hmw26:

buck 65 (whom i have been enthusing about a lot lately) i really think you'd dig. new album "secret house against the world" is pretty good. first track especially. but i think "talkin' honky blues" is better, more cohesive. country-ish and a bit like tom waits when he does that talking-not-really-singing thing. there seems to be always one sexy song per album. funny that. i like the one on "man overboard". one track recommendation - "wicked and wierd". taste here

sondre lerche - you may also have caught on that i am rather fond of this kid. annoyingly he doesn't seem to be interested in promoting over here, the last album wasn't even released in the UK... grrr... he's concentrating on america. i know superficially he sounds all easy listening jazz lite (euww!) but trust me, he really isn't. go see live if you get the chance. top 5 gigs. if you must, go for "it's too late" "wet ground" or "on and off again". taste here see videos and stuff too here www.sondrelerche.com

i'm pretty sure i remember you have the first 2 ben folds albums, right? the recent "sunny16 EP" and "rockin' the suburbs" are both very very good too. best track "there's always someone cooler than you"

as for the eels - "daisies of the galaxy" is my favorite album, followed by "electro-shock blues"

i have this thing for adventurous pop. by that i mean pop that totally isn't ashamed to be pop, but has faith in the ability of pop to carry something, anything, musical expression, wicked lyrics, a bit of politics maybe... you get the picture.

gonazales - "z" funny and funky. "take me to broadway" is the highlight.

bran van 3000 "discography" is one of my favorite albums ever, but i feel distinctly in a minority. even people i think would love it hate it, so i may get this one wrong... but it's just so good! so pop! so funny! and musically really enjoyable. no highlights, everything. well if you must - "speed". and there's an abolutely wicked verse about kermit which i believe is within "montreal".

you have cake, right?

not sure about this one, but you might like patrick wolf. "wind in the wires" is more consistent, but i actually didnt like it that much until after i got "lycanthropy" which is a bit messy... anyway, moody folky violin and bleeps, pretentious, precocious, and endearingly fantastic (as in fantasy). there's a really cute line in "this weather" (i think) that goes when the birds fly south / reach up and hold their tails...  "tristan" will get you first. (but it doesn't sound like the rest)

traveling wilburys (i think it's spelt like that i guess it's a joke) i don't have any of it but "vol.1" is on my wishlist (which i am currently actioning, rapidly - teehee!) and i think you'd like it.

john frusciante is one of the chili peppers. i bought his album "to record only water for 10 days" in parrot on impulse cos it had a cool cover a cool title. it's the only thing of his i have, but it's good. the singing takes some tolerance (he can't, basically, but i find it quite endearing that he doesn't seem to care), but the vibe is good. scratchy drum machine and deliberate guitar. try "remain"

phoenix. nice french pop. that's not nice as an insult either. they're mates with daftpunk and air, in the early days i think they produced/played each others' stuff. so basically if you imagine less dancey than daftpunk, less chillout than air, and a lot more guitar pop, you got phoenix. taste here woo! they've got "too young" up at the mo, it's off the first album (united), and my personal fave (the boy gave it me on a compilation...). their new album (it's never been like that) is pretty good too, try "consolation prizes". you didn't go to that NY show did you? anyway, good live. less soft than they can sound on record.

josh ritter - album "hello starling", best song "winter is gone" straight-forward singer-songwriter stuff, good.

i been listening to the best of the lemonheads lots lately. if you'd forgotten about them, go rediscover! adorable. i noticed that "the best of ... the atlantic years" (what i got) has a lot more tracks on the european version. the US version missed off "outdoor type". no way!
oh and i bumped into this lot lately - utah saints!! - teehee... :)   www.myspace.com/utahsaints

both:
actually livredor you might appreciate patrick wolf too.
and if you like satie or ravel type solo piano pieces, you might like gonzales (see above) "solo piano", they're all very short, light pieces, try "manifesto"
and the lemonheads too, if you don't know them.

bright eyes recent simultaneous releases "digital ash in a digital urn" and "i'm wide awake it's morning". i found "digital..." more immediate, but "i'm wide awake..." is just amazing once you get familiar with it. in fact i haven't listened to either for a while, as i got a bit obsessed and listened to nothing else for weeks. album before, "lifted.." is really good too, but there's really good with a certain palette, and then there's amazing, with a whole different vision. then again, "Haligh, Haligh, a Lie, Haligh" from the earlier "fevers and mirrors" is still really affecting. pretty hard to pick out tracks from the recent ones, if i had to choose, i would go for "arc of time" "easy/luck/free" and "landlocked blues".
there are a lot of downloads available at http://www.saddlecreekrecords.com/ (bands-->bright eyes)
(OTOH you might absolutely hate him - he sings like he feels pretty sorry for himself and is very angsty...)

cat power - hmw26 i mentioned her before - did you ever check her out? ok so very, um, unpredictable live.. but albums "moonpix" and newly "the greatest" i can see you both liking. livredor - i love her voice. mmm. best tracks "metal heart" "american flag" and "the greatest"

the style council are unfairly dissed as paul weller's embarassing '80's phase. but i love them. intelligent pop under a veneer of smooth soul. it takes more guts to do a soft-focus video with pastel jumpers than front a punk band. "paris match" is my favorite track. dig it. i really like the joyous pop sounds of "solid bond in your heart" and "shout to the top".. but i'll understand if you don't. "casual affair" is good, but sad and regretful. there's lots more overtly socio-political stuff, like "bloodsports" but i dont like it as much, awkward and preachy...

interpol - "turn on the bright lights". try "say hello to angels". haven't really got into the second album... new york understated dark simple electro.

elliot smith - like many people i started listening to "from a basement on a hill" from which i like "pretty/ugly", but i really really like album "XO". it's beautiful and subtle and patterned, funny and poppy and meloncholy and musical. first track "sweet adeline" is probably my favorite but i like the whole thing.

livredor:

i would describe my music taste as entirely consisting of pop, albeit a definition of pop that's probably a bit wider than some people's. so when you said rock... well one of my favorite rock albums is "king for a day fool for a lifetime" by faith no more. you probably know her, but if you dont, you'd probably like PJ Harvey. albums vary quite a lot in terms of how harsh or mellow they sound. also check out queens of the stone age.

mercury rev album "all is dream"

paradise motel did 2 albums before splitting - i prefer the rougher darker sound of debut "left over life to kill", 2nd album "flight paths" is in my opinion too soft and samey-ly produced, but i think it did better. most immediate track "german girl" best track "dead skin". when i saw them singer had a cold. made her voice sound much cooler. hey! i just checked last.fm for this album entry - and it's got a totally different tracklisting! what's that about?

since you like the cocteau twins, you'd probably know this one already, but i rather like the late can-actually-hear-lyrics "heaven or las vegas", of which my fave track is "cherry coloured funk". other than that my favorite track is (i think) non-album so you might've missed it "millimillenary". i think.

low albums "things we lost in the fire" and the most recent surprisingly rocky "the great destroyer"

gorgeous female voices? cowboy junkies "trinity sessions" there are a few good ones - "misguided angel" is sadly beautiful (another track the boy gave me...)
one of my favorite dusty tracks is the relatively unknown "in the winter" and hits high on both the vocal and the narrative.

stories - rilo kiley "more adventurous". try first 2 tracks "it's a hit" and "does he love you".
do you like bob dylan? i think of "blood on the tracks" for stories. "simple twist of fate" probably my favorite, but so many good ones.
gram parsons "streets of baltimore" "love hurts" and "$1000 wedding"
pulp rules for narrative. check out "wickerman" off of "we love life"

funny messy noises - bearsuit, from norwich. it might be a little too obscure for e-music... if it's there, check out the binary verse in "itsuko got married"

billy bragg - "dont try this at home" - everyone knows "sexuality" but it's a really good album. more personal than political.