hey stuart (and anyone who is not brian or derek), new National disc is out and available on emusic. have heard a few tracks on satellite and npr stateside and while not a big departure from the last disc, nonetheless great songwriting.

Downloads refreshed today so I'm considering how to spend them. Anyone want to make a case for Josh Ritter? I see his latest disc staring up at me every morning as i queue for coffee at Starbucks but the samples at emusic suggest a poor man's Archer Prewitt. General critical consensus is good but wondering if any of you lot have heard it and have any strong opinions either way.

Btw...soul-less update...BSS is better on fourth and fifth listens but I'll stick with my original comments to Stefan (sarah's brother) that the only track that really resonates on this one is the female vocal 'All in All'. Latest Spoon has moments that work but only after a third drink which, btw, raises the question:

How big of an impact does alcohol have on your appreciation of music? Are there certain songs that only work when your drunk or certain bands or songs that really only come alive for you after a few pints?

I'm guessing Mike, you'll say that it's the only explanation for Brian's embrace of Ornette Coleman. No doubt it's fueled this whole country music compilation discussion.