feasts for the musical palate

Periodically -- about twice a year -- I go on a music binge. This usually coincides with my three-pay-periods-in-a-month month, which also happens twice a year. Handy, eh?

So once every six months I troll Amazon for my favorite artists, or scope out Amazon's recommendations, or pick my way through recommendations from friends, and give myself eyestrain scanning album and track titles, and reading over editorial and listener reviews. I give my brain the equivalent of a stomachache from listening to the hors d'oeuvre offered by the sample playlist bytes. I take notes. I jot down promising-sounding albums and artists. I muse over the handwritten list, evaluate the expenses, cull a great many of them, settle on five or six, add them to my cart, and then spend weeks in breathless anticipation waiting for those beautiful media mail envelopes to bring me my treasures from the hands of the overly taciturn mailman, colored with anxieties never yet fulfilled that my neighbors will steal them before I get home (I should start sending these things to my work address, but I'll have to verify it with Boss-Man first to make sure it's okay).

The last six months have seen me dive even deeper into my bluegrassy-country-indie tastes, and I decided to risk a headache and forge through the long, long list of accomplishments by Emmylou Harris to select the albums I think I'd prefer. (I settled on one to start with.) I also decided to broaden my appreciation for Ryan Adams by an album or three.

But by far the most exciting find is that one of my ultimate favorites, Josh Ritter, is releasing a new album in ten days. I preordered that baby faster than you can say "whistle." I've been checking the web hopefully for the last YEAR looking to see if he's put out anything new. And the reviews are good. (I lurve him.)

So, if anyone is interested, and even if anyone isn't, here's my Summer 2007 Music Spree to date:

1. Easy Tiger, Ryan Adams (2007);
2. Jacksonville City Nights, Ryan Adams (2005);
3. Heartbreaker, Ryan Adams (2000) (v. bluegrassy);
4. Roses in the Snow, Emmylou Harris (1980, rereleased 2002) (one of her most bluegrassy);
5. Hello Starling, Josh Ritter (2003);
6. The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, Josh Ritter (2007).

All of this puts me in the mood for The Golden Age of Radio.