I had intended to be finished reading The Iliad by this time this evening, but instead, I've not cracked the book open. Alas and alack. Achilles and Hector will have to wait for another day.

As part of some late-winter-cleaning, I put together a big list of CDs that I've got for trade (and, I guess, for sale), which I posted at montrealshows. As you can see, there's an extremely wide variety of material - not all of which is good - but if there's anything that you're interested in, either email me with a list of CDs that you've got for trading, or else a $ offer. Blog comments work, too. Montreal or Ottawa residents preferred, but if there's a will, there's a way. Hopefully some fancy-ticklers there...

As per Michelle's challenge [via tons of other blogs], I've tried to come up with my own "favourite artists for each letter of the alphabet." It's much harder than it looks, if only because artists-one-couldn't-care-less-about (eg: Xiu Xiu) try their damndest to make it on. And then, of course, there's the glut of great bands that orbit B, O, and S. But anyway, in onanistic fashion, here's my personal alphabeticized musical profile-of-the-moment.

A: Arcade Fire, the
B: Beatles, the
C: Cat Power
D: Davis, Miles
E: Eels, the
F: Frames, the
G: Gomez
H: Hayden
I: Iron and Wine
J: Jurado, Damien
K: Kid Koala
L: Lucksmiths, The
M: Mogwai
N: Neutral Milk Hotel
O: Okkervil River
P: Palace
Q: Quest, A Tribe Called [yes, i'm a cheater]
R: Radiohead
S: Songs:Ohia
T: Tragically Hip, the
U: Unicorns, the
V: Velvet Underground, the
X: Xavier Cugat [see Q]
W: Waits, Tom
Y: Yo La Tengo
Z: Zombies, the

Oh right: some music for you to download.

A Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Choir - "Sow Some Lonesome Corner So Many Flowers Bloom". I don't think many people would argue that A Silver Mt. Zion have let themselves go, a little, when it comes to their band-name. They also let themselves go when it came to the title of last year's album, "This Is Our Punk-Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather and Sing. But the fact remains that a) they're better than Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the band for which this is a "side-project," and b) they've recorded some of the best post-rock in the world. Crashing crescendos, sure, but also an ear for timbre and composition that exceeds the simplistic dynamics of both Godspeed! and other lesser peers. "Sow Some Lonesome Corner..." is the best thing on Rusted Satellites, a drear collage of thrusting strings, downward-winding electric guitar, and a fantastic mountain-music "so fa la so" choir. The band uses silence wonderfully, and over the track's sixteen minutes, there's a bit of everything - from lulling calm, to noise, to a melodic mist and broken-up samples. If you're interested in catching them live, ASMZ is playing Montreal on February 1st and 2nd - and tickets are only $6 - but word is that the shows are almost sold out. (I'll be going on the 1st.)