Somehow, I've always associated Third Eye Foundation with abrasive guitar terrorism over nosebleed breakbeats. In fact, the number of such TEF songs can be counted on one hand. Of course, the first 20 minutes of "Semtex" and the mind-blowing "Corpses As Bedmates" (from "Ghost") make a long lasting impression. However, "Corpses As Bedmates" can now be viewed as a sign-off, Matt Elliott waving goodbye to his lo-fi roots with his finest statement of anarchic noise. Finally, on this this year's "Little Lost Soul" he's composed an full flow of an album, rather than a seemingly unrelated consortium of tracks. The album is like a dream, scenes slowly fade to grey and then a new one appears, each lonelier than the one before it. Whereas the "Sound of Violence" EP evoked physical pain, "LLS" evokes emotional pain. Like the final scene of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", in which Brad and Janet aimlessly crawl in circles around a fallen Dr. Scott, it's the sound of sweet confusion and aching memories which won't get out of your head. And yes, like that scene in "Rocky Horror", there's a tongue-in-cheek element as well (just look at some of the song titles).

Kevin Shields is playing UK gigs with Primal Scream. This must be a wet dream.

I can scarcely believe that I am about to write this, but "That's the Way It Is" is surely the best Celine Dion song ever. Nobody can dispute the fact that she has a wonderful voice, but when she uses it to peddle the inane sappiness of "My Heart Will Go On" it makes me cringe the way Whitney Houston once did with "I Will Always Love You". Celine has rediscovered her dance pop side which she abandoned sometime in 1995, just in time to compete with the Jessicas and Christinas of the world.

Nobody associates a bands' "greatness" with their lyric writing ability. The Beatles are an excellent test case. There is no dispute that they were an excellent band, but their lyrics are often atrocious. They began with simple teenybopper "I love you, I don't love you" sentiments, but that's what everybody was doing then so this can't be held against them. During the Rubber Soul/Revolver period their lyrics were at their peak, from the biting social commentary of Taxman to the thinly veiled confessions of "Norwegian Wood" to the serene simplicity of "Here, There and Everywhere". Then it all went horribly wrong. Take the White Album as an example. Clearly there are exceptions (Julia, Blackbird, etc.) but for the most part the lyrics are incessant streams of directionless, and frequently ridiculous storytelling. Is John making any sense at all during "Glass Onion" or "Happiness is a Warm Gun"? Paul is bitten by the bug as well -- what on earth are we to make of "Rocky Raccoon"? Has anyone, save Charles Manson, been enlightened by the lyrics to "Piggies"? The White Album is an album of musical genius -- likely the best thing the Beatles ever did -- but is also an album of frequent lyrical tomfoolery. Must have been the drugs.

What exactly is the difference between Much Music and Much More Music? Not much, as far as I can tell. MM plays Korn, and M3 doesn't. Oh yeah, M3 plays the Backstreet Boys, but they never visit. Interestingly, MM's upcoming Sandjob exclusively features the bands that M3 doesn't play.

I have figured out why Korn exist. Korn exist so that young people threatened by genres such as pop and techno can say "See? Rock rulz man!"

I don't understand Yo La Tengo. They have no truly unique musical ideas. Everything they do has been done before by MBV, Velvets, etc. So why are they so freaking brilliant? Has any band ever combined this lack of originality with such brilliant songs? Their latest album delivers on what they teased throughout the 1990's -- capturing the atmosphere of the third Velvets album. YLT should have copied the liner notes from Spiritualized "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" for their latest opus, because anyone listening to it is bound to develop withdrawal pains, lose sleep and feel disoriented. YLT are the ultimate example of borrowing a template and running with it. Forget that it sounds like something you've heard before. The sound you hear is the sound of magic.

Stereolab's "Cobra and Phases..." has been out for a few months now, and it continues to sound better with each and every listen. ETK has been acclaimed by the general public as their best album, I've always felt that the more hardcore set preferred their earlier material. Furthermore, the hardcore set has viewed their post "Mars Audiac Quintet" material as being a significant decline from their earlier Can-NEU!-Faustian tunes. Admittedly, I was of the same opinion, for the blatantly Can-inspired "Metronomic Underground" and the blatantly NEU!-inspired "Noise of Carpet" far outshone most of the experimental pop leanings of the remainder of ETK. I'm finally a believer in their new direction. Whereas "Dots and Loops" tended toward eclecticism to the point of navel-gazing, "Cobra and Phases" combines the anodyne melodies from "Music for the Amorphous Body Study Centre", with the funkiness and tranciness of classic Can and Faust which made us love them in the first place.

Ha! I've been saying for years that Kevin Shields' brand of guitar noise is hugely influential on the way ALL rock music is conceived and recorded today. Now, after absorbing Primal Scream's (excellent) new album, on which Kevin Shields does production work, hopefully the rest of the world will realize that the experimental, eclectic style of recent Blur, SFA, and the Scream is the TRUE future of rock, not Radiohead and Oasis' take on 60's and 70's nostalgia. Critics are finally coming on my side -- they all write that the Scream album is noisy, noisy, noisy terrorism and bloody great for it -- remember, you all heard it first from me, hail Kevin Shields, the most powerful force in rock!!

I've discovered the deep connections between the founders of techno and the founders of quantum mechanics. Schroedinger/Atkins: The genesis. Formulated the first quantitative model. Heisenberg/Saunderson: A different picture of quantum mechanics -- Saunderson used the house/R&B roots of techno, as opposed to Atkins futuristic bent (of course, the trainspotters know that the H picture of QM is really due to S, similarly, Atkins funkier exploits with Clear in the early 80's predated Saunderson's Inner City material. Incidentally, Atkins 1999 "Body and Soul" returns to the gritty, funky, R&B feel which was not featured as strongly in his late '80's Model 500 material). Saunderson and Heisenberg had more mainstream success with their work than the others. Dirac/May: The field assumes its modern form. The models/notations/rules they invented still exist today.