November was actually a low-key month for obsessions, partly because I found remarkably few new albums I wanted to review and partly because I’ve done so much writing on my novel and client projects. Sometimes music helps the writing process, but sometimes it’s distracting!  

• “Old Friends” and “Great Life” by Caveman
• “Dear Elkhorn,” “B.C. Orienteering,” “Camilo (The Magician),” “Out On the Shield” and “Emerald Lake, AB” by Said the Whale – Just discovered this awesome Canadian indie band from the R3-30 countdown on CBC (an excellent source for new music)
• “As Young As Yesterday,” “Comin’ Closer” and “The Truest Faith” by Korallreven
• “Melanine” by Tyco – Both this band and the previous are electronic musicians, a genre I find myself increasingly getting into this year.
• “I’m Sorry,” “Don’t Go” and “Hallejuhah Jordan” by Hothouse Flowers – This is from People, this Irish band’s amazing first album from 1988. I saw them in concert at Spectrum in Montreal that year and until I saw Tom Waits live at the Orpheum in Boston in 2001, it was the best concert I’d ever seen.
• “Peacetime Resistance” by Kings of Convenience
• “Heartbeats” by José González – This was used for a very cool video for Sonyinvolving colored balls bouncing down the hills of San Francisco.
• “Add It Up,” “Blister in the Sun” and “Gone Daddy Gone” by Violent Femmes – Heard Blister in the Sun at a wedding and forget how much I was into this band in college.
• “Whatever It Takes,” “Saint Isabelle” and “The Nights Are OK in Spidertown” by Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman