On the Pod: November

I listen to a lot of music. I happen to buy a lot of music (sorry, LimeWire!). I thought I'd start a monthly addition to the blog about what I'm listening to because, well, I have an opinion about everything, don't I?

I've bought a number of albums recently. That's different for me because since the iTunes Store was introduced, I've rarely bought albums. I tend to buy just the songs I like (or think I'll like), rather than whole albums. Now if it's an artist/group I really like, I'll buy the album, but that's more the exception than the rule.

So, here are the latest additions:

• In Rainbows (Radiohead)
  Get it for $5, get it for $20, or get it for free. Radiohead is giving away their latest, and it's probably their most accessible album since "The Bends." With elements from OK Computer, Kid A and most of their other work, everything is blended together quite beautifully, and songs like "Reckoner" will win them new fans. Great rock that sounds unmistakably modern (or maybe it's just Thom Yorke's unmistakable voice).
  
  
• Magic (Bruce Springsteen)
  They say this is a return to form for Bruce with the E Street Band, but I wouldn't really know. I've never been a fan of "classic" Bruce. "Nebraska" nor "Born in the USA" never really did it for me. But this album is surprising and excellent. The music is great, classic pop/rock, with a darkness running through it that transforms the songs as you listen to them. He's an angry man, that Bruce, and the band plays better than ever.
  
  
• Teenager (The Thrills) The Thrills have made a career out of jangly, 60's-sounding California pop, and their latest album is no different. If I want to feel like I'm back in Los Gatos or Santa Cruz, I pop on the Thrills, and I'm home. Songs of teenage love never sounded so good, even if there's nothing as catchy as "Don't Go Back to Big Sur" or "One Horse Town" here.
  
  
• Songs of Mass Destruction (Annie Lennox) Sigh. A finger-wagging exercise in the victimization of women. I really wanted to like the album, but the more I listen to it, the less I like it. She's got an amazing instrument, that Annie, but the songs are mediocre at best and almost consistently strident.

And a few songs I'm really digging:

• Wasted, by Cartel. A marching-band pop ditty about the inevitability of death. Harmonious and happy and ruthless all at once.
• The One U Wanna C and Guitar by Prince. Two kick-ass pop songs from a longtime master. Skip the rest of the album if you want, but this is what great pop music is all about.