This week, I am violating something that I said I wouldn’t do: mixing studio releases with bootlegs. I’d planned for this to be a bootleg week, but then I was able to score a copy of Chris Mason’s new EP, so … I’m mixing the two.

• 27 May 2006 [Boston, MA, USA] concert bootleg of Brandi Carlile. I grabbed this for my friend Brandi, and so I’ll listen to it for myself, too.
• 22 Aug 2006 [Nashville, TN, USA] concert bootleg of members of the Square Peg Alliance. I recorded it, and it’s awesome … but please don’t derive a cause-effect relationship there.
• Chris Mason’s Songs One Through Six.

Last week, I did the same thing, without really realizing it:

• 2006-08-19 [Columbus, MS, USA] concert bootleg of Caedmon’s Call. This sounds worse the more I listen to it. If the guys backstage hadn’t been such jerks—and as I believe Rick noted, what kind of a witness is it to be jerks to people who clearly have a purpose for being backstage before a show?!—I would have probably asked for a patch. I didn’t, and the recording sucks as a result. One-and-a-half stars.
• The Von Bondies’ Pawn Shoppe Heart. It’s just not my favorite, really. Two-and-a-half stars.
• M. Ward’s Transistor Radio. This is an album that I think I’ll come to really like, given time. Three stars for now.