I was going to put this in the Christmas Music thread, but I'm not, because I thought this thread could use a bit more content, and I really want people to see this post because of this first comment:

MY APOLOGIES TO THE FORUM TO ANYONE WHO VISITED AND SAW THE VERY VERY BAD POST THAT WAS THE MOST RECENT ONE, JUST ABOVE THIS, UNTIL I PULLED IT. I didn't receive the usual e-mail notifications on this thread OR that post and so I have no idea if it were there all day yesterday or if it just went up late last night. But anyway, please know I took it down the second I saw it.

Now, to music:
I did get the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for Christmas, and I think it's a great listen. One thing that I said, though, at the time, was that Karen O reminds me of Johnette Napolitano, a long-time favorite of mine whom I haven't listened to in a long time, and that made me like them more - she gives them that extra character... So, that got me getting out the couple of Concrete Blonde albums I have, and wishing that my copy of the Johnette/Marc Moreland venture Pretty and Twisted hadn't been lost/ruined/killed many years ago. So then, I got on the good old Amazon and ordered it used, and it got to me today, and I'm playing it now, and I do love it. I remember that I had a kind of limited patience for this album when I first heard it, because of the dirge-like repetitiousness of some songs, but even the ones that are more banging in that way I still like, I remember - I just can't listen to the whole album over and over again. Which is making me think it's time to make a new compilation CD that will include only a few, that I will want to listen to over and over again. I am listening to Singing is Fire right now, the Charles Bukowski poem she recorded, and the opening music sounds really good, and it's pretty cool. but I'm still itching to hear the whole thing through so I can go back and play the Bryan Ferry song over and over... I think I'll put that song, Mother of Pearl, right next to the [my favorite] version of The Ship Song with Johnette singing with Nick Cave, and the maudlin, live Tomorrow Wendy, and the fast and immortal Your Haunted Head from the first album, and her cover of Beware of Darkness (leave George alone!!)... mmm... Don't bother me, I'm in the studio...
I don't remember when I last saw her play, has to have been at least 9 years, but I sure did love to see her when they'd come through Austin; always a consummate, charged, passionate performance from JN.