Move over Ryan Adams and Pete Yorn, here's the real deal says The Independent's Tim Perry today in the course of awarding the new Damien Jurado album 5 out of 5. "Tim, get out more,"says reallyrather. Not that I break chairs is rubbish, it's just not inspired; if it's worth top marks, Mr Perry will maybe have, a la Spinal Tap, to push his scale to 6 next month as another Seattle melancholic folk-popster David Barzan (aka Pedro the Lion) has also decided to crank up the amp...

Day jobs of the stars No.1: Damien Jurado, pre-school teacher...

On a whim, saw Tift Merritt at The Borderline Thurs. Now that pure Nashville 'big hats 'n' game gals' thing isn't something reallyrather ever wants to get too close to. In other hands, many of Tift's songs would sit well at the Opry but happily she dips most of them in a barrell of r'n'b, slinging out a lusty roots-rocking set. Apart from her own wielding of a mean rhythm guitar, what helps lifts the sound over onto the right side of the Music City tracks are the organ of Greg Readling and economical attack of drummer Zeke Hutchins (a dead ringer for Shaggy from Scooby Doo). She's got a great voice and no small amount of magnetic presence. There were about 100 or so souls there - word-of-mouth will likely make the place comfortably full next time round...

For some of the evening, reallyrather was standing a handshake away from beady pop mogul, Alan McGee. Feeble lack of bottle (or the contents thereof) stopped your hero from bearding the man over the puzzlingly half-cocked launch of one the best UK albums of last year, Arnold's Bahama. Surely the label & band could've made a bit more effort to promote this pretty damned fine collection of shimmering guitar pop/rock? A re-launch is, however, being mooted - watch this blog...