Perhaps to prove to you all that I don't know every single shop in this town, I was on Smith St last Sunday night with Michael and Eugenie, when we walked past a place called The Last Record Store. "Impossible !" I thought. "I walked up here just the other week, and didn't see it..." I was, of course, walking on the other side of the street, and mustn't have been paying attention as I passed it. But I don't really get up to Smith St all that often, either. I came back today, hoping to catch it when it was open. I probably should've paid more attention to all the vinyl, but I'm trying to rein in my extravagances, so I came out with a mere two CDs :

• Josh Rouse - Home : at $20, I didn't want to let it go. Seems quite enjoyable so far, almost as good as Under Cold Blue Stars (which they also had going for $20, so if you're after a copy, pop over and grab it), although this is by no means a criticism - after all, being an earlier album, it's all part of the journey, so to speak.

• Pinetop Seven (self-titled) : I'd followed a few "similar artist" links at epitonic and found these guys, so I filed the name away and caught their first album today, going cheap.

The shop has a website, too.

Apart from that, I've really been enjoying Guided By Voices alumni Tobin Sprout's Moonflower Plastic, lately. Oh, and that Ground Zero CD I picked up yesterday's a killer - witness their take on those were the days with the sound of an old-style piano (pianola ? i dunno) doing a rendition of the familiar tune, while a cacophony of traffic noises, people fighting, and so forth builds up over the top of it.