There's something to be said for being a creature of habit! Every week when I write this award-winning blog, I'm usually perched atop my favorite chair, sitting in my garage and surrounded by billions of CDs, LPs, and unlabeled videocassettes of questionable origin, drinking gallons of Diet Coke and worse!

This week, however, in a stunning turn of events, I am seated at a gawdawful Starbucks on Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami, Florida, desperately trying to focus on the week's latest releases--and find myself being distracted by a nonstop, in-house playlist featuring old jazz ladies from the '40s, Nat "King" Cole, and hundreds of other artists who have probably never even heard of Mastodon!

Well, to quote the old lady now chirping over the Starbucks sound system, guess it's "just one of those things"!

Heck! I want to be an actual coffeehouse!

The Decemberists: The Hazards Of Love (Capitol) Having just seen these lovable Portlanders performing this brand new album in its entirety at

How much do you like U2?

I mean, come on, everybody likes U2! They're famous! So you'll probably be buying their brand new album!

But again, how much do you like U2? Do you like them enough to get their new album on CD? It's cheap! $8.99 at Amazon! Or do you like them so much you want to get the limited edition box set of their album? It includes a CD, a poster, a book and a DVD! Wow! All for $64.99 at Amazon! Of course, you may be a vinyl purist, so you might be looking to buy it in the 2LP 180-gram vinyl version! It's really big, you can hold it in your hands, and it's just $19.99! Still, you may be a forward-looking consumer, so the new limited edition digi-pak version--which features a CD, poster and "film download," all for $22.99--may be just the ticket! Finally, left-handed people--that often overlooked, tragic minority--may want to purchase the new limited edition "magazine" version of the album--which features a CD, a magazine, and that weird "film download" thing! All for

Sorry I'm a little late with this week's exciting blog, but--if I may share a little personal information--I forgot to pay my Internet bill last month and couldn't write it!

But wait, you say--how could access to the Internet affect this guy writing his blog? Couldn't he just write it at home and then bring it in to work and post it there?

Hah! How can I write intelligently about music without finding out what everybody else thinks?

Lily Allen: It's Not You, It's Me (Capitol)  Everyone's favorite Popular Female British Singer of a few months back returns with her second album in her dutiful quest to become everyone's favorite Popular British Singer for the next few months, and the big question is: Can she pull it off? I say yes! This is an upbeat, personality-filled album greatly aided by American producer Greg Kurstin--the onetime Geggy Tah member who's also doing marvelous work with his duo the Bird & The Bee--and Ms. Allen seems so charming, sassy and colorful, who can resist her

After that fabulous Superbowl show--just imagine, BruceSpringsteen, Jennifer Hudson and Faith Hill all in one place--and next week'sGrammy Awards, I, like you, think this may be the most exciting week in musichistory!

And indeed, it's this week--when music's movers and shakerscongregate in Los Angeles for their beloved awards ceremony--that they'll beanticipating the sales figures of this week's new releases, arguing whetherit's likely Melinda Doolittle will outsell Cannibal Corpse, and discussing whatexactly that whole "digital download" thing is in the first place!

True, there may be a few fistfights, and yes, some recordlabel folks won't feel comfortable having to hitchhike home due to ongoingbudget cuts, but one thing's for sure: When it comes to this week's newreleases--just like next week's Grammys--everyone'sa winner, baby!

The Fray: The Fray (Epic)  From seemingly out ofnowhere comes the Fray, the Denver-based band whose rise to internationalstardom came with their smash