Mike Doughty - Sad Man Happy Man

aka "Mike Doughty Rediscovers the Cello." This album has Doughty going back to his roots. And I mean that in 2 ways....his Soul Coughing roots are being revisited in the form of out-of-tune string instruments popping up on a bunch of songs. And also, this album sounds much more like Skittish than it does like either of his two newer albums...meaning it's a lot of (but not exclusively) just him and a guitar, no band. Which, in the end, makes this much less of a pop album than his previous two were. I gotta admire the effort by Mike, and this "progression" mostly succeeds. A few songs are strange just for the sake of it, and it's at those moments the album unfortunately stumbles a bit. But it wouldn't be a Mike Doughty album without those "experiments", so I've learned to expect them, if not embrace them. At least there isn't a "More Bacon Than The Pan Can Handle" track this time. *shudders*
(This review brought to you by your local Mike Doughty enthusiast. My apologies if you didn't follow what I was saying. I'm not usually this elitist.)

Built to Spill - "There Is No Enemy"

Here's Built to Spill's new album. I've only discovered these guys about 4 years ago, even though they were making music while I was in high school in the mid-nineties, their music doesn't feel old or dated to me. I'm not really able to tell you what this sounds like or if it's novel or anything, I just know I love their sound. This new album is quite fantastic, one of their better albums, so if you dig 'em, rock out.

Alice in Chains - "Black Gives Way To Blue"

Alice in Chains comes out with their first new album in over a decade. The new lead singer sounds a lot like Layne Staley (maybe too much like him?), but maybe that's just Jerry Cantrell's backing vocals making it seem closer than it really is. Either way, the Alice in Chains sound seems to be perfectly intact. I'm digging it.