How Would You Spend It?

I have recently been fortunate in that I have come into a small amount of wealth. Nothing major mind you. I won't be purchasing a condo or a boat or even a new pair of winter boots (desperately needed, btw) any time soon. No, instead I have amassed a nice little quantity of iTunes gift cards. This is exciting, as I love music. Unfortunately, I am always a step behind everyone else in identifying the interesting new bands to listen to.

My taste is as eclectic as any other typical music appreciator's. I enjoy classic rock (Elvis; Beach Boys during their Pet Sounds era; Rolling Stones; Pink Floyd; the Beatles), Jazz (Miles Davis; Oscar Peterson; the Dizz; Chet Baker; Coleman Hawkins; Theolious Monk), Glam/New Wave/Punk/80's (Blondie; the Ramones; Talking Heads; David Bowie; the Cure) Brit Pop (My Bloody Valentine; Blur; Stone Roses and all those groups that sound just like them); Indie (the Shins; The Wrens; Spoon; Camera Obscura; Ted Leo etc); Pop Alternative (The Strokes; Franz F; the Killers; Snow Patrol in VERY small doses); Chick Music (Ani; Liz; Sarah M); Alt Country (Neko; Lucinda; Ryan Adams; Wilco); Old School Country (Willie, Dollie, Patsy) and of course, all the music I learned to like in college when surrounded by music snobs (Slint; Sonic Youth; Tortious; anything else somehow associated with Steve Albini). For some reason though, it simply never occurs to me to read music publications or websites, so I never know what new bands are out there that I might like, or what already established acts have a new album out. I feel constantly and hopelessly behind the new music curve.

So today I am going to throw a hypothetical out there. Let's say you had taste in music similar to mine, what three albums would you buy? I should note that last night I purchased an album by Calfone (their newest) and the new Decemberists. I am also considering the Hold Steady, the Racontuers, and now that Jason reminded me of them, Dismemberment Plan (I have one album and like it but always seem to forget about it). I already nixed Joanna Newsom, Snow Patrol and Bloc Party, and I seriously cannot get into Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Suffice to say, I like tunes that rock, and I'm especially digging those that have a slight Bluegrass twang. But even that's not even a requirement.

What say you?

Ps: Sorry for the rampant punctuation errors. Yes, I am aware of my semi-colon misusage. I just don't care enough about language machanics today to go back and self-edit.

Update! Okay, so in addition to Califone (not Calfone) and the Decemberists, I have downloaded The Hold Steady and the Raconteurs. In fact, they're downloading as I type this. I still have some credits left, so I'll reassess tomorrow. EJ, Old Crowe is sounding really good. And yes, we did discuss this at Townhouse a couple weeks ago. Your suggestions are still under advisement. Ray L, I already own, but it was a great suggestions. I also just realized there's a Wren's that *gasp* I do not own. Thumbs up/down? And finally, Musical Guru--I burned all four disks of Nuggets for my mom for Christmas. Thanks again for burning that for me.