New CD purchases:

Cake's new album, Pressure Chief.

Oh. My. God. This is simply brilliant. I personally felt that Cake may have peaked with Comfort Eagle, which did not have a single bad song on it. But Comfort Eagle did have one major flaw: NO COWBELL!

Err, just kidding. Comfort Eagle had NO COVERS. And if it's one thing that I consider iconic about Cake, it's that they produce meaningful covers of great tunes (witness Fashion Nugget, which had three great covers: I Will Survive; Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps; and Sad Songs and Waltzes).

Their cover of Guitar Man is amazing. Especially the final, frustrated scream at the end (turn up the sound to really hear it). It's a great song about an artist continuing on, even as his popularity and voice fade.

Wheels starts off the album strongly; it's a song about isolation and transition following a failed romance. I like it, because it's not bleak or whiny, but rather introspective.

No Phone is a good song, but beyond a certain catchiness and a somewhat dull chorus, it hasn't made a solid impression on me.

Take It All Away is just a great road song. Since I spend 3 hours a day commuting, I like good road songs (who doesn't?) and this one fits the bill.

Dime imagines life as our smallest coin. Whimsical, comical, metaphorical.

Carbon Monoxide sounds vaguely Dead Milkmen-esque. It's borderline enviro-punk music, and it has a very spare melody and clean sound. Of all the songs on this album, it is perhaps closest to Motorcade of Generosity in terms of sound.

Waiting is lovely song about waiting.

She'll Hang the Baskets invokes seasonal themes. It also carries a sense of Kierkegaardian repetition; come fall, the baskets will be on the floor.

End of the Movie is a melodic and catchy song about sticktoitiveness. Despite all the bad things that happen, the subject of the song doesn't like to leave before the end of the movie. It's a powerful metaphor, establishing a willingness to see all of life's events through to the end.

Palm of Your Hand recites a tale about a person's home falling apart in an earthquake. There are subtle indications that the home was loved, and iconic to the listener, and contained powerful memories. Also, the house is made of bricks, and has a basement (that was filled with tools).

Tougher Than It Is talks about some people wanting to make life tougher than it is. It seems in some way to refer to End of the Movie; is the listener in End of the Movie making his life Tougher Than It Is? Life is plenty tough, folks. Maybe we shouldn't seek out extra difficulties.

Also got the soundtrack to Ray and More Music from Ray. I have a number of Ray Charles CDs already, but nothing that collects as handily his trademark tunes. Also, you can clearly hear the difference between the young Ray and the old Ray, most poignantly when he breaks into a hacking cough in the midst of recording. Only then did it really come home to me how Ray Charles aged. In my mind, he's always been the same age (about as old as he was in Blues Brothers). It's deeply moving to consider just how hard it was for him to do the work he loved so much near the end.