Happy Monday, folks. We’re into March now, which means my birthday is coming up (and what better way to celebrate than to buy one of my books or listen to one of my albums?). Anyway, here’s this week’s playlist.

1. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Colossus of Roads”: I probably made a mistake listening to this album first of all of their albums, because none of the rest of their stuff sounds like this. It’s folky and country and Americana and mostly acoustic, and it makes me want to put more slide guitar in my own songs.
2. Big Star, “Thirteen”: No song has ever encapsulated what it feels like to be a teenager better than this.
3. Paula Cole, “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone”: Where, indeed?
4. Phil Collins, “The Roof is Leaking”: Possibly the best song about cold homesteaders the 1980s ever produced.
5. Rhiannon Giddens and Iron & Wine, “Forever Young”: Who loves a Bob Dylan cover? Iron & Wine loves a Bob Dylan cover. And Rhiannon Giddens. And me.
6. Rob Thomas, “Streetcorner Symphony”: I will be the first to admit that Rob Thomas does not create what you would call “good” music. It is disposable and forgettable. It adds nothing to one’s life. But damn, while the song is playing, it is everything you ever wanted a song to be.
7. Shannon McNally, “Bring It On Home”: What can I say, I like it when I hear covers of old blues standards.
8. Thom Yorke, “And It Rained All Night”: Do you ever get the feeling that maybe all of Thom Yorke’s problems could be solved if he just got a little bit more sun?
9. The Yardbirds, “For Your Love”: Yeah, it’s a Yardbirds song without a guitar solo, which feels a bit like blasphemy, but it’s still a damn good song.
10. Waxahatchee, “Oxbow”: Hey, they have a new album coming out this year, don’t they? I’mma listen to that.