It's been ages since I last did one of these, so there are a lot of records here...

• Gang of Four - Entertainment (remaster). I don't know how many other people do this, but I maintain a kind of multi-dimensional map of bands in my head, where bands are arranged by style and influence and membership, etc.. For example, Bauhaus, Love And Rockets, Tones On Tail, and Peter Murphy are all in a clump (because they all share members), with lines extending from them back to Bowie, T. Rex and the Velvet Underground (their influences), then sideways to other goth bands of the 80s (peers who share those influences), and forward to bands like Interpol and Marilyn Manson (bands who were influenced by them). It's a big web. I actually used to arrange my CD collection in a 1-dimensional version of this; it was nearly impossible for anyone else to make sense of, though.

  Most of the time, when I hear a band for the first time, their influences are obvious, and so their spot in the web is also obvious. And, most bands have lots of influences, but influence relatively few other bands - not everybody can be a pioneer; truly influential bands are rare, and, well, I've heard most of them by now. But now and then I come across a band I've never heard before that is so obviously the primary influence on so many bands I do know that it changes the shape of a big chunk of my web; connections form all over the place, and bands that I thought were pioneers turn out to be much less original than I thought. Gang Of Four is one of those bands. Ten seconds into the first song on this record, it's clear that this band touched dozens and dozens of others: newer bands like The Rapture, Bloc Party, Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand, etc., and older bands like Big Black, Pixies, Mission Of Burma, Bauhaus, The Cure (all of which were hugely influential in their own right). And bands like REM and the Chili Peppers cite them as huge influences (though I don't hear it). In my web of bands, they are a hub. But, do I like it? Yeah, mostly. It's hard and abrasive and unforgiving and twitchy: very very early-80's "post-punk". So it takes a bit of effort, unless I'm really in the mood.
  Three raquos: »»»

• MGMT - Congratulations. Their first record was full of funky retro-80s hooky pop tunes. This one is full of itself.
  One raquo: »

• Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 - Propellor Time. Of all the RH & V3 records, I like this one best. It's very relaxed and softly country-flavored, a lot of acoustic sounds. It's not exactly restrained, but a bit lazy, maybe. Robyn sounds sleepy through most of it.
  A weak three raquos: »»»

• T. Rex - Electric Warrior (remaster). There are only like three songs on this one. They just played those three songs in different keys with different lyrics, over and over, to fill out the album. But what songs! Audacious infectious simplicity.
  Four raquos: »»»»

• Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues. This one is new to me. For some reason, I never got around to it, when it came out in '83. Love the Heads, of course, but it still took a few listens before I could get past the mid-80's dance-party sound; that huge gated snare, the funky guitars, the bubbly chirping keyboards and the bright shiny production; it could be a Morris Day and The Time or a Was Not Was record. I guess that was the sound of the times. Maybe that's why I avoided it - I've always hated that sound.

  I know nearly half of these 9 songs from their "Stop Making Sense" incarnations ("Burning Down The House", "Girlfriend Is Better", "Swamp", "Slippery People") and I much prefer those versions. Here, they seem a little small and a bit too polished. Still, it's not a bad record. It's actually a really good record. And it does have one of my favorite Heads' songs: "This Must Be The Place", which I think is in the film version of "Stop Making Sense", but I've never seen the film. It also ran over the closing credits of the movie "Wall Street", I don't know why I remember that.
  Four raquos: »»»»

• The Dave Rawlings Machine- Friend of a Friend. He's the accompanist half of the band called "Gillian Welch". For the Dave Rawlings Machine, Rawlings is the band leader and lead vocalist while Welch plays rhythm and sings backups. The song selection isn't much different from a Gillian Welch record - there are a bunch of old-time pre-"Country" country songs, along with some newer things which sound like the Old Crow Medicine Show (who play on the record, along with people from Bright Eyes and from Tom Petty's band), bluegrass staple "The Monkey and the Engineer", a medley of a Bright Eyes song and Neil Young's "Cortez The Killer", etc.. It's pretty good.
  Three raquos: »»»

• Love And Rockets - Express (remastered). My roommate in college had this one, and we played the hell out of it. I recently picked it up again, on a whim. I wasn't sure if this would age well, or if it would sound like something that should have been left in '87. But, except for a couple of things that I didn't like back then either, it holds up; and many of the songs are still fantastic. Even the songs I don't like are at least interesting, since all the songs are festooned with interesting little sonic curlicues, mostly from Daniel Ash's guitar wizardry - he's an under-appreciated player, IMO. It's been a long time since I heard the original, so I might be imagining this, but I think the remaster sounds a lot brighter and crisper.
  Five raquos: »»»»»

This is getting long, and I still have four or five more to go.... I think I'll save them for another time.