It's over a month since the winter solstice and the days are getting longer and brighter - as is the schedule of new album releases. Our hometown Hoosier hero John Mellencamp has his first proper new album in five years, Freedom's Road. Previews suggest a stylistic return to the rootsy sound of The Lonesome Jubilee. That was his best pocket, right? Also of some interest, a new supergroup type deal with an eponymous album The Good, the Bad & the Queen. With a couple of big hit Gorillaz albums under his belt, Damon Albarn teams up with among others Clash bass player Paul Simonon. Early notices on the album certainly make it sound interesting. Note that this album is already #14 at Amazon. Then there are the official Enemies of the People, Pretty Ricky. Sigh. Judging from their last album, they just totally lack any decent songwriting at all, sub par even for a crappy boy group. But I find this outfit particularly disheartening, seeing young girls sold these guys' animalistic rutting as prime romance. This crew makes old timers like the Back Street Boys look like, not just fine gentlemen but relative musical geniuses. I'm just saying that Pretty Ricky could use a little re-education at the Smokey Robinson School for Young Gentlemen. Here's the complete list of this week's major new album releases, courtesy AMG: John Mellencamp Freedom's Road Universal Republic Heartland Rock, Pop/Rock, Hard Rock Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Polyvinyl Indie Pop, Neo-Psychedelia Deerhoof Friend Opportunity Kill Rock Stars Indie Rock, Noise-Rock, Noise Pop The Good, the Bad & the Queen The Good, the Bad & the Queen Parlophone/Virgin/EMI Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Britpop, Alternative Pop/Rock The Shins Wincing the Night Away Sub Pop Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock The Bee Gees Bee Gees' 1st (Bonus Disc) Reprise Pop/Rock, Baroque Pop, Pop, Psychedelic Pop The Bee Gees Horizontal (Bonus Disc) Reprise Pop/Rock, Baroque Pop, Psychedelic Pop The Bee Gees Idea (Bonus Disc) Reprise Pop/Rock, Baroque Pop, Psychedelic Pop Eric Bibb Diamond Days Telarc Blues Contemporary Blues, Adult Contemporary, Folk-Blues, Singer/Songwriter, Modern Acoustic Blues Black Diamond Heavies Every Damn Time Alive The Bloody Hollies Who to Trust, Who to Kill, Who to Love Alive Garage Rock Revival Glenn Branca Glenn Branca: Indeterminate Activity of Resultant Masses Atavistic Avant Garde Chamber Music The Broken West I Can't Go On, I'll Go On Merge Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Pop Underground, Alternative Country-Rock Clinic Visitations Domino Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock Tony DeSare Last First Kiss Telarc Standards, American Popular Song, Contemporary Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Traditional Pop Julie Doiron Woke Myself Up Jagjaguwar Sadcore, Indie Rock, Singer/Songwriter The Earlies The Enemy Chorus Secretly Canadian Indie Rock Echo & the Bunnymen The Very Best of Echo & the Bunnymen: More Songs to Learn and Sing (CD/DVD) Rhino College Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Post-punk, Neo-Psychedelia Jose Feliciano Soundtrack of My Life Hip-O Latin Pop, Pop, Soft Rock Ghost In Stormy Nights Drag City Avant-Prog, Neo-Psychedelia, Psychedelic, Prog-Rock/Art Rock Gipsy Kings Pasajero Sony BMG Music Entertainment Contemporary Flamenco, Flamenco, Spanish Folk John Hammond, Jr. Push Comes to Shove Back Porch Electric Blues, Acoustic Blues Lee Hazelwood Cake or Death Ever Alternative Country, Progressive Country, Contemporary Country, Country-Pop Kristin Hersh Learn to Sing Like a Star Yep Roc Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Indie Rock I Walk the Line Desolation Street Gearhead punk Revival, Alternative Pop/Rock Damien Jurado Gathered in Song (Bonus Tracks) Made In Mexico Indie Rock, Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Lo-Fi David Kilgour The Far Now Merge New Zealand Rock, Indie Rock, Neo-Psychedelia Erich Kunzel Big Picture Telarc Film Music Macromantics Moments in Movement Kill Rock Stars Alternative Rap, Hip-Hop Maher Shalal Hash Baz L' Autre Cap K Neo-Psychedelia, Indie Rock Manic Floor Boards Suretone/Interscope Emo, Alternative Pop/Rock Bob Margolin In North Carolina Steady Rollin' Modern Electric Chicago Blues, Modern Electric Blues Menomena Friend and Foe Barsuk Indie Rock, Experimental Rock Mew Frengers Epic Dream Pop, Space Rock, Indie Rock Moe The Conch Fatboy Jam Bands, American Trad Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock John Scott How Can I Keep from Singing? EMI Sacred and Traditional Choral Music Scott Slapin Baroque Preludes, Dances and Fugues Eroica Baroque Chamber Music Original Soundtrack Catch and Release (Soundtrack) Sony Adult Alternative Pop/Rock Carey Ott Lucid Dream Dualtone Music Group Indie Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Country-Rock, Indie Rock Peanut Butter Wolf Stones Throw: Ten Years Stones Throw Underground Rap, Left-Field Hip-Hop Pretty Ricky Late Night Special Atlantic / Wea Pop-Rap, Southern Rap, Urban Alasdair Roberts Amber Gatherers Drag City Neo-Traditional Folk, Indie Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Contemporary Celtic Sonny Rollins Sonny, Please Doxy Post-Bop, Hard Bop, Bop Peter Rowan/Tony Rice Quartet Rounder Progressive Bluegrass, Contemporary Folk Saliva Blood Stained Love Story Island Alternative Metal, Heavy Metal Kenny Wayne Shepherd 10 Days Out (Blues from the Backroads) Reprise / Wea Contemporary Blues, Folk-Blues, Harmonica Blues, Electric Blues, Modern Electric Blues, Acoustic Blues, Country Blues, Blues-Rock Lewis Taylor The Lost Album Slow Reality Pop Underground, Neo-Soul, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock Tony Trischka Double Banjo Bluegrass Spectacular Rounder Contemporary Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass Two Lone Swordsmen Emissions Audio Output: From the Archive, Vol. 1 Rotter's Golf Club IDM, Electro-Techno, Techno, Ambient Techno, Experimental Electro David Vandervelde The Moonstation House Band Secretly Canadian Indie Pop, Indie Rock Various Artists Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra 1963-1973 Rhino Singer/Songwriter, Folk-Rock, Folk Revival, British Folk-Rock, Psychedelic, Acid Folk, British Blues Vietnam Vietnam Kemado Indie Rock Andrew Weatherall The Bullet Catcher's Apprentice Rotter's Golf Club Alternative Dance, Techno Paul Weller Hit Parade (Box Set) Fontana Int'l British Trad Rock, Pop/Rock James Yorkston The Year of the Leopard Domino Recording Alternative Singer/Songwriter, British Folk-Rock, British Folk Unreformed hawkish Hoosier hillbilly and sometimes candidate Al Barger runs the still squeezin' down the psychodelic Kentucky moonshine at MoreThings.com, what with the paranoid religious visions and the Pentacostal music and visions of God and anarchy running amok and such. Somebody oughta call the cops. Drop Al a note, and try to talk some sense into him, will ya? gadfly at morethings.com