MUSICAL NOTES

I made a great discovery this week. Jason Falkner has a new album coming out; in fact, it was released in Japan this past week. There isn't a domestic release date nailed down just yet but you can head over to his MySpace to hear three tracks from I'm OK You're OK. It's been way too long since we've had new music from him - the Bliss Descending EP came out in 2003! Welcome back, Jason.

Word came out the other week that Jason Isbell and Drive-By Truckers were parting ways. That's depressing news. I first came to Drive-By Truckers with The Dirty South, so even though I've gotten all their albums I still think of them as the three-headed songwriting/guitar attack of Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and Jason Isbell. In fact, Isbell's songs have been some of my favorites on the last three albums - "Outfit," "Decoration Day," "Danko/Manuel," "Goddamn Lonely Love," "Easy on Yourself," and "Daylight" are all fantastic. Of course, I love Hood and Cooley too and I know that they write enough songs to fill DBT albums by themselves. And even though it won't be the DBT I fell in love with, Isbell has a solo album, Sirens of the Ditch, coming out in July (some tracks here). I was already planning on buying it even before this news. I also think things can't be that bad, since Jason's wife Shonna is still part of the band (she plays bass). The end of an era, though.

As for music I've bought recently, I am absolutely in love with the new Kings of Leon, Because of the Times. It is rockin' and it is eclectic and it just sounds amazing. It has also given me a new appreciation for their debut (which I bought when it came out), Youth and Young Manhood, and makes me want to go out and get their second album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, which I missed (in fact, I might go get it today). This is one you must own, people.

Other albums still high in my rotation...

The Broken West/I Can't Go On I'll Go On
Arcade Fire/Neon Bible
Ted Leo + Pharmacists/Living With The Living
Fountains of Wayne/Traffic and Weather