3.1.13
Let's go ahead and get my recommendations for this month's list of 100 MP3 albums for $5 from Amazon out of the way. A couple of solid must-haves this month in The Police's Outlandos D'Amour and The Strokes' Is This It, and a few more worth considering: Thao's We Brave Bee Stings and All, the Black Keys' Thickfreakness, Hot Chip's In Our Heads, and Neutral Milk Hotel's On Avery Island.

There are a bunch I'm considering purchasing this month, too: Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, John Mellencamp's Uh-Huh, Daft Punk's Human After All, Steve Earle's Copperhead Road, and Childish Gambino's Camp (Childish Gambino is the hip hop persona for Community actor Donald Glover).

3.4.13
I didn't end up buying the $5 MP3 version of John Mellencamp's Uh-Huh, but I did end up with that album (along with American Fool and The Lonesome Jubilee) due to the same weirdness with Amazon's physical vs. digital pricing structure that led me to purchase four Cars albums last month: it was just as cheap to buy the CD versions, and because they were all part of the AutoRip service, I was also able to download the MP3 copies immediately.

I also ended up buying a few MP3 albums from the $5 choices: Steve Earle's Copperhead Road, Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, and Childish Gambino's Camp. Still on the fence about the Daft Punk selection——I know it's a classic that was hugely influential on a lot of the electronica-inspired artists from the first decade of this century who I'm into, but I just haven't been able to warm up to it.

3.5.13
Prior to my recent purchase of American Fool, Uh-Huh, and The Lonesome Jubilee, the only John Mellencamp album I had ever owned (first on cassette and then on CD) was Scarecrow. I was certainly familiar with his hit singles from these other records, but I never ended up buying the albums, so I considered Scarecrow to be his best work both because it was a really great record and also because I had no real points of comparison.

The three just-purchased records wrap around Scarecrow to make a sequence of four albums that is the best stretch of recording in Mellencamp's career, starting with American Fool, then Uh-Huh, then Scarecrow, and finally The Lonesome Jubilee. After getting to know them a little bit, it's clear that Jubilee is the weakest of the bunch and the signal that the best work of his career had probably already come and gone, and that, despite having some great singles, American Fool was the beginning of him truly finding his voice.

Uh-Huh is now in contention with Scarecrow for his best album, however, and while I still might give the edge to Scarecrow, that could change and I could call it a straight tie as I get to know Uh-Huh better. It's less overtly political than Scarecrow, but it still touches on the political themes that would become more prominent on the later disc.

3.6.13
When I finished purchasing all these new records, I thought I would spend the most time with Michael Jackson's Off the Wall, but although I started with that one, I didn't even make it through the disc once before I turned my attention to the John Mellencamp material. After that, however, I moved on to Childish Gambino (the hip hop alter ego of actor Donald Glover), the most whimsical of my purchases and the one I expected the least from, but it stayed as the only record in rotation for a few days.

Camp doesn't break any real new ground, but it's a lot better than I thought it would be, and despite some fairly rote aggressive boast raps (which, given his comedy background, could also been seen as satire of that form), it's very listenable. It doesn't break any new ground, but it's one of those very intimate discs like Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon or Frank Ocean's Nostalgia, Ultra. where you really feel like you're getting to know the person behind the microphone (although to be very clear, Camp does not hold up muscially to those two records).

My favorite track is the title track, "Camp", which also happens to close out the record, and which concludes with a spoken word story (over a beat, of course) about Glover's first love, a summer camp romance that ended in humiliation. His comedy background works really well as he tries on different rap and hip hop styles (it makes me wonder why there hasn't been more crossover between these two media given how both require you to have a deep core of humor, be good with words, and be quick on your feet), but it's those moments of sincerity that stick with you and make you want to listen again.

3.7.13
When I was purchasing the John Mellencamp CDs, I also preordered a bunch of stuff that's coming out soon and picked up Atoms for Peace's AMOK. Atoms for Peace is a collaboration between Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist Flea, Radiohead producer Nigel Goodrich, and drummer Joey Waronker, who has worked with R.E.M. and Beck.

To me this record is an extension of Thom Yorke's first solo album, Eraser, and Radiohead's most recent release, The King of Limbs, which was heavily influened by Eraser. This makes sense, because the way this group of musicians came together was as the backing live band for Thom Yorke when he toured behind Eraser. It still sounds very much like a Thom Yorke solo effort, but Flea's presence is noticeable (in a good way), and it's a more immediately engaging record than Eraser or King of Limbs (the former of which I liked pretty well and the latter of which took a long time to grow on me, but eventually did).

I'm not sure how often I'll return to it given all the other music I've just purchased (I haven't listened to Steve Earle's Copperhead Road at all and I haven't made it all the way through Off the Wall yet) and with all the other releases that coming up in the next month, but I have positive feelings about it, and I'll definitely return to it at some point to get to know it better.

3.8.13
Uh-Huh also contains the most surprising discovery of my exploration of these newly acquired John Mellencamp records: "Jackie O", which I'm guessing rounded out side one of the vinyl version. It's a strange little bossa nova number that's also a collaboration with influential singer-songwriter John Prine, and it might well be the oddest thing I've ever heard from Mellencamp.

This track wouldn't be out of place in an airport lounge in the 70s, and it should be out of place here, but somehow it totally works, reminding me very much of the unexpected excursions like "Paper Moon" that Whiskeytown took on Pneumonia. It might even tually be the thing that gives Uh-Huh the edge over Scarecrow, because it's just so out of left field that it adds a different kind of depth to the record.

3.11.13
If anyone is to look back on the blog years and years from now searching for my year-end best-of lists, they're likely to think that they don't exist, simply because even in a good year I don't get around to posting those until February, and several times I've bled over into March.

But never April. At least not yet.

3.12.13
In my revisiting of the Smiths catalogue over the past couple of weeks, there are really only two songs that made it onto American album releases that I would consider duds. First is the preachy and irritating title track from Meat Is Murder; second is "Golden Lights", a cover song with ridiculous production effects that, annoying as they are, probably help mask the weakness of the song underneath.

"Oscillate Wildly", an instrumental track, comes close to making this list, and while it's definitely a throwaway (Morrissey refused to write lyrics for it, although he did come up with the title), it's not at the level of badness of the other two.

That's probably a better ratio than any band in existence, especially because Louder Than Bombs includes a lot of songs that were originally released as b-sides in England.

3.13.13
Man, I miss having Merriweather Post Pavillion nearby. There are some great shows coming there in the next few months (the National, the Postal Service, Belle & Sebastian, and a festival that includes Passion Pit, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Phoenix), and there are many of them that aren't venturing anywhere near Atlanta. I have such fond memories of the Belle & Sebastian show I saw there (on a great headlining slot on a bill that included Ted Leo and Broken Social Scene) that I've half-considered flying or driving back just for their concert.

3.14.13
I didn't hear anything by Steve Earle until 1997's El Corazon, an album that gained popularity in the indie/alt rock scene in the wake of the early 1990s No Depression movement which saw alt country groups like Uncle Tupelo (and its offshoots, Wilco and Son Volt), the Old 97s, and Whiskeytown among many others (and who were themselves building on a less defined movement to combine country with rock and punk in the 1980s that included the Long Ryders, Jason and the Scorchers, EIEIO, the Rainmakers, and to some extent England's Mekons).

I loved El Corazon, liked its follow up Transcendental Blues (I'm skipping The Mountain because I see that more as a purposeful foray into bluegrass and not a typical Steve Earle album) slightly less, and enjoyed albums from other artists from Earle's E-Squared label (like the V-Roys and Cheri Knight) from around the same time, and so when I saw Earle's acclaimed 1986 debut, Guitar Town, in the used bin for $5, I took a chance that his material from a decade earlier was just as good as his current releases and bought it. I don't think I listened to it much, though——I don't know if it was the production or that the songs just didn't resonate with me, but it didn't hold my attention, and I decided that nothing of Earle's pre-El Corazon catalogue was likely to be worth my time.

As it turned out, I didn't buy any other records from Steve Earle and other E-Squared artists outside of that narrow period from 1997-2000 (except for a b-sides collection, Sidetracks, that Earle released in 2002), and having already ruled out his earlier material, I assumed that my music collection in regards to Earle's work was likely as complete as it was going to get.

But then I saw his 1988 album Copperhead Road for $5 on Amazon's monthly sale of 100 MP3 albums, and after listening to some samples, decided to buy it. To my great surprise, it reminds me not of the impressions I have of Guitar Town, which preceded it by only two years, but instead of El Corazon, which came nearly a decade later. It's every bit as good (and possibly better) as El Corazon, and it's making me have second thoughts about ignoring the three albums that came in between these two (and it greatly increases the chances that I'm going to give Guitar Town at least one more chance to make a good impression on me).

3.15.13
I finally finished the biography of the Smiths, A Light That Never Goes Out, and while it was a great read for a Smiths fan, it feels somehow unfinished, because it ends exactly when the Smiths as a formal entity did. There's so much more to their story that I still don't know that much about and would like to. I'd love it if this same writer tackled the solo careers of Marr and Morrissey, and also gave the details of post-Smiths turmoil that was only hinted at the in the book——like the lawsuits filed by Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce in the 1990s.

It was also somewhat despressing to realize that if the band had ever been able to agree on a manager, they might have weathered the storms that drove them apart a little better, and even if they weren't still around as a group today, they certainly could have made it through a few more albums and tours together. It' even more depressing that the reason they never had a manager was largely because of Morrissey, my idol for the latter half of my teen years, who on the whole comes off as the difficult diva whose self-centeredness is the root cause of all the band's problems.

Of course, Morrissey is also the only band member who did not participate in this project and give fresh interviews to the author, which means his hindsight point of view is absent, and that in itself reinforces what the other band members say about him——that he thought of himself as bigger than the rest of the group, and that he never valued the contributions of the musicians he worked with. To his credit, though, Marr is very benevolent towards his former songwriting partner, taking a lot of responsibility for the failings of the band even though it's clear from all of the other band insiders that many of those issues could almost solely be laid at the feet of Morrissey. Marr's biggest mistake may have been in letting Morrissey have his way even when it was clear that Morrissey was making a bad decision.

I don't think I'll move onto these immediately, but the author also provides a good future Smiths reading list with his bibliography, including one text that details the writing and recording process for every song in the Smiths' catalogue, which this book used sparingly as part of the overall narrative of the band, but which, as a diehard fan, I wanted more of.

3.18.13
Got the new Robyn Hitchcock, Love from London, over the weekend, and it's about what I have come to expect in this late phase of his career: a lot of solid, somewhat average songs, no real clunkers (although the dour "Harry's Song" is an odd choice for an opening track), and one or two great tracks.

The strongest (and most obvious candidate for a single) is track 2, "Be Still". This is the song I think he was trying to write for the entire Perspex Island record, his one real attempt at moving to Los Angeles and making a mainstream rock/pop record. (This isn't a criticism of "Be Still", because I've always believed that Hitchcock has the record in him——he was just trying a little too hard on Perspex Island.)

All in all, this record is not an entry point for newcomers (although "Be Still" might be)——it's really just for his existing fans. But I'm one of those, and I'm very happy that Robyn is still out there in the world, writing and performing and being weird.

3.18.13
I never disliked the Smiths' final studio album, Strangeways, Here We Come, but I always somehow felt like it was at the bottom of the list when I had to rank their releases. After reading about the recording process in A Light That Never Goes Out and listening to it again with fresh ears after a few years, it has definitely risen in my estimation. I don't know what that would mean in terms of the rankings——it's hard to imagine devaluing any of the other records just because Strangeways has gotten stronger——but if there was a space for it to move up in to, it definitely would have.

3.20.13
While I'm a little sad that Fiery Furnaces still appear to be on indefinite hiatus, having last released material in 2009, I'm very happy that Eleanor Friedberger is following up her great solo debut, Last Summer, with a second disc, Personal Record. Below you can listen to a track from it, "Stare at the Sun" (you can also download it from her web site in exchange for your email address):

This is fairly typical of an uptempo song from her, something she didn't indulge in that much on Last Summer. It reminds me a bit of "Tropical-Iceland" and "Sweet Spots" from the Fiery Furnaces catalogue, and that's not a bad thing.

3.21.13
I don't know if Marnie Stern's songs are getting more accessible or if they're just easier for me to initially digest the bigger the fan I become, but her new record, the adorably named Chronicles of Marnia, is amazing all the way through, and has been since my first listen. Usually there are a few songs I immediately love, a few more that grow on me, and a couple more that just don't take, but there's nothing I hear on Chronicles that stands out as weak track, and they are all very listenable from the first listen.

Of course, listenable for Marnie is a relative thing——I love her, but she's hardly one that I would go around pushing on just anyone. Her voice can be irritating, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who could never get past that, and her hyperkinetic guitar playing, though toned down some on this record, is also a permanent turn-off for some. But once I got into her world, I came to understand both of these things and understand what a truly unique voice she is.

I want to push her on you, but just be forewarned that, even though Chronicles is her most approachable record, those caveats still apply.

3.22.13
You know, instead of just waiting around for Frank Ocean to finish his new record, his record company could capitalize on his increasing visibility by doing a formal release of Nostalgia, Ultra. (which, as amazing as Channel Orange is, is hands down a better record than Channel Orange) or collecting his various unreleased tracks and put them on a compilation.

I'd personally vote for the latter, as this would contain new material for me, but Nostalgia, Ultra. is such a great record that it deserves a formal release, especially now that you can't download it from Ocean's web site anymore.

3.25.13
I've started listening to one of the local college radio stations on my brief ride to work every morning in an attempt to discover some new music, but it's been two weeks, and everything they play sounds EXACTLY the same. And it's not that good. I don't know if I'm listening with old man ears now, but I remember a lot more variety on college radio when I listened to it in my 20s, and I still like a lot of the stuff that makes the CMJ charts. But all they seem to play in the mornings on this station are poorly recorded, drone-y guitar noise rock, which I have limited tolerance for if it's not paired with some pop notions underneath.

3.26.13
When am I going to give up on the Strokes? First Impressions of Earth was the last decent record they made, and I think I'm a minority among fans of the Strokes' early work, who think that the good stuff stopped with Room on Fire or even Is This It.

I've only listened to their latest, Comedown Machine, once, but so far the two preview tracks, "All the Time" and "One Way Trigger" seem to be the strongest on the album, and I'm still pretty ambivalent about "One Way Trigger", so that tells you something about the rest of the album.

3.27.13
Still haven't been able to get through more than the first few pages of David Byrne's book How Music Works. It's strange: I'm a huge fan of his in some ways, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Love This Giant concert last year where he teamed with St. Vincent to play songs from their collaboration of the same name, but the album itself didn't turn out to be something I loved as much as I thought I would, and I've had real trouble even paying attention to it enough to rate all the tracks although I've listened to it with that express purpose at least ten times.

3.28.13
I thought Wavves' last full-length, King of the Beach, was a little too weird when I first heard it, but it really grew on me and I came to appreciate the experimentation. Add to that the solid (but stupidly named) Life Sux EP and Nathan Williams' recently oddly mesmerizing collaboration with Big Boi, "Shoes for Running", and I really had high hopes for Afraid of Heights.

It's not a bad album or anything, but I think I expected it to be a little stranger than it actually is——it sounds a lot more like the better-produced, poppier heir to Wavvves that I expected King of the Beach to be. I'm sure it's going to stick around in my playlist for a while, but it leaves less of a distinct impression and is more immediatley forgettable than its predecessor, and there's nothing quite as out of left field or earworm-y as "Shoes for Running".

3.29.13
Okay. So it's going to be April this year before I get around to last year's best-of lists. But I'll try to make it the first week of April at least.