Need Advice On....

where to start with Galaxie 500 and The Mekons??

either On Fire or Today for Galaxie 500, the video compilation of Plexifilm is a worthy buy as well. That features an interview with the band, and they reveal that their producer, Kramer, hated the songCeremony and New Order as well....even though he winds up playing the song live with them in the Club Lingerie set on the disc.

As for Mekons, there's only been three people on this board who've been big fans: the inimitable Martin Gray, the missing Boro man Hugh Mickle, and moi. Fear And Whiskey is the starting point for being the fathers of "alt-country" (whatever the hell that is really, I would have to imagine that Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar were fans of the Mekons before starting Uncle Tupelo)....but The Edge Of The World, Journey To The End Of The Night, So Good It Hurts, and Rock 'n' Roll are all great. My personal fave is Honky Tonkin' though, the four (!) lead singers each have a go (or three) on some suitably rough approximations of country/punk, with fiddle accompaniment. 2001's Out Of Our Heads is a nice allegorical album for these times as well.