And Ever

I have, through foul means, come into possession of a copy of the new Titus Andronicus album, THE MONITOR. While very much a sequel to the previous record (THE AIRING OF GRIEVANCES), it has ambitions all its own. Someone's been listening to very early Billy Bragg a lot, for instance: the song "Richard II" has the shreds of the Bragg song "Richard" embedded in it, and the final track opens with classic Bragg-style narrative songwriting and percussive guitar.

But the most pleasurable surprise ...