Scouring Soulseek for new music is about all there is to do here at home. But I've been listening to some good stuff:

• Jóhann Jóhannsson: Englabörn. I haven't yet been able to get his recently released Virðulegu Forsetar, but this album is really good. It's excellent "modern classical" stuff: string compositions, some piano, etc., but with the occasional vocoder/robot voice thrown in. Plus, it's Icelandic!
• Monolake: Hongkong. Late-90s IDM/Ambient Techno stuff. Every now and then I get on a kick for alien, minimalistic synth sounds. This fits that bill nicely.
• The Apples in Stereo. Well, after gushing about Ulysses, I realized I had never really absorbed much by Schneider's previous project. Her Wallpaper Reverie is a very enjoyable neo-psych outing.
• Cake: Pressure Chief. Every time a new Cake album comes out, I'm hoping for Fashion Nugget but all they seem to come up with is Prolonging the Magic. Well, Comfort Eagle was pretty good. But Pressure is just disappointing. "End of the Movie" is one of their bests though. Their cover of Bread's "Guitar Man" is okay. But generally it's just ho-hum.

That's the stuff I've really absorbed over the break. Hopefully I'll find a bit more good stuff before I post the requisite Top N of 2004 list towards the end of December. :)