I WAS LOOKING to update the firmware for my ...

Since I got my new burning software, I've been going through the backlog of CDs on my hard drive and found that three of them have been getting heavy play: Neon Golden by the Notwist, Tallahassee by the Mountain Goats and An Anthology by Uncle Tupelo. The Notwist's album is texturally interesting with real hooks. Not every song is a winner, and they're not sugary sweet, but it's a respectable work of diverse material. Their '98 release, Shrink, is not quite as good, but also groovy. Tallahassee is some sort of concept record, but don't let that cloud your judgment. It's a solid collection of the same kinds of songs that filled Sweden, Full Force Galesburg and their other releases. For a big-money release, it's surprisingly filled with the same textures one expects from the Mountain Goats, just more cleanly reproduced. I agree with people who think that Uncle Tupelo was great. My pal Badtz is less convinced, and points to the presence of too many boring songs. For a greatest-hits collection, I agree there are too many borderline songs, but the ones that I love ("Gun," "Chickamauga," "Screen Door") make me forget the ones I don't.

American Splendor was a comic that I read for many years, collecting all of Harvey Pekar's self-published works?a treasure trove of black and white imagery from a stable of high-quality cartoonists active during the 80s and 90s?and much of his work for other publishers. The recent movie of the same name does a wonderful job of bringing to life the world that Pekar described. You should download it if you can, but I implore you to get your hands on the original source. You should know that the self-published issues are expensive. I dropped serious change for the first issue, and that was about 10 years ago. The collection released concurrently with the film is cheap?if you can't find it as a .cbr or .pdf.

Avenger is a fresh 2003 series. I just watched episode one (of nine or 10, I think). I got it from Anime-Keep, which maintains a high level of quality in its fansubs. Since episode one is the series intro, it's hard to say what it will become, but so far it looks like a blend of high and low technology. The domed city has robot companions, yet people live in primitive stone structures and fight with swords. The cybernetic companions are called "dolls" and are everywhere. The action is spare in the first episode, but sprightly. Overall, it's intriguing. I'll be watching more.

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