Thanks to a most thoughtful friend, I have some excellent new music: Paul Simon, You're the One; Mark Knopfler, Sailing to Philadelphia; and The Wallflowers, Breach. All three CDs were just released in the last couple of weeks. And all of them are really, really good.

The Paul Simon CD is a lot different from Rhythm of the Saints and Graceland, his last two big hits. I love both of those albums and I think they both showed the versatility of his talent. But to me, those two albums are showy in a way that Paul Simon's earlier solo work is not. They were more about creating pop with diverse musical styles, South African on Graceland and South American on Rhythm, than they were about the lyrics.

This new album seems to focus on lyrics the way his albums used to, back around the time of Paul Simon, One Trick Pony, and Rhymin' Simon, and the music is more laid back than the last two while still drawing on all kinds of backgrounds. As well as Latin and African sounds, I noticed strains of Indian and Celtic music, but the world music never takes center stage the way it did on Graceland and Rhythm. And the lyrics are just great. (I am not familiar with Songs from The Capeman, so I can't compare it to that.)

More comments to come on the new music. Thank you, Maria. :-)