Moon's Shopping Spree

Just made the mistake of wandering onto Amazon to make one purchase I knew would inevitably be accompanied by others. Here's the run-down:

50-Foot Wave, "Golden Ocean" -- Kristin Hersh's newest effort. I have the six-song EP they released last year, and I'm dying to get this new release in hand. This was the reason I went shopping to begin with.

Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs -- Saw this guy open for Hersh in Cleveland a year and a half ago. Hard to explain what he did with a violin, a guitar, and some electronics, but it was brilliant. Been meaning to grab one of his for a while.

Tom Waits, "Real Gone" -- DoI really need to explain or justify any Tom Waits purchase? I think not.

Ani DiFranco, "Knuckle Down" -- Not sure why I choose now to pick her up again. I was pretty disappointed with "Up up up up up up," released some time in the 90's, and it sort of killed my undergraduate infatuation with her music (that, and the fact that in my long-commute days in NJ, I played her earlier albums half to death). But I've never lost my regard for her, and this albums sounds like a bit of a return to her earlier folkier vein, which would be welcome.

DJ Krush, "Jaku" -- Phenomenal downbeat ambient stuff, Japanese hip-hop, and a bunch of other random stuff mashed together. I've yet not to enjoy thoroughly one of this guys albums, and until I do I'll just keep buying them.

Ralph Peters, The War in 2020 -- Don't ask. Some sort of longing for the heydey of Tom Clancy or something. A Japanese-Middle-East alliance lines up against Russia. We back up Russia. A martial (and marshmallow) page-turner for the summer. "The Ridiculous," when paired with

Annie Dillard, Tickets for a Prayer Wheel, Poems, "The Sublime."

Enough damage for one day.