Loudon Wainwright III’s 22nd album extends the folk-rock autobiography that's made his body of work so impressive. It's a saga filled with Oedipal tension (his dad was a famed journalist, his son is Rufus Wainwright) and fraught love (ex-wives Kate McGarrigle and Suzzy Roche are folk icons)."The Days That We Die," featuring a passage written by his father with Rufus on vocals, and "I Remember Sex" captures the emotional range – from heart aching reflection to wry acceptance. It's riveting stuff; here's hoping the story doesn’t end for a long time.

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• Photos: Random Notes

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.