It's been a busy week at the record store for me:

Spoon - Gimme Fiction. People seem to be really digging this one, but I'm not yet sure I agree. At this point, all I can say is I'm not finding it as immediately arresting as their last two albums. It's grown on me with each listen, so I think I'm a week or two away from knowing where I stand. A few sections still sound flat to me, like the songs don't go anywhere. The cover art looks great though - with richer colors and details, it's not nearly as stark as on screen.

Optimo Present Psyche Out. I was about to order this online when I discovered it at the Virgin Megastore, of all places. (None of the usual suspects were carrying it.) It's quite different from HTKTDJ in that the mixing is nowhere near as constant or crazy, but it's still very strong thanks to excellent song selection. There's a nice run of old school acid, techno, and house at the core of the mix, reminiscent of their Brooklyn party in March, but my favorite section is the end. Systeme Imaginique's "The Sublime Moment" (a Belgian techno track from '91) goes into the Temptations' "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone," followed up a couple minutes later by the simply incredible Dinosaur song "Kiss Me Again," an 8+ minute soul-disco-funk JAM. I did some research and discovered that Dinosaur is actually an Arthur Russell project, with David Byrne playing guitar on the song. Alas they only did that one song but wow, what a tune.

Marc Leclair - Musique Pour 3 Femmes Enceintes. This is pretty different from Leclair's music as Akufen, focusing on textures much more than beats and samples. (Along those lines, Stefan Betke AKA Pole worked on the record.) I'm not sure where Leclair would've taken his microhouse sound next, so the shift is probably for the best. There are still some cut-up 4/4 beats to be found but they anchor the music much more than they drive it, grounding lots of washed-out synths, subtle melodies, and crackling grooves. I'm appreciating ambient releases this year more than ever before, and this record fits right into that - a great late-night listen.

Stereolab - Oscillons from the Anti-Sun. I've admittedly listened to this one the least, in part because it's the most intimidating. 3 CD's, 1 DVD, $20! Outstanding value, and you get stickers of all their single covers too. Its main effect so far has been the revival of Transient Random Noise Bursts on my iPod. But I have enjoyed the first two discs, except for the "Jenny Ondioline" EDIT to start disc 2 - anything less than 18 minutes of that song is sacrilege!

One notable absence above is the new Nine Inch Nails album With Teeth. I've had in my hands twice and passed both times - where's a $10 Best Buy sale when you need it? I guess The Fragile still has me a little gunshy, though I snuck in a couple listens to With Teeth's MP3's and I was pretty impressed. Unlike The Fragile, it didn't sound too forced. And the high school NIN obsessive in me is pretty excited to see them tonight.