Okay, before we begin, there are some things we must know about El Guincho. First of all, El Guincho is one man, Pablo Díaz-Reixa, and he named his album after the uninhabited island of Alegranza, which is at the northeastern tip of the Canary Islands, which are—of course this is common knowledge—an autonomous domain of Spain located on the west coast of Africa. Díaz-Reixa is from these Canary Islands, and, via Barcelona, he creates swirling and excitable indie pop using loops and samples and an amalgam of musical influences ranging from Benga (Kenyan traditional music) to Bhangra (Indian folk) to any brand of tropicalia that flies well above the head of our good friend Jimmy Buffett....

Crowded House released six studio albums during the course of their underrated career. Songwriter and vocalist Neil Finn regularly combined lyrical insight with pop-folk melodies to conjure up many almost classics throughout the band’s hey-day. Although we’re still smarting that “Fall At Your Feet” never broke into the Top 50 on US charts, we can now take comfort in Crowded House’s latest release, a double disc (and DVD) from their last show in Sydney......

- Despite some rumors that Wilco would headline Shiner's annual Bocktoberfest, the event's main act is...Godsmack. Well, yeah, that's pretty much the same as Wilco. We just feel sorry for the Old 97's, who seem to be the only good act on the bill. Ask for a keg in your rider, guys. By the way, the 97's will warm up for Shiner with a 10/13 gig at Stubb's. - Speaking of drinking, Kinky Friedman......

*The Devil and Daniel Johnston A Portrait of the Artist as a Manic Depressive. Excellent documentary. Mission: Impossible III Earlier in the week we were challenged to make it through this without mentioning the word 'placenta.' Nope. An American Haunting Sissy Spacek is, like, totally goth, y'all. Ok, we'll bite. As long as you hold our hand. Celestine Prophecy You (and your mom, and your aunt and the woman next to you on the......