Making a List, Checking It Twice

"I first heard this as a child at a piano recital. This very brilliant boy played it, and I was transfixed. Jacob from Semisonic gave it to me when I was recovering from surgery, and I listened to it for a month. It was a source of peace and comfort; the Percocet was also very helpful."

"I tried to pay for it 12 times and got hung up on by their server—it kept kicking me off. I gave up, and then someone gave it to me. I'm going to buy the geek version anyway. I'm a fool for them."

Dixie Chicks, Wide Open Spaces

"My daughter Coco is an obsessive Chicks fan. She made me listen to it 100 times this summer. I mentioned it to Emily [Robison], and she said, 'I hope it hasn't ruined the music the way my son has ruined 'We Will Rock You' for me.'"

Matt Sweeney and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Superwolf

"Rick Rubin made me listen to this over the phone. He said, 'Check it out!' and held his phone up to the speaker. This is the album I wore out. It's very tender and really rocking at the same time—full of amazingly surprising moments, really proportionate and beautiful, but also kind of 'off.'"

Keith Jarrett, The Carnegie Hall Concert

"I got hyped on that from reading reviews. Jarrett's got this crazy ability to have each hand do completely different things, both very wildly—and then it snaps into place as this gospel, vampy, swinging thing. He's just so audacious."

Mike Doughty, Golden Delicious

"Technically speaking, I listened to this album more than any other on the list, but now I'm listening to it just for enjoyment. Usually it takes me a couple years to have the distance, but for some reason I've been able to really enjoy this album. John Kirby played a lot of loose, free, very spontaneous melodies—a lot of it was really unscripted." —S.A.

Los Angeles

Dave Navarro Covers the Spread

Looks like Dave Navarro is going to be all about instant gratification next year. The L.A. native guitarist, who launched his own Internet TV show and directed his first porno in 2007, has obviously become inspired by both the immediacy the Web provides and the adult film industry's quick turnaround.

"These things come out during that burst of inspiration"—no pun intended—"whereas with records, by the time you're talking about it, it's something you created long ago," he explains. "That's one of the things I'm looking forward to with future music projects. I'm just going to immediately put out stuff online as I record it, song by song."

And although Navarro's most recent proper band, the Panic Channel, featuring his former Jane's Addiction band mate Stephen Perkins, is "up in the air" after a less-than well-received Capitol release late last year, Navarro still has music to make and fans eager to see what he'll do next. That might include performances with his all-star cover band Camp Freddy (also the name of his radio show on LA's Indie 103.1), jamming on live guitar over his pal DJ Skibble's scratch attacks for select club dates or one day (maybe) even reforming Jane's.

"There haven't been any conversations, but at the same time it's something very close to my heart," he says. "It seems there's such a space right now for great live bands. If the Eagles can get together and do another tour, I don't see why we can't."

In the meantime, making more artistically minded porno films might be in the cards. In fact, he got an e-mail during our interview notifying him that Broken, the flick he co-wrote and directed for Tera Patrick's production company Teravision, had just been nominated for five Adult Video Network awards, including best director.

Right now Spread TV, the talk show he launched this past spring on Mania TV (the same Web station Tom Green calls home) is his main focus. Airing Thursdays at 5 p.m. Central, the show features everyone from actors to local freaks to people with problems for whom he often brings on psychotherapists to help. Think Dr. Phil, Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Stewart with a rock and roll twist.

"The overall feel of the show is fun and lighthearted, but at the same time we want to get into serious issues as well," says Navarro, who did his time on "real" TV, co-hosting both editions of CBS singing competition Rock Star and starring in a reality show with ex-wife Carmen Electra. "My show is anything and everything me and my partner Todd Newman find captivating."

That includes up-and-coming bands, who often play live on the show. A few have become favorite artists for Navarro's off-air listening as well. Here are his current musical addictions.

Gravenhurst, The Western Lands