Mike Doughty - Golden Delicious

Mike Doughty's new album continues his ambition to showcase his music with more of a "band" feel, and here he takes it to another level, allowing many of the songs to include all out jam sessions. Mike's music continues to mature, and this is as good as he's ever been. Tracks like Fort Hood, I Just Want The Girl In The Blue Dress, and Nectarine are pure Mike Doughty. But on most of these tracks he brings his band more to the forefront. Another highlight is the full-band, amped-up, re-recording of 27 Jennifers (originally heard on the Rockity Roll EP). While this song's overly polished slickness seems like overkill for a song that started out as a simple accoustic number, you can't help but tap your foot along anyways. Now if we could just figure out why he decided to include the silly and out-of-place More Bacon Than The Pan Can Handle, which is a pretty embarrassing track on what is otherwise a superb album.

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend is the best new band of 2008, according to every hipster in 2007.  I would describe their music as the Soundtrack to a Wes Anderson about upper middle class college-age kids from out East on vacation and drinking in a tacky tiki bar, but I'm not a writer so I'll cite the people with these jobs. 

I dig tracks #1, #5, & #8 after the first listen. Since then everything has changed I like other songs just as well. Enjoy. 

Posted will listened to Barack Obama is great talk. 

Real Emotional Trash - Stephen Malkmus & Jicks

Somewhere in the post Pavement world Stephen Malkmus decided that it would be a good idea to try to bring back the jam. Why he decided this is beyond anyones guess because according to anyone who knows anything that any song over 10 minutes is inherently terrible. Anyone who has sat through a Phish show and was not stoned knows what I am talking about. Real Emotional Trash has only one of these songs, which is good. It's not that the title track is a bad song, it is actually quite good, it is too damn long, and has some unnecessary parts.

I like this record. It maybe SM's closest work to Wowee Zowee era Pavement. Former Slater Kinney drummer Janet Weiss makes a solid addition to the Jicks as the cornerstone to the rhythm section. Hilites of the record include the stoned out opener Dragonfly Pie and the first single Baltimore. I also really like Elmo Delmo which seems like a left over track from The Terror Twilight, if it was about 3 minutes shorter.

What is missing from this album is a sense of fun. Oh I am sure SM & Jicks had a great time with is record, but there is a lack of playfulness within the songs. There are no psychedelic freakouts, references to Geddy Lee, or Oysters. Which I think ever song or album should contain.

Anyway Enjoy,