Is it just us, or is the whole world going crazy? Thriller is headed to Broadway. Reformed drug addict Amy Winehouse is planning to record her new album in smoke-friendly Jamaica. And Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, the world's best live band, used recorded tracks during their Super Bowl performance. Yup, the end is definitely near.

Here's a rundown of the essential albums available online and in record stores today:

Changing Horses, Ben Kweller's country-leaning new album, arrives Feb. 3 via ATO Records. One of its best songs is "Sawdust Man," a slow groove with slide banjo and saloon-like piano, which Kweller describes to SPIN.com as having a "'70s, Leon Russell cocaine vibe."

Indie-rocker Ben Kweller spent his youth listening to classic rock and country, and developing his musical skills with help from his dad's close friend (and longtime Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young sideman) Nils Lofgren.

This past weekend, San Francisco's Golden Gate Park welcomed the eighth annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, with its truly eclectic bill, including Gogol Bordello, Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello, Iron & Wine, and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, among others. Another performer: country-lovin' indie-rocker Ben Kweller.

Contrary to internet murmurs earlier this week, Radiohead won't be providing the entire score to the movie adaptation of Choke, a novel by Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk.