 2000 that I finally picked it up (influenced a little by a guy I met earlier that year in NYC, who went on about how wonderful they were). Ok. There's certainly some nice bits on it, but I haven't given it the attention it probably deserves, either. I'd been looking at the new album for a while now, wondering if I'd ever get around to spending the required amount of time with it. While waiting at the counter for the other 3 CDs, I finally gave in. I'm hoping I made the right choice.