Compressors?

[The Man Himself <altruist@shoko.CALARTS.EDU>]

'Lo folks --

I'm in the market for a compressor, and was wondering what you could
recommend.  I'm intending to use it before any processing, and have it in
mind primarily to even out levels for the Echoplex and to reign in the
dynamic peaks that result from the EBow, so mono is fine.  I'm also
interested in messing with compression for its own sake. 

So I'd be interested in hearing what you all recommend.  I've tried the 
famous TC and was mightily impressed, but I can't count on being able to 
find one.  I'm interested in the Alesis NanoCompressor, which is both 
cost-efficient and (by the looks of things) very well-equipped, though I 
haven't tried one yet.

Any suggestions as far as what items I should check out will be greatly 
appreciated.  Sorry if this taxes the bounds of topicality,

--Andre