Robert Christgau Word of the Day

fet·tle n.
1. a. Proper or sound condition. b. Mental or emotional state; spirits: was in fine fettle.
2. Metallurgy. Loose sand or ore used to line the hearth of a reverberatory furnace in preparation for pouring molten metal. (dictionary.reference.com)

Pere Ubu Cloudland [1989, Fontana]
"We'd never been asked to write a pop record before," David Thomas says. "I guess it never occurred to anyone." Thomas was happy to oblige. No private visions of decaying cityscape, just equally obscure (and evocative) love songs, down on their knees to rhyme with please. Produced mostly out of Ubu's old Ohio home, then smoothed down and hooked up in London, their signature avant-garage survives with its stop-and-go effects and unsalable recitative in fine fettle. If you're a fan, the six Stephen Hague-produced or Daniel Miller-remixed cuts will sound misbegotten at first. But if you're really a fan, you'll come to recognize them as the urban pastoral of Thomas's whimsical period adapted for the cheap seats, which deserve the attention. A- (www.robertchristgau.com)