DOWNLOAD: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Live @ Palace Theatre (9/30/08) // Hear "Ashes & Fire" In Full Now

Ryan Adams is set to release his thirteenth studio album, Ashes & Fire, on October 10th through his own label PAX-AM (in conjunction with Capitol Records). We've already heard the first single "Lucky Now," and below, in case you missed it, you can also see a live performance of the new album's title track. If you're interested in hearing more, NPR currently has the entire album up for streaming here.

To celebrate the release of Ashes & Fire, I want to share with you a concert from Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, one of my favorite live performances I've ever heard. I've been meaning to share this for quite some time now. This particular concert took place in Cleveland, OH on September 30, 2008 and featured a 26-song set spanning many of Adams' releases from the past decade. You can download the concert for free below. And while you might think a free concert bootleg might be a bit poor in terms of sound quality, this actually sounds like a professional recording captured for a live album. Really.

Hear A New Ryan Adams Song from "Ashes & Fire"

In case you didn't hear, Ryan Adams is back -- seemingly unretired from music -- and is set to release a brand new studio album entitled Ashes & Fire on October 11 via his PAX-AM label/Capitol. This is Adams' first release of all new material since 2008's Cardinals record Cardinology -- last year's double album III/IV was a collection of material culled from sessions that ended up producing 2006's Easy Tiger. Ashes & Fire was produced by Glyn Johns (The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Clash, The Who, The Rolling Stones), a man who also happens to be the father of the Ethan Johns who produced Adams' Heartbreaker, Gold, and 29.

Hear a brand new song from Ashes & Fire entitled "Lucky Now" below.

Brett's Top Albums of 2010

Brett Dean is our resident photographer here at Mixtape Muse. Although he hasn't had any work featured on the site since joining the team a few months ago, I can assure you that you'll be seeing some of his live photography work in 2011.

He asked me to post his choices, which you can scope after the jump. Please note that all the blurbs accompanying each selection were written by Brett, not me. Maybe we can get him to write a few pieces for the site, too, down the road.

Reflections, Ryan, and the Rain

It’s been miserable here the past few days. If it’s not raining the sky is still overcast, full of the same shades of gray, the same mess of clouds. I used to like the rain a lot, and I guess I still do. But when you have begun to grow tired of your daily routine and don’t see change on the horizon for a while, the weather can keep things exciting – it’s the one thing that does change from day to day. It’s been raining for a while. I never believed in that old adage “April showers bring May flowers” because it never really rained that much in April. That adage must be true now.

Last night it was raining and when I got in my car to drive home from school, it just so happened that I had Ryan Adams & The Cardinal’s Jacksonville City Nights playing. The record has a certain level of comfort that takes you in and lets your mind unwind. It’s got a loose and natural feeling that was highly fitting for the short trip home. It was past two in the morning, so the streets were empty aside from the washes of color laid down by the street lights and traffic lights on the rain water. Highly memorable.

Jacksonville City Nights + a drive in the rain…try it sometime.