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My duo with Kate Stewart made its public debut last night at the open mike, to great acclaim from two of our friends. It looks like we'll perform all of twice before I leave the state; the second time is on Saturday at my going-away party. Okay, it's not what you'd call a sustained career, but I'm delighted that we managed to play out at all.

The lineup for Saturday, from 7 to 11: Altamont Pass, Dave Ray, Solace (the aforementioned duo), Nick Bartunek, With River (Philip Rodriguez and Colin Carthen), a short solo set from me, and Tin Cat. I don't know about you, but, well, I like all of these bands. I'll definitely be going.

Happy Columbus Day! Here are your presents.

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In case anyone is reading this, Tin Cat's 10/5 show at Blue Rock Shoot is cancelled. Lame!

You know, I really thought I was mostly done with the CDs, once I finished with all the ones I'd decided I didn't want. But I made those decisions a few years ago, and it turns out that since then I've acquired a whole lot more I don't want. Plus my threshold for wanting has risen, what with the moving and everything.

Chris Rea, The Road to Hell. I remember a review that said it was "the best Dire Straits album you'll find this year."
Radiohead, Hail to the Thief. I have no idea why everything since Kid A has bored me.
Linda Ronstadt, Heart Like a Wheel. When Will I Be Loved? and other hits.
Justin McMahon, Live at Cavanaugh's. Singer-songwriter I met in Reno. Did I ever tell you about the time, well, never mind. Dave-Matthews-ish?
Son Volt, Straightaways. Alt-country by Jay Farrar's post-Tupelo band. I like "Caryatid Easy" a lot.
Dianne Reeves, I Remember. Jazz singer, interesting small-group arrangements of standards, mostly.
Ted Rosenthal, Images of Monk. Jazz pianist, interesting small-group arrangements of Monk tunes, mostly. Used to be my favorite single-artist Monk tribute.
Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos, s/t. Electric guitarist plays Cuban music with John Medeski and others.
Frigg, s/t. Finnish-Norwegian fiddle group. Awesome in concert.
The Jayhawks, "Bad Time". Single, circa Tomorrow the Green Grass. The Grand Funk Railroad cover, plus a Merle Haggard song and two other songs.
Earlimart, Everyone Down Here. Indie pop. Reminds me of Grandaddy but less weird.
Gillian Welch, Revival. Bluegrass-esque singer-songwriter's first album. "Orphan Girl" and other good songs.
Various Artists, Reich Remixed. Electronica artists remix Steve Reich compositions, with variable results. The Tranquility Bass "Megamix", with elements from nine different pieces, is the best track, showing an appreciation for the material but also making a statement of its own.
Red House Painters, Old Ramon. Oh, you know, sad contemplative rock.
Steve Reich, Triple Quartet. Reich pieces played by non-Reich ensembles, including the Kronos Quartet, and two pieces arranged for different instruments than they were written for.
Kim Richey, s/t. The singer-songwriter's debut, more country than her later efforts.
Marian McPartland and Friends, An NPR Jazz Christmas. Says it all.
Diana Ross, Diana. Disco, produced by Chic. Includes "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out", my favorite Ross song.
Bonnie Raitt, Fundamental. Blues-rock, produced Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake.
Neil Halstead, Sleeping on Roads. More like what Nick Drake actually sounds like.
Roxy Music, Avalon. Dreamy.

Mollie Katzen, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. Followup to The Moosewood Cookbook, which I'm keeping. Entertaining and tasty.
Anna Thomas, The Vegetarian Epicure. Probably also good, I haven't used it for a long while.
Marlis Weber, The Single Vegetarian. As a loner, I like the focus on small dishes, but it's a little too healthy for me.
Jean Hewitt, The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook. Beats me. This is the only one with meat dishes.
Manju Shivraj Singh, The Spice Box. Vegetarian Indian cookbook.

I'm also giving away Theodor Holm Nelson's Literary Machines 90.1, the book about his hypothetical hypertext system Xanadu. Judging from Half.com and Amazon listings, this is probably a collector's item, but I can't find a listing for this particular edition, and I just don't have the patience. And anyway, I bought it used for $4.95. I'm making an attempt to sell my copy of his Computer Lib/Dream Machines, but if you make an impassioned plea for it you could probably have that too. Don't know if there actually is anyone in my reading public from this particular segment of geekdom.

Seth Stevenson thinks Joss Whedon should stick to TV. Usually when people say that it's an insult; I think here it's a compliment.

This, um, revised trailer for The Shining is awesome.

Pretty soon I'm going to have to stop evaluating CDs and start packing them. But meanwhile:

Pet Shop Boys, "Paninaro '95". 3-song single.
Semisonic, Feeling Strangely Fine. With "Closing Time" and several less-overplayed songs.
Todd Snider, Happy to Be Here. Alt-country, often funny.
John Scofield, A Go Go. Groove jazz, with Medeski, Martin & Wood.
Her Space Holiday, Manic Expressive. Space pop.
Frank Sinatra, In the Wee Small Hours. Ballads.
Jane Siberry, Maria. Kate-Bush-like singer, with jazz combo.
Richard Shindell, Somewhere Near Paterson. Singer-songwriter, also in Cry Cry Cry. "Transit" is a great song.
Matthew Shipp Quartet, Pastoral Composure. Interesting piano-based jazz group.
Sparkle, s/t. R&B, produced by R. Kelly.
Duncan Sheik, Phantom Moon. His Nick Drake record; so introspective he had to move to Nonesuch. Lyrics by Steven Sater, guest appearance by Bill Frisell, lots of acoustic guitar and strings.
Omar Sosa, Inside. Solo improvisations by Cuban piano genius.
World Party, Goodbye Jumbo. Often Beatlesque, but with more Prince than usual.
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, s/t. Banjo jazz.
Shirim Klezmer Orchestra, Naftule's Dream. Innovative arrangements blend klezmer, jazz, classical, etc.
Joni Mitchell, Hejira. Blends jazz, pop, and folk; just before the wild experimentation of Don Juan's Reckless Daughter and the jazz-centered Mingus.
Sun Ra Arkestra, Reflections in Blue. Standards, gone crazy. Sun Ra's vocal on "I Dream Too Much" is wonderful.
Stereolab, Mars Audiac Quintet. Well, what can one say?
Sting, Brand New Day. A nice pop album.
Sade, The Best of Sade. So influential they named a radio format after her. Pre-Lovers Rock.

I'm going to the post office today, so if you answer fast I can slip some of these in with previous requests.

I don't know if anyone still listens to cassette tapes--I don't, except in the car--so I'm just going to post a few. Condition unknown.

Negativland, Escape from Noise. Doctor, am I losing my mind?
Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists, Show of Hands. Technically impressive.
Groove Collective, Hopelessly Live - Sketches of Pain. Tour-only live album by the jazz/funk/fusion band.
Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman, Song X. Free jazz. With Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, and Denardo Coleman.
David Bowie, Pin Ups. Cover album. I like his "See Emily Play."
Various Artists, Night Spirit Masters. Gnawa collection from Bill Laswell's Axiom label.
Shankar, Soul Searcher. Also from Axiom.

Books I read recently, or have finally given up believing I will someday read. I may change my mind about giving up a few of these.

Molly Bang, Picture This. The illustrator explains "how pictures work". Excellent.
Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. The classic book on American urbanism.
Larry McMurtry, The Last Picture Show. The classic book on Texas ruralism.
Julian Dibbell, My Tiny Life. The classic book on LambdaMOO.
John Berger, Photocopies. Very short stories.
Clem Fiori, The Vanishing New Jersey Landscape. Black-and-white nature photographs.
James Thurber, Credos and Curios. Late work.
Salman Rushdie, East, West. Stories.
Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. Stories?
Al Burian, Burn Collector #12. Well-written zine about living in Chicago.
Kathleen Norris (ed.), Leaving New York: Writers Look Back. Anthology featuring Didion, Dylan, Fitzgerald, Wolfe, James, Kincaid, Capote, et al.
Rick Moody, The Black Veil. "A Memoir with Digressions" about, uh, a bad time in his life I guess.
McSweeney's #4. This is the one where the stories were bound separately, with cover art chosen by each author. Authors include Lethem, Moody, Murakami, Saunders, and Denis Johnson.