What's in the changer? (Happy Memorial Day!)

Yes, iPods aside, I still get lots of mileage out of the 6-disc changer in my car. So here's the current mix:

1. Lucinda Williams - Live At Fillmore
   Perhaps the worst-sequenced album of the year, but still a pretty good sampling of her recent work. Of the few older tunes, "Pineola" benefits the most from the smackdown her current band gives it.
2. Ryan Adams - Cold Roses
   Still digging it -- this album gets played a lot. Car, home, iPod, everywhere. I've earmarked "Easy Plateau" as the official theme song of my upcoming trip to Kauai. Saw Ryan on Letterman this week, and he was in fine form with The Cardinals but looking like he has sunk into his reclusive beard & glasses phase. Cool.
3. Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth
   Just out this week, I've only listened to it once. I'm so struck by how integral Malkmus' guitar playing has become to his solo work. Very cool and surprising playful.
4. Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
   Still swinging hard (like the character on the record), this disc competes against Cold Roses for the most spins.
5. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
   A close third at the moment. "I Turn My Camera On" might be the song of the year.
6. The Wallflowers - Rebel, Sweetheart
   Another new addition this week. Probably the worst album title ever (very bad cover art, too). Otherwise, expect the expected from Jakob Dylan & Co. The dude still writes exceptional guitar pop, but I think the band has suffered from not having a full-time lead guitarist. Michael Ward's playing really elevated Breach, probably one of the most criminally neglected album of the last 5 or so years. There's a ringer somewhere on there because some tracks still bear that trademark slide part that seems just the thing to ignite Dylan's songs. Elsewhere, there's a bit too much "wall of sound" layered on by producer Brendan O'Brien.