Just one shopping month left until my birthday! Y’all know I love music, to the point that I have a separate Amazon wishlist for music only. Ahem.

• Sandra McCracken’s Red Balloon. When you’re friends, you get advance copies.
  
• Nirvana’s In Utero.
  
• Jackopierce’s Promise of Summer. This is a NoiseTrade success—wouldn’t have bought this album without listening to the EP. So, if you’re interested … get the EP at the end of the post.
  
• 3 Feb 2006 [Las Vegas, NV, USA] concert bootleg of Coldplay. I’m done with them now. 2006-02-03: MGM Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
  
• 26 Oct 2007 [New York, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. 2007-10-26: Highline Ballroom, New York, NY, USA (disc 1) and 2007-10-26: Highline Ballroom, New York, NY, USA (disc 2).
  
• 17 Jul 2008 [London, England] concert bootleg of Death Cab for Cutie.
  
• 26 Jul 2008 [Anchorage, AK, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. 2008-07-26: The Moose's Tooth, Anchorage, AK, USA (disc 1) and 2008-07-26: The Moose's Tooth, Anchorage, AK, USA (disc 2).
  

Last week:

• Blind Faith’s eponymous album. It’s a shame that Windwood, Baker, and Clapton couldn’t co-exist. Three-and-a-half stars.
  
• Lenny Kravitz’s It Is Time for a Love Revolution. Starts off with a bang, and then … mellows. Three stars overall.
  
• Matthew Perryman Jones’s Swallow the Sea. I have sadly not given this album the time that it deserves this week, but a copy will go in my car for my Labor Day driving. But from the first few listens, it gets four-and-a-half stars.
  
• 20 Jul 1995 [Nashville, TN, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. Sometimes, the sound guy needs to get shot. This is one of those times. Two stars.
  
• 20 Apr 2004 [Minneapolis, MN, USA] concert bootleg of M. Ward, Jim James, and Conor Oberst. Matt started his set with a harmonica, which is a sure-fire way to have me love it. [I have yet to understand my affinity for the instrument, but it's undeniable.] Matt’s set is pretty much everything you’d expect from a 2004-era show. As usual, Jim James’s stuff confounds me—I just don’t grok it, for whatever reason. Conor Oberst’s set mostly bored me. Two-and-a-half stars overall.
  
• 18 Nov 2006 [Dayton, OH, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. The taper noted that the distortion errors are present in both the SBD and AUD sources. SOUNDBOARD FAIL. Two stars.
  
• 1 Aug 2008 [Sugar Land, TX, USA] concert bootleg of Andy Gullahorn. Great recording from Jim, who hosted the show. Great performance by Gully. Fun times. Four stars.
  

And again … here’s that JP EP:

I’m swimming in new studio releases, so I’m going from two studio / five bootlegs to three studio / four bootlegs for the forseeable future …

• Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. BMG finally decided that they weren’t shipping this to me, so I bought it on Amazon. Feh.
  
• The Cardigans’ Super Extra Gravity. Part of the binge I went on lately was filling out my Cardigans discography.
  
• Coldplay’s Viva La Vida.
  
• 25 Oct 1997 [Utica, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Blues Traveler. 1997-10-25: Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, NY, USA (disc 1), 1997-10-25: Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, NY, USA (disc 2), and 1997-10-25: Utica Memorial Auditorium, Utica, NY, USA (disc 3).
  
• 1 Sep 2007 [Denver, CO, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. 2007-09-01: The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO, USA (disc 1) and 2007-09-01: The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO, USA (disc 2).
  
• 26 Apr 2008 [Dayton, OH, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. 2008-04-26: Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH, USA (disc 1) and 2008-04-26: Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH, USA (disc 2).
  
• 27 May 2008 [Milan, Italy] concert bootleg of Feist. 2008-05-27: Magazzini Generali, Milan, Italy
  

Last week:

• Radiohead’s In Rainbows. Admittedly, I’ve never really gotten into Radiohead, the way Amy’s never gotten into Wilco. But I really liked this one. Four stars.
  
• Angels & Airwaves’ I-Empire. I was fully prepared to hate it, but it was merely okay. There are some decent moments, but it feels too … processed and commercial … for my tastes. Two-and-a-half stars.
  
• 18 Jul 1990 [New York, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Uncle Tupelo. A fun, fun listen from a by-gone era. Three stars.
  
• 4 Aug 1997 [Atlanta, GA, USA] concert bootleg of Counting Crows. I’m always tempted to give old recordings a break when I review them, but at the end of the day, well, if I rate them too highly, then I’ll have to listen to them too often in iTunes. [I listen to iTunes nearly exclusively in Party Shuffle mode.] This sounds like a bad FM radio broadcast from just slightly out of the coverage area—treble-heavy, static-y, and generally plain bad. One-and-a-half stars, but only because it’s Adam Duritz in his good years.
  
• 6 Jul 2002 [Bushnell, IL, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. I’m impressed that a six-year-old bootleg sounds this good. This is exactly how an AUD should sound, to my ears—a faithful representation of how the room sounded. Given that this took place under a tent at Cornerstone, it’s all the more impressive. Jeff, if you did record this, you deserve kudos, sir. Four stars.
  
• 16 Oct 2007 [Montréal, QC, Canada] concert bootleg of Spoon. Sadly, the recording is distant and indistinct. Two stars.
  
• 2 Mar 2008 [Nashville, TN, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. Freakin’ Ryman and their no-recording rules. No wonder this recording stinks. One-and-a-half stars. [Seriously, I hate the Ryman for that. It's all stealth rigs. Nazis.]
  

Surprisingly, I was able to hold out on listening to The Weepies’ new record until this week, despite having it Tuesday. Discipline, or something.

• The Weepies’ Hideaway.
  
• Carole King’s Tapestry (Legacy Edition). You can blame this one on me watching lots of Gilmore Girls episodes.
  
• 18 Feb 1997 [Ottawa, ON, Canada] concert bootleg of Wilco. 1997-02-18: The Cave, Ottawa, ON, Canada (disc 1) and 1997-02-18: The Cave, Ottawa, ON, Canada (disc 2).
• 26 Aug 2005 [Lexington, KY, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. 2005-08-26: The Dame, Lexington, KY, USA (disc 1) and 2005-08-26: The Dame, Lexington, KY, USA (disc 2).
• 15 Mar 2008 [Austin, TX, USA] concert bootleg of M. Ward and Jim James. 2008-03-15: St. David's Church, Austin, TX, USA and 2008-03-15: St. David's Church, Austin, TX, USA.
  
• 4 Apr 2008 [Dyersburg, TN, USA] concert bootleg of Derek Webb. Really happy with the ability to do SBD-AUD matrixes now. 2008-04-04: Dyersburg State Community College, Dyersburg, TN, USA.
  
• 4 Apr 2008 [Dyersburg, TN, USA] concert bootleg of Caedmon’s Call. This one took a lot of work, because my feeds got slightly out of sync from time to time during the set, so I continually had to monitor for sync issues. Worth doing, though. I’ve got some ideas of how I’ll do that better next time. Could’ve spent more time mastering it, too. Ah well. 2008-04-04: Dyersburg State Community College, Dyersburg, TN, USA (disc 1) and 2008-04-04: Dyersburg State Community College, Dyersburg, TN, USA (disc 2).
  

Last week was good in the studio spots, meh otherwise:

• Deb Talan’s Something Burning. Unlike with her husband, I liked her sophomore release much better. This is good, but the melody is better on the next record. Two-and-a-half stars.
  
• Deb Talan’s A Bird Flies Out. Lots and lots of fun here. Three-and-a-half stars.
  
• 11 Jan 1997 [Chicago, IL, USA] concert bootleg of Jeff Tweedy. Pretty standard Tweedy solo fare of that era; nothing special. Two-and-a-half stars. The fun bit for me is the cover of “Thirteen”, which I’m used to hearing Elliott Smith do.
  
• 7 Jul 1999 [Stuttgart, Germany] concert bootleg of Wilco. Very meh. Two stars.
  
• 12 Aug 2002 [New York, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Coldplay. Sounds thin and reedy. Two-and-a-half stars.
  
• 25 Jun 2005 [Chicago, IL, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. Good mics, well-implemented. Feels sluggish, but that’s because the performance is slow and muted. Sometimes when OtR goes this way, it’s really cool, like listening to jazz with a good glass of $alcohol [I'd say wine, but I don't drink wine], and sometimes, it’s like this, just a tad too mellow. Three-and-a-half stars.
• 17 Apr 2006 [Toronto, ON, Canada] concert bootleg of Death Cab for Cutie. Sadly, an audience rig not up to the task. Two stars.

In honor of The Weepies’ Hideaway coming out this week, I’ll finish my tour through Deb and Steve’s solo catalogue this week:

• Deb Talan’s Something Burning.
  
• Deb Talan’s A Bird Flies Out.
  
• 11 Jan 1997 [Chicago, IL, USA] concert bootleg of Jeff Tweedy. 1997-01-11: Lounge Ax, Chicago, IL, USA (disc 1) and 1997-01-11: Lounge Ax, Chicago, IL, USA (disc 2).
  
• 7 Jul 1999 [Stuttgart, Germany] concert bootleg of Wilco. 1999-07-07: Roehre, Stuttgart, Germany (disc 1) and 1999-07-07: Roehre, Stuttgart, Germany (disc 2).
  
• 12 Aug 2002 [New York, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Coldplay. 2002-08-12: Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, USA (disc 1) and 2002-08-12: Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, USA (disc 2).
  
• 25 Jun 2005 [Chicago, IL, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. 2005-06-25: Schuba's Tavern, Chicago, IL, USA (disc 1) and 2005-06-25: Schuba's Tavern, Chicago, IL, USA (disc 2).
• 17 Apr 2006 [Toronto, ON, Canada] concert bootleg of Death Cab for Cutie. 2006-04-17: Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto, ON, Canada

Last week was brief due to technical difficulties:

• Steve Tannen’s Big Señorita. I wished that I’d started here. Steve’s first effort is pretty good. What’s the old line: you have all your life to write your first album, and nine months to write the second? Anyhow, three-and-a-half stars.