Oh man, I need asbestos-lined shorts to keep my wallet from burning a hole through the Wranglers. Seriously, there's almost too much out there. I'm a little overwhelmed.

Erik Friedlander - Volac: Book of Angels, Vol. 8 (Tzadik)/Avant

Solo cello, through the compositional eyes of John Zorn. Yummy.

Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade (New West)/Country

The troubadour has adopted New York City as his hometown and this is a tribute of sorts. I've only heard "City Of Immigrants " with Allison Moorer (Earle's wife) on backing vocals. Tremendous, is what that one song is.

Bruce Eisnebeil Sextet - Inner Constellation, Vol. 1 (Nemu)/Jazz

It's almost impossible to do Eisenbeil's guitar sound justice with mere words. Trust me, you've never heard anything like this.

Groundtruther - Altitude (Thirsty Ear)/Jazz

I've been working on a review of this for a while now. The idea's a knocking around in my head. Let's just say that this is a big pile of "what the hell?!"

Manu Katche - Playground (ECM)/Jazz

Crazy-great French percussionist Manu Katche returns with his band of guys with tons of syllables in their names. If this is anything at all like Neighborhood, it's gonna be a great listen.

Pat Metheny - Secret Story [Bonus Disc] (Nonesuch)/Jazz

Oh dear, another in the line of Nonesuch Metheny reissues design to make me re-purchase the entire Pat catalog. I'm a slut that way. Seriously though, unreleased material from this "solo" (with a bazillion guest musicians) record is worth it for me.

Bettye LaVette - The Scene of the Crime (Anti)/Smokin' R&B

The real deal, as far as R & B is concerned. Makes me want to put together a LaVette/Winehouse mash up.

Afrika Bambaataa - Death Mix Plus (Traffic Ent.)/Roots of Hip Hop

I could swear that I used to own a vinyl copy of this. Anyway, check out one of the taproots of hip hop. It'll shake the walls.

Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (XL)/Billboard sez "rock," Mark sez Weirdo Folk

When I first heard Banhart, I couldn't stand him. Then I got Cripple Crow. Then I wanted everything else. Hey, sometimes I'm wrong.

Erin McKeown - Lafayette (Signature Sounds)/Rock

I used to think of her as a folk artist, but she's sort of branched out. This is a live record, and I can't wait to hear "Blackbird."

Negativland - A Big 10-8 Place (Seeland)/Freakish Cut & Splice Rock (sort of)

You've gotta love this description "...legendary 1983 difficult listening conceptual suburban epic." I'm always up for some difficult listening. If you don't know the story of Negativland, you own it to your bad self to check out their website. Follow the link entitled "Intellectual Property Issues" and be enlightened. Read along while you annoy the neighbors with spliced tape galore.

Pat DiNizio - Pat DiNizio (Famous Monsters)/Rock

The Smithereens were one of my favorite bands back in the day. DiNizio was the ring leader and a solo record deserves a look.

Bruce Springsteen - Magic (Sony)/Rock

A week early? Nope. They release the vinyl version of Magic today. I'm hoping that this will reduce the high blood pressure induced by my inability to get tickets for either of the Boston shows. I was shut out, with all of the tickets spoken for in less than 10 minutes. Sheesh. (P.S. Look for my report the day after the tour-opening show in Hartford, Conn. on October 2nd)