Quick! Or relatively-soonish: Next Saturday, the 17th, presents a conflict that I need help resolving. See, on the 17th, both The Avett Brothers and Lucero are playing in New York, but at different locations. I've never seen The Avett Brothers live, and I'd love to go, but the tickets are $30. Ouch. Lucero I have seen live (though, it was a while ago and only that one time), but their tickets are only $17. So, Adam, which show would you go to? Are The Avett Brothers so amazingly awesome live that it's worth the $30? Or should I go with good ol' Lucero? (I haven't listened to their new album, but I've ordered it.)

Speaking of The Avett Brothers, I think Adam summed up their new album very well. I've listened to it about five or six times already, and I like it more and more with each spin. I'm still a little dismayed that there isn't a straight-up rocker like "Colorshow" or "Will You Return?," but it's definitely a solid album. "Kick Drum Heart" comes close, as does "Slight Figure of Speech," but they don't achieve that same level of catchiness and pure raw emotion that embodies "Colorshow." However, they've always done a good job with the slower songs, and this time around is no exception. "Ill with Want," "The Perfect Space," and "It Goes on and On" (okay, not really a slow song, but still) are my favorite tracks from the album. But it's all good, really, so check it out. Oh, and the lyrics -- "Something has me acting like someone I don't wanna be... /A need for something, let me break it down again. / A need for something, but not more medicine." "I wanna have friends that I can trust, that love me for the man I've become, not the man that I was... / I wanna grow old without the pain, give my body back to the earth and not complain." -- nice.

Other new music: Saxon Shore released their follow up to the superb "The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore." The new album is called "It Doesn't Matter" and -- bad pun alert -- it does matter, because this album is amazing. I honestly think it's usurped "Exquisite Death" as my favorite album by them -- not an easy feat. They just know how to make catchy, catchy instrumental music that doesn't get boring. And, actually, one of the songs has lyrics, so it's a big departure for them. It's my least favorite track on the album, coincidentally, but it's still good. So yeah, if you want to help a true independent artist, you'll go to their MySpace page and order it. I'd suggest listening to the tracks "Thanks for Being Away" and "Nothing Changes." "This Place" is the one with vocals, so it's not a fair representation of the album.

Christopher O'Riley. This is old, seeing as how I saw him in concert a month and a half ago, but whatever. His new album, "Out of My Hands," is good. It's a bit uneven, but it's still very strong. Anyway, I got him to sign my CD and everything, so I kind of like it more because of that. He's left-handed, by the way. None of this is describing the music, though. This time around, rather than focusing on a single artist (Radiohead, Elliott Smith, or Nick Drake), he does solo-piano covers of a bunch of artists: Tori Amos (great cover of "Mother"), Kurt Cobain ("Heart-Shaped Box"), Elliott Smith ("New Disaster"), Radiohead ("All I Need" and "Videotape"), R.E.M. ("World Leader Pretend"), Pink Floyd ("Us and Them") The Smiths ("Asleep"), and a few more that I can't really remember. Your enjoyment of the covers is pretty much contingent on your enjoyment of the originals -- in this case, I like those songs; thus, I like the covers. As I said, it is uneven -- some songs get lost in the mix -- but it's still an enjoyable record.

Seriously, though, which show should I go to?