Worth all 2,548 yen

I thought I'd talk a little more about these here "Jacksonville City Nights" bonus tracks I've been gushing about. I was looking around online, hoping there was some way I could hook up my stateside homies with the goods, but no luck so far -- unless you want to buy an imported Japanese version of the disc, going right now for upwards of $35 on eBay and elsewhere. I guess you'll just have to wait for the EP or box set or maybe just Ryan Adams' next CD, due out in December.

CD buyers in the UK and commonwealths got "Jeane" and "Always on My Mind," I think, while Japan got those two songs as well as a demo called "What Sin Replaces Love." Not sure why the extra love for Japan -- maybe it's out of guilt for sort-of blaming Japan for "a bug" he caught while playing the Fuji Rock Festival? Yeah, Ryan, I know. That sake hangover -- I mean, "bug" -- can be a bitch. For reals. Anyway, whatever the reason for the extra love, I shall take it and bask in it.

My favorite of the bonus tracks is "Always on My Mind" -- duh. We have sweet Ryan on this one, as opposed to angry Ryan or depressed Ryan or self-destructive Ryan or cocky Ryan, which is always nice. But we also have Norah Jones on harmonies (at least I think it's her -- my liner notes for that track are in Japanese, which I can't read). Now, I love me some harmony, and it's not that Norah does a bad job here, but this is a rare song that I think is better done very sparsely, very solo. Preferably just a man and his guitar, really, though the drums and string arrangement on this version aren't too obtrusive. But still -- it's such a ruminative, personal song that any two voices seem like one too many to me. But add it up and it's just a great song, sung well.

Also quite the worthy bonus is "Jeane," about finding a kindred spirit, if only for a night or so. Not quite as country as the rest of the album, but a nice strummy rockish mellow song. Something that could have fit in nicely on "Heartbreaker," I'd say, in terms of vibe.

And then there's "What Sin Replaces Love," which is a slow bluesy manifesto clocking in over nine minutes, most of it noodly guitar jamming. He loses me a little with lyrics like:

"Imagine yourself on a mountain/ A mountain discolored with flowers/ Flowers discolored with horses/ Horses distracted by storm/ Storm distrusting and mean/ Yeah, then you might know what I mean."

Uh, OK. But then he awesomes me out with:

"I want to kick love right in its guts/ Beat it and leave it for dead/ Go and wash my hands in the river/ And lie down and die in your bed."

Maybe if he gets (and listens to) a good editor one day, this song can be tightened a little and make a right nice addition to one of the 200 albums he'll probably put out, say, next year.