Icky Thump - White Stripes

Don't get excited boys, it is not the The White Stripes forthcoming album of the same name. It is just the single, and not a great copy of that. It is from some XM radio show, it has annoying intro and outro from some DJ with a fake, or seemingly fake British accent. If you want the a good quality single I suggest going to the iTunes Music Store (normally I would give you all the single but with the stupid DRM it was too much of a pain in the ass.)

It will give you a good idea of what the song is all about. In my humble opinion this song kicks all kinds of ass. It is a return to the pre 2005 Stripes. It is just Jack's circling guitar licks and and Meg literally thumping on the drums. The only thing I am not sure about is the lyrics. they fit the song, but towards the end there is a weird part about America or something. It doesn't make much sense to me.

So enjoy.

****This post updated while watching That 70's Show*****

Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars

2007 is the year of the crappy album title. From Arcade Fire's Neon Bible to The Shins' Wincing the Night Away artists have had a lot of trouble coming up with a decent album title this year. Rufus Wainwright's 5th studio album is no exception. Release the Stars is a horrible name. It conjures up an image of Rufus shooting stars out of his genitals (which would have been a pretty cool album cover, though). Why? I don't know.

The album itself rises above the terrible name. Rufus is a master of blending a a lush operatic style with pure pop sensibilities. It is not quite as lush as the disappointing Want Two but not as pop as Poses or his self titled effort. The album produced Neil Tennant (of the Pet Shop Boys) and Marius De Vires, at times suffers from the layer upon layer effect, muddling the song into a mass of orchestral movements and lazy enunciation. And really parts of some songs are wholly unnecessary. (ie the part from Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera.)

The biggest complaint of the album as a whole is Rufus' enunciation. I think lyrically Rufus is one of the best song writers out there, his songs have a sly wit which make you think, laugh and cry. Most notably on this album is, Between my Legs, which suffers from over production, is lyrically a master peice. If I casually listen to the album I am hard pressed to understand what the hell he is saying half the time. This album demands several listens. Each time you will pick up nuances each time.

It is nice to see Rufus return to the more pop of his earlier work. I think many Rufus fans were afraid that he might turn his back on pop entirely and try to make it big in the Met's revival of La Boheme. All in all a nice solid effort by "The Tit Man".

This post updated while listening to Icky Thump by the White Stripes and Release the Stars by Rufus Wainwright.

Wilco-Down at the Dust Bowl

Here is one for all the Wilco fans out there. A friend of a friend gave me a copy of Wilco-Down at the Dust Bowl. I can not find out anything about it on the net. Maybe one of you know more about it. It is mostly live recordings of familiar tunes.

THIRTEEN SENSES-Contact

Thirteen Senses follows in the suit of Coldplay and Travis. A British band that gets a bad rap in the states for sounding like the others.

The new Thirteen Senses is a lot of Coldplay, but they really branched out with their sound from their debut. Not so many radio friendly hooks and choruses, rather well thought out songs that really focus on the instruments and lyrics to pull the heart strings, not some cheesy video and a montage on Grey's Anatomy.

I actually did a little experiment with Thirteen Senses new album here at work. I gave it to 3 women and a gay man who hate most of what I like musically, but love soft singing cheese dick music like Gavin Degraw or James Blunt. They are a little mixed on the album. They love his voice, but will probably not be putting the disc back in the rotation any time soon.

Either way, check out CONTACT, FOLLOW ME and SPARK.

GOLDEN SMOG-Blood On The Tracks

I figure a few of you (ALL) would want this album. Havn't listened to it yet, but I was told that Jeff Tweedy was not involved with this album. Bowie's Starman is excellent.

TRAVIS-The Boy With No Name

Finally, a new Coldplay, wait, scratch that, TRAVIS album!! I think some of Travis is much better than Coldplay, but to each their own.

I am on my yearly Britpop phase right now, and am loving the new albums from The Rakes, Arctic Monkeys, Thirteen Senses and now Travis.

The new Travis is less like 12 Memories, and more like the radio friendly sound that got them some coverage here on this side of the pond with Invisible Band and The Man Who.

Wilco - "Hate It Here"

When you pre-order Wilco's new album, Sky Blue Sky, you get to download a video. It's basically Jeff, Nels, Mike, Glenn, and John performing the song "Hate It Here" in their practice space. No sign of Pat in this video, maybe he's the one behind the camera. Anyway, there is a version of the album that comes with a bonus DVD of the guys playing and talking about songs from the new album. I would gather that this is a taste of what the DVD will be like. I've posted the video for your viewing pleasure, check it out in glorious Quicktime (MPEG4, h.264 @ 627kbps). Enjoy.

Finally, somebody not going to rehab

I finally managed to procure a copy of Amy Winehouse’s newest, “Back to Black” and have uploaded it to the site.
I am told in certain circles that she is quite well known and was quite the child-prodigy, but her music is new to me.
If you haven’t heard her before, think Sara Vaughan or Macy Gray, only tiny, Jewish, anorexic and covered in tats.

The singles are “rehab” and “you know I’m no good”.

Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True

My iPod loves Elvis Costello, it always lands on his music when I shuffle songs. Maybe that's because I have more than 10 hours of Elvis Costello's music in my library mostly thanks to my brother. This album is a classic (1977) and a good introduction to his great story telling and pure rock n' roll style. I'll let some of the more hardcore Elvis fans like Kevin weigh in on the importance of this album. Enjoy.