Not having access to my own computer this week is seriously throwing me off. My computer, see, lays in pieces as I await the arrival of new components to update it and bring it up to speed with today's specs. What I was working on was painfully out of date (ahem, by about six years) and struggled with just about every task I put to it.

What started out as a weekend project quickly grew out of hand when I realized that everything about my old computer, case and power supply included, was so out of date that I was simply better off replacing just about all of it. I'd hoped to get by with "just" the motherboard, processor, RAM, and, of course, a fresh install of Windows, but I quickly realized I could take advantage of the faster processors with a better hard drive. And then the power supply needed upgrading. And then the case didn't have space for my three hard drives. And I needed more fans to cool all this hot-running equipment off... I went into this project much less prepared than I should have been.

And so I remembered why I will always feel safe having my CDs handy, even while I tote my ever-present electronic friend, the iPod, along everywhere I go — because I never know when something is going to prevent me from putting stuff on my iPod. This week, at least, I'm carrying around a stack of CDs that aren't on my iPod and won't be until the computer's back up and running iTunes again. I'll likely be adding a couple of these to the pile in the next couple days:

Neko Case - Live from Austin, Texas (DVD): Another great release from PBS' fantastic Austin City Limits series. Why has it taken them so long to finally start releasing these shows on CD and DVD? (In this case, it appears to only be on DVD, however.) This 2003 concert might be where I first experienced Case's enchanting voice and music. I remember being so enthralled by what I heard that I immediately went out the next day and picked up Blacklisted and The Tigers Have Spoken. You can guess that this comes highly recommended. The DVD includes material not aired on TV.

Isis & Aerogramme - In The Fishtank: These "Fishtank" performances are always intriguing — pair two bands together for two days and see what happens. Usually they're quite different in style, but in this case, Isis and Aereogramme aren't all that different. Both are metal bands, but Isis is a big, unrelenting wall of terrific noise where Aereogramme is more dramatic with greater dynamics (think a harder, weirder A Perfect Circle). The result here is pretty interesting — things go further in both directions, but Isis' influence stands out the most, being the more intense of the two.