Listening to a few new albums......

Starring Me - Starring Me
The 2003 debut album from the US shoegaze/dream-pop trio Starring Me. I cannot say that I expected all that much of this album, because it was more or less "added" when I bought the other album by the band. But so far it's been impossible to let go of it and several songs have made me reach for the repeat button. Beautiful melodies and wonderful female vocals make this a really fine dream-pop album. What a surprise!
+ Find A Diamond

Starring Me - Perfect In The Night
The 2005 follow-up from the band pretty much follows in the footsteps of the debut as the band reamains true to the shoegaze/dream-pop genre. The songs may be a bit noisier than and not quite as immediate as the ones on the debut, but this is still another very fine effort from this vastly underrated band. The entire album can be downloaded for free at the band's webpage.
+ Stay
+ Comet

Purplespace - Broken Bells
Purplespace is a side project created by John Hashtak of Starring Me and I've previously described the music as a bit more electronic than we're used to hear from Starring Me. Listening to the album a few times doesn't make me change that description, but unfortunately I experienced the album as a kind of "bumpy ride". It does indeed contain several good songs, but also quite a few that are easily forgotten. Hopefully a few more listens will change this!
+ The Journal

The Oxygen Ponies - The Oxygen Ponies
The highly anticipated debut album from the NY singer/songwriter Paul Megna (a.k.a. The Oxygen Ponies) is pretty much everything I hoped/expected it would be. The songs are all mellow and utterly beautiful, and are probably enjoyed the best in a quiet moment with the eyes closed.