Three dollars and 63 cents

I wanted to like that so much more than I did. She did a great job of researching, and everything felt so authentic, especially everything about the animals, but the book fell flat to me in some really basic ways, like because of clunky dialogue and cliches. I'm about to head to bed and pick up with the "Zooey" section of Salinger's Franny and Zooey

Here, too, unfortunately. The better of our two independent shops will likely be closed by the middle of next month, and the other has such a limited stock that I'm skeptical they'll even carry the DVD. There's only one other store in a two-hour radius from me that's participating in Record Store Day, so I may end up ordering it online anyway, even though I'd much rather buy it from an independent shop.

Wilcoworld has this for pre-order. The DVD is $15, and the DVD and a tote bag is $20. Plus, you can get the 2009 calendar for $10 if you pre-order the DVD. I hate ordering stuff from their store, though, because the shipping is so expensive. The calendar, DVD, and tote bag would cost $8 to ship, which seems like a lot to me.

In the last year, Chicago has gotten (off the top of my head) five Wilco shows, a set at Lollapalooza, at least four shows from Jeff, at least two shows by Nels, a few Autumn Defense shows, and at least one show by Glenn. And that's just in the city--the band, Jeff, Nels, and Glenn all had shows within a relatively easy driving distance. Yeah, that's a real lack. What I think some Chicago fans forget is that they've got fans all over the place, and they really do try to get to places where they haven't been recently, or to places that don't get a lot of shows. And unless you know something t

That right there is a pretty album cover. From what I've heard about this, I'm looking forward to hearing it. It's strange (and awesome) that pretty much all of my favorite artists have already released an album this year or have one scheduled for release fairly soon.

The chorus of Breathe reminds me a lot of Window In the Skies.

I've read the one about Daydream Nation. The author is a zealous SY fan and gushes a little more than I would've liked, but once I got past that, I did learn some things about the band and the album. The part about Lee Ranaldo's literary influences was especially interesting to me, and it helped me to realize why his songs tend to be my favorites.

You know, at this point in their career, I'm surprised U2 hasn't tried making an album without a producer. They've certainly produced a lot of great work under the guidance of Eno and Lanois and Steve Lillywhite, but I'd like to see them ditch the security blanket and try the process on their own.

I'm not sure this is really Adam's album. I made an hour and fifteen minute drive on Friday and listened to the whole album on the way and back. No matter how much I readjusted my graphic equalizer on my car stereo, I couldn't hear the bass as clearly as I'm used to hearing it on U2 albums. Listening to Achtung Baby this morning and hearing the killer bass lines there made me realize that even more. The album is a lot more sonically ambitious than their last few, and I feel like Larry and the Edge's playing stands out a lot more than Adam's. When I read interviews with Bono, I know at least

Nels Cline--Coward John Coltrane--A Love Supreme Andrew Bird--Useless Creatures

The Aught Nots?

So far today: U2--Achtung Baby Yankee Hotel Foxtrot John Coltrane--The Ultimate Blue Train The Nels Cline Singers--Instrumentals Evangelista--Hello, Voyager

Slash?

One of my very favorite album covers, too.

You beat me to it, Brianne. As goofy as it is, though, it shows what a good label Cryptogramophone is. They could've pulled what Fat Possum did with the deluxe edition of Andrew Bird's new album and said that it wasn't their fault the packaging wasn't constructed well, but they didn't. To anyone who doesn't have this album yet, get it. It's a real treat. And if the CD tray does fall out, you'll know exactly how to fix it! Also, since I can't remember if I posted it anywhere else yet, Nels will be playing at the Stone in New York at 10 p.m. Sunday, May 10.

I've been listening to a 21-song Andrew Bird mix, in honor of the fact that I caved and spent too much on a ticket to see him in Philadelphia in June

I think we've already posted all these shows, but if not, here's a bulletin from Pronto's Myspace page:

Thanks everybody!

I bought Rolling Stone the other day for the first time in maybe five years. It's even worse than it was when I stopped my subscription. I really don't like the smaller format, either. It makes everything seem sort of squished.

Wilco: 9 The Nels Cline Singers: 9 Bob Dylan: 5 U2: 5 Ryan Adams (w/ and w/o the Cardinals): 3 Willie Nelson: 3