The thing about putting together this new release rundown week after week, is that sometimes they make it easy for you. Take last week's bonanza of new music for example. I mean, when you've got stuff like R.E.M., The Stones, and Joe Satriani coming at you right out of the gate, how hard can this job possibly be?

Unfortunately, what you get most of the rest of the time — especially this year it seems — would be a week like this one. With what the labels have chosen to grace us with this week, you basically find yourself scraping bottom just to fill space.

Not that there is absolutely nothing to talk about. For one thing, we've got Mountain Battles, the first new album by Kim Deal and the Breeders in six years. And if you think six years is a long time between records, Was (Not Was) have that beat in spades with Boo!, their first album in something like a couple of decades.

There are also some promising new indie-rock entries from Foals, The Duke Spirit, and Tapes 'n Tapes. Original Janes Addiction bassist Eric Avery is also back with a new solo album to which at least one of our fellow Blogcritics has given his seal of approval.

The biggest news is of course the new Nine Inch Nails release Ghosts I-IV. Most of you already know the story here. But for the one or two who don't, Trent Reznor went the Radiohead route for this experimental, mainly instrumental album by first releasing it exclusively online. It is now available through traditional retail outlets as of this week.

On that note, time to check in with our good buddy Mark Saleski, who is departing somewhat from our usual format by spotlighting a DVD this week...

If anybody out there has been paying attention to my writings over that last five years or so, you maybe have noticed that the name Marc Ribot has appeared almost as many times as Pat Metheny. Though the two guitar players are nothing alike, they do take up a considerable amount of my shelf space. Ribot seems to specialize in confounding the listener with his oddball twists on everything from traditional jazz to country blues. Sometimes, being confounded is a good thing.