Hardly any point in trying to add to Philip Sherberne's excellent analysis of Jamie Liddell's Jim - Sherberne has stuff to say about Liddell's growth as an artist, but I didn't get to know Liddell until December of '06, when I saw him play a set in Tasmania, of all places: I was completely knocked over by his visible, audible, palpable love for his music & the making of it & the communal experience made possible by it. My inconsequential two cents' worth, for what they're worth: one thing pop music is good for is remembering that somewhere inside us is the potential for unvanquishable joy: clearing a space for that remembering, broadening that space. Jamie Liddell's present project seems to be focused on illuminating that joy-containing space, hanging signs that point toward it. Consequently, the album-opener, "Another Day," is absolutely the most perfect song for putting on first thing in the morning that I have heard in ages: that piano! that melody! (I should probably confess that "Mouth Breather" by the Jesus Lizard also strikes me as a fabulous wake-up number, but don't let that give you the wrong idea.) The rest of the album is as good. It went directly to the year's-best list. Nobody who wants or needs the affirmation of goodness that great pop music can sometimes give should put off hearing this record for long.