Sadly, I am no longer on vacation. :sigh: Ehh, I’m actually ready to go back tomorrow. I’m recharged and ready to go. [Would I take two more weeks off? Sure.] With a new week, let’s bring out the new music:

• Patty Griffin’s Children Running Through.
  
• The Decemberists’ The Crane Wife.
  
• 9 Oct 1987 [Syracuse, NY, USA] concert bootleg of U2.
• 5 Apr 1999 [Columbus, OH, USA] concert bootleg of Elliott Smith.
• 4 Jul 1999 [Milwaukee, WI, USA] concert bootleg of Collective Soul.
• 24 Feb 2007 [Barrington, IL, USA] concert bootleg of Jeff Tweedy.
• 30 Jun 2007 [Toronto, ON, Canada] concert bootleg of Wilco.

Last week:

• The Delgados’ Universal Audio. This is another album that I picked up wholly because of a track played on Steven Garrity’s Acts of Volition Radio, specifically Session 27, which played “Keep On Breathing“. Thanks, Steven, for this. Again. One of these years, I’m coming up to Charlottetown to buy you a beer. Four stars.
  
• 13 Apr 1997 [London, England] concert bootleg of Wilco. It’s a good recording for Wilco in that era. I’m not the biggest fan of that era, so I only give this three stars.
• 23 Feb 1999 [Seattle, WA, USA] concert bootleg of Elliott Smith. Sadly, the taping rig was not up to the quality of the show. Two-and-a-half stars, purely for the performance—four for Elliott, one for the taper, a 2.5 average.
• 13 Nov 2005 [Northampton, MA, USA] concert bootleg of Jeff Tweedy. Jeff is really good when he warms up to a crowd, and he really did mid-show here, from the banter after “Blasting Fonda” through “Gun” and all the way through “I Can’t Keep From Talking”. And then he brings out Glenn, and … well, that always rules, because Glenn is frickin’ amazing. Three-and-a-half stars.
• 9 May 2006 [Seattle, WA, USA] concert bootleg of Son Volt. Unlike its older brother, this Showbox show does not disappoint. Three-and-a-half stars.
• 12 Jun 2007 [New York, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Feist. A confession here: I typically don’t download bootlegs if I don’t already own an album from the artist. You might find that weird, but for me, I usually don’t enjoy a live show as much if I don’t know what I’m getting into going into it. The only Feist I own was from a PASTE music sampler, and … well, let’s just say that after this show, I put Feist’s last two albums into my Amazon buying queue. MAN. Four-and-a-half stars.
• 25 Jun 2007 [New York, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. A very good recording of a great concert. Even as jaded as I am about Wilco shows at this point, I still really enjoyed this one. Four stars.