Last week while in Houston, I discovered that Kill Rock Stars had put out a new compilation of Elliott Smith’s recordings, stuff that had been lying around in boxes. Needless to say, I bought it very quickly after that discovery. It is the new release that balances my bootleg bonanza this week:

• Elliott Smith’s New Moon.
  
• 11 Mar 1999 [Chicago, IL, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco.
• 24 Jan 2003 [New York, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Elliott Smith.
• 20 Feb 2006 [DeKalb, IL, USA] concert bootleg of Jeff Tweedy.
• 31 Oct 2006 [Santa Monica, CA, USA] concert bootleg of Beck.
• 8 May 2007 [Chicago, IL, USA] concert bootleg of M. Ward.
• 10 May 2007 [Santa Monica, CA, USA] concert bootleg of Feist.

Last week was above the average of what I’ve been running. [Yes, I'm weary of all the bootlegs myself, but I'm working them off so that I can ease up a bit. And it's quite certain that forcing myself to listen to all these bootlegs makes me more judicious in grabbing new stuff. Except, well, I'm a completionist, so that's hard.]

• Alli Rogers’s Always Eden. I was a bit skeptical, as this is a record that’s been re-released after a remastering. But it sounds really good. Three-and-a-half stars.
  
• 18 May 1997 [Boulder, CO, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. This is a great-sounding show. Four stars.
• 11 Feb 2006 [San Diego, CO, USA] concert bootleg of Jeff Tweedy. It’s a solid-but-unspectacular show. Three stars.
• 16 Apr 2007 [Brisbane, Australia] concert bootleg of Wilco. It’s a good-but-not-great recording. Three stars.
• 30 Apr 2007 [Raleigh, NC, USA] concert bootleg of Andrew Osenga. Short but sweet. Four stars.
• 30 Apr 2007 [Raleigh, NC, USA] concert bootleg of Derek Webb. Neil rocked the house with this recording. Four stars.
• 30 Apr 2007 [Raleigh, NC, USA] concert bootleg of Sandra McCracken. Sandra sounds great here as well. Four stars.