Blind as a buy

I mentioned the "Blind Buy List" to Rudnik in a long e-mail exchange, which led him to make a post on the topic. I think I may have posted some approximation of my list before, but it's due for an updating. Rules are similar to Rud's; only full-length LPs of new material really count towards the official totals, though I frequently buy other things for artists on the list, as noted.

A.C. Newman
Albums in release: 1
Albums I own: 1
Safe status: 9 out of 10. Newman only has one solo album so far, but he's also got three New Pornographers albums backing him up, and I happen to think he's one of the top five musicians out there right now.

Ben Folds
Albums in release: 3 (does not include EPs, live albums, or Ben Folds Five albums)
Albums I own: 2 (plus four EPs, all four BFF albums, and Ben Folds Live - but not Fear of Pop)
Safe status: 10 out of 10. Unless Folds decides his future projects are going to sound more like Fear of Pop than the rest of his work, he'll never drop off this list.

Death Cab for Cutie
Albums in release: 5
Albums I own: 3
Safe status: 6 out of 10. It's been hinted that the style the band employs on Transatlanticism and, even more so, on Plans is not 100% representative of their sound. If that's true of future recordings, I may not be as motivated. But I went back to We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes and have no complaints so far.

Doves
Albums in release: 3
Albums I own: 2
Safe status: 7 out of 10. I haven't gotten back to Lost Souls yet, but all indications are that I enjoy each successive record of theirs progressively more. Still, that kind of bombast-rock-pop sometimes walks a thin line when it comes to holding my interest, though Doves haven't come close to losing me yet.

Fountains of Wayne
Albums in release: 3
Albums I own: 3, plus Out-of-State Plates
Safe status: 9 out of 10. They're drifting from what made their first album so great, but then when you consider that I didn't sign on until after "Stacy's Mom," who am I to judge? It's still great power pop. They're due for a new album, too; sure, we had Plates last summer, but comprised mostly of rarities and previously unreleased tracks, it barely counts.

Guster
Albums in release: 4
Albums I own: 4 (one burned)
Safe status: 9 out of 10. Six months ago they would have been a ten out of ten easily, but the failure of "Manifest Destiny/Sorority Tears" to yet grow on me has me a little worried. This is a band that's managed to put out four albums where I enjoy every single track on all of them, no mean feat, so they have the benefit of the doubt for now, but we'll see how things go after Ganging Up on the Sun, or whatever it ends up being called, comes out.

The Long Winters
Albums in release: 2
Albums I own: 2, plus the Ultimatum EP
Safe status: 7 out of 10. "The Commander Thinks Aloud" is amazing, and "Ultimatum" is growing on me, but the EP wasn't as great overall as I might've hoped. The safety status on this list is more or less dependent on whether the forthcoming album sounds more like When I Pretend to Fall or Ultimatum, though the latter wouldn't result in an immediate boot.

The New Pornographers
Albums in release: 3
Albums I own: 3
Safe status: 10 out of 10. In September I might have told you differently, but Twin Cinema gets better with every listen.

The Shins
Albums in release: 2
Albums I own: 2
Safe status: 9 out of 10. The Shins are an interesting case because their first two albums are really very different sounding pieces of work, and I like one much more than the other (not that Oh, Inverted World isn't great, it's just not Chutes Too Narrow). Usually bands don't regress to earlier sounds, though, so hopefully the future prognosis is good, unless they evolve in some further weird direction.

Snow Patrol
Albums in release: 3
Albums I own: 3
Safe status: 8 out of 10. Final Straw is one of my favorite albums of the past five years, though I don't spin it nearly as much as I did when I first got it. Their older two albums are more scattershot and have lesser production, but the massive improvement onto Final Straw suggests we can expect more of that going forward.

That's pretty much it in the "guaranteed lock" category at this point, though there are a number of other artists where I own an album or two and would probably at least strongly consider picking up a new release. But I probably wouldn't rush right out like I would for these ten. There are also some artists who have gotten the boot over the years, including:

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (after the Last DJ fiasco)
Weird Al Yankovic (I guess it's kind of sad he was ever on there at all, but Poodle Hat ended it)
Fastball (I'm still lukewarm on Keep Your Wig On)
Five for Fighting (The Battle for Everything, with the exception of "100 Years," tries far too hard)
Something Corporate (they're teetering on the edge right now; part of this will depend on whether they actually do anything again and how mature it is if so)
Weezer (I find half their stuff on recent albums to be unlistenable, which is a shocking turn from my attitude toward their first three LPs)

Anyway, that's that. Quick basketball thoughts:

*What a finish to the Texas/WVU game! Shades of Jared West, though things didn't work out nearly as well for West Virginia in this game as that one (1998 second round, for those who are totally baffled by the reference). But how often do you see the double buzzer-beater? Might be the game of the tournament so far.

*Although Gonzaga/UCLA must be a contender too. Epic collapse for the Zags there - a double-digit lead for most of the game, and then they score just two points in the final five minutes while UCLA puts up the last 11. Woof.

*Not to pile on Duke - although why not! - but it has to be said: J.J. Redick was a great college talent, but he has to be considered one of the worst big-game players among his generation of college stars. Just a real train wreck in this one, but then Duke as a whole seemed to get a real case of uniform tightness down at the end. Four guys to one and you can't rebound a free throw because you're too busy staring at it? Just bad, bad play; they really earned that loss.

*Can we skip the five-year waiting period and just induct John Brady into the Bad Mustache Hall of Fame right now? It looks like he drew it on, for crying out loud!