I just had the most psychedelic listening experience of my life!

It involved hearing Barbara Eden--star of TV's I Dream Of Jeannie--covering Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich's "Bend It" on her one and only 1967 solo album!

Now admittedly, unless you travel in the same circles I do--a group of debonair young sophisticates who cluster around the stereo, mixed drinks in hand, watching obscure Japanese art films and making donations to questionable charities just because we can--this may mean little to you!

Still, in a world where one of the week's best new albums features a member of Def Leppard covering old Mott The Hoople songs, can you begrudge me my smallest pleasures?

M.I.A.: /\/\/\Y/\ (N.E.E.T./Interscope)  It struck me a few years ago that the innate talent young teens had with sending text messages--instinctively grasping which key needed to be pressed once, twice or three times in order to call up a specific letter of the alphabet--was remarkable but somehow sad, in that that

Whoops! Apologies for posting this a day late!

I spent the weekend in San Francisco and had no idea that the record industry--which recently underwent its worst sales week in years--was counting on me to write about the week's best new releases, encourage sales, and thus save the entire music business!

And I just noticed a reader asked where my new blog was in last week's comments section!

So admittedly a day late and a dollar short, here I am, ready to spread the word about why this is the best week ever for new releases--and why you should simply buy them all!

But I'd rather write this instead!

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Mojo (Reprise)  A surprisingly strong album by Petty and his long-lived crew carries on the tradition that his groovy recent box set established--that is, of being one of the best live bands on the planet--largely because of its purposeful emulation of country and blues styles upon which all of rock 'n' roll has long been based! Still, time has taken its toll on

A plethora of mildly interesting new releases should keep our pulses completely stable through the week!

That's right--absolutely nothing that's setting the world buzzing is being released, and the world is all the better for it!

Reliable names, tired faces, and the same-old/same-old is pretty much all that's available this week, allowing most of us to stay home, watch the season finales of our favorite television shows, and contemplate ways to say precisely the same thing in three separate sentences!

Still, it could be worse!

Leela James: My Soul (Stax)  It's fitting that Ms. James, one of our better young R&B vocalists, has moved over to the distinguished Stax label--which has a proud history of expressive vocalists, precise but minimal musical accompaniment, and girls with Afros on their album covers! Sounding fully contemporary yet cognizant of the tradition of which she is clearly a part, James sings expertly, to fine musical backing, and such tracks as "Party All Night," "Supa

It's been an eventful week in pop music, what with the sad passing of rock singer Ronnie James Dio--whose presence will certainly be missed--the re-release of the Rolling Stones' 1972 classic Exile On Main Street, and new albums by younger artists Janelle Monáe and LCD Soundsystem, both of whom seem poised for great things!

It's also been an interesting week for aquatic life in the Gulf Of Mexico!

Yep, in the scheme of things, new albums--whether in CD or vinyl configuration--and gaping ecological disasters that will have a profound effect on all of us for the remainder of our lives both rely on petroleum products to get their point across!

It's just one more reason why it may be best for all of us to stay inside with our doors closed until this whole music and "ecology" thing blows over!

As always, happy to help out!

The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street (Deluxe Edition) (Universal)  One of the best things about the lovable Rolling Stones still being alive and kicking is that