Nothing to do at work today (shh... don't tell my boss), so here's some quiky reviews of things I've been listening to:

• Caribou - Andorra. I'm loving this. It's like a flashback to mid-period Pink Floyd (post-Barret, pre-Dark Side), with maybe a hint of Lilys here and there. Dense, swirling psychedelic pop-rock: it's hooky in places but trippy all over. The songs near the end of the record pick up bits of modern electronics (drum machines, etc.), which turns me off a little. But the first 2/3^rds are strong enough to carry me through the rest.
• Paul Simon - Paul Simon. This is also great. Solid all the way through, brilliant in places. And I just love Simon's voice. Also contains what is likely the only reference to chow fun in all of Western pop music.
• Robyn Hitchcock - While Thatcher Mauled Britain. A gigantic unreleased/outtakes collection - 2 CDs, nearly 40 songs. There are good things scattered throughout, but, overall, it's probably more of a curiosity.
• Robyn Hitchcock - Shadow Cat. Another unreleased/outtakes collection: his second in a year, and one of at least a half-dozen that I know of. I've given it a few listens, and while I haven't found anything truly outstanding, there are some interesting things here and there: the instrumental "The Cat Walks Her Kind of Line" is nice; there's a version of "The Wind Cries Mary" (though the one on Storefront Hitchcock is better); "Statue With a Walkman" is arrrite.
• Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlight. Before Robyn Hitchcock was Robyn Hitchcock, he was in the Soft Boys. Also in the Soft Boys were guitarist Kimberley Rew, who later founded Katrina And The Waves (he wrote "Walking On Sunshine"), and bassist Andy Metcalfe, who later played with Squeeze and XTC, and drummer Morris Windsor who, along with Metcalfe also played in Robyn's 80's-era-backing band, The Egyptians. Whew! Clearly the Soft Boys was a breeding ground for 80's Brit-pop.

  This record is 28 years old now, and being as, errr, familiar as I am with Robyn's post-Soft Boys work, as I hear this for the first time, I hear Robyn: his voice, lyrics, song writing, and even his guitar playing, are all so immediately recognizable that he tends to dominate the whole thing - plus he still does a lot of these songs in his live shows. So, even though it's probably unfair to the rest of the band, this one goes into the Robyn Hitchcock bin. It's pretty good, too.

• Andrew Bird's Bowl Of Fire - Thrills. Like Oh! The Grandeur, this is old-school small-group swing jazz: Django-esque, 30's cabaret . It's also a long ways from his current sound. It's well-done - the playing is great and the way they recreate the sound is impressive - but it's so alien to this 21st century boy, that I don't find myself reaching for it.
• Bears - Shortest Day Of The Year. This short little record is part neo-psychedelia, like the previously-mentioned Caribou, and part sweet alt-folk-pop. The mere seven songs, totaling something like 16 minutes, simply fly by. They barely have time to wear themselves in, let alone wear themselves out. And so the whole thing comes and goes in a beautiful little flash - an approach I think more bands should take.
• Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up. This is a collection of songs they've done as instrumentalists, instead of as rappers. They're all funky, laid-back instrumental jams - a little reggae here, a little 60's lounge there. The drummer uses the same rhythm in most of the songs, so they all kind of blend together after a while. But it's still fun. There's a certain kind of party where this would be very sweet as background music.