web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

music-news-from-breakups-to-the-lastest-buzz

  • The New U2 Album is “On the Horizon”

    U2. Photo by Zachary Gillman

    There was a collective sigh of disappointment among U2 fans when the Irish supergroup announced that they were not going to put out an album this year, although the reasoning behind it (“umm…we’re not ready”) was sound enough. At any rate, our patience has been rewarded, as it has recently been confirmed that the band’s upcoming album, entitled No Line on the Horizon, will be released in the U.S. on March 3rd. New Line will be the followup to 2004’s multi-Grammy winning behemoth How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. As a longtime U2 fan who is grateful that they got their mojo back after a couple of mediocre 90s albums (Zooropa and Pop), I’m certainly looking forward to this release, although this Billboard article states that one song will feature will.i.am. Groan. Also according to the article, this album will be available in five different configurations-including one that carries a $96 price tag. What? Bono, don’t you know we’re in a recession?

  • Christmas Music That Won’t Kill You – Part II: Christmas Past

    The other day I told you about some of the new Christmas CDs this year.  Now we are going to revisit some recommended holiday albums you may have missed in the past.

    Ray Charles – Spirit of Christmas
    Sounds awesome, right?  Nope, it’s merely very good.  It was recorded in the 80s, so it doesn’t have the immediacy of Ray’s recordings for Atlantic.  Pick this up if you’re looking for a big band romp through Christmas classics.  Ray is in great voice and the arrangements are strong.  Really strong if you consider when this was recorded.

    Ringo Starr – Christmas Collection
    This charming CD is pretty rocking in spots.  What record collection is complete without the world’s most famous drummer singing “The Little Drummer Boy?”  With bagpipes!  (Think about it; it makes sense.)

    Christmas Jug Band – Uncorked
    Christmas Jug Band is a collective of SF-area roots musicians.  Although they have released a number of CDs, this is their best because of the strength of the originals.  It’s perfect for people who dig folk, western swing, or skiffle and appreciate a certain kind of humor.  Many of the songs are supposed to remind one of older jazz or string band music, but the humor is modern.  Most humorous music is for kids, and because it talks down to them, it’s toxic to adults.  Christmas Jug Band is more like Peanuts.  The humor really functions at an adult level without excluding children.  If this sounds appealing to you, head over to www.globerecords.com and check out the audio samples.

    Kings College Choir – pretty much anything
    The Mormon Tabernacle Choir might be seen as THE Christmas choir, but Kings College Choir is way better.  Why?  Because the treble parts are sung by pre-pubescent boys instead of women.  You need a bunch of powerful women singers to do Wagner, but that’s just a little too Mall of the Americas for me.  Boys sound like bells or (I almost hate to say it) angels which seems much more appropriate if you are going for a religious experience.  They are all great so pick the one with the carols you like best.  Just be aware that anything subtitled “a lesson and carol service” will be half Bible readings.

    Various Artists – Midwinter
    This amazing 4-CD collection was released by Free Reed, who are known for their comprehensive British folk-rock box sets.  It contains the artist one might expect: Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, The Watersons, Martin Carthy, The Strawbs, Maddy Prior, Shirly Collins, Jethro Tull, etc.  With this bunch, you’re going to get a bunch of really old English songs with possibly pre-Christian roots.  The set also includes some Americans incuding Loudon Wainwright III, Blind Boy Grunt (Bob Dylan, but you knew that right?), Joan Baez, John Fahey, and even Mahalia Jackson.  The few spoken word pieces range from Robert Frost reciting “Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening” to an excerpt of The Grinch featuring Vincent Price.

    I could go on but Rock Dad has some crafting responsibilities.  Let’s open this up to comments.  What favorites or guilty pleasures do you have?

    I’ll be back soon with Christmas future.  What the heck could that be?  No idea.

  • Not Necessarily The News – DMB, Prince and (of course) Kanye

    What Would You Say?: If DMB Went Back To Work:
    After a four-year absence from the studio and the loss of saxophonist Leroi Moore, the Dave Matthews Band are soldiering on with a new album and tour. The album is scheduled for release on 4/14, with the tour kicking off in New York on the same day. This new album is produced by Rob Cavallo, who manned the boards for Green Day’s massive “American Idiot” album (speaking of which, where the hell are those guys??). As a veteran of DMB shows numbering into the double digits, I am looking forward to both a new album and tour from these guys. See? I can write something without being smarmy!!

    Photograph by Penner.

    What Will Wendy & Lisa Say?
    In the “I Love His Music, But The Guy’s a Douchebag” department, Prince allegedly revealed himself as a homophobe by saying “God came to Earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out”. Of course, Prince (who, in case you haven’t heard, has been a Jehovah’s Witness for the past several years)’s people denied that he made the statement, but the New Yorker, the magazine in which the statement was published, is standing by the quote. Talk about sticking your foot in your mouth, especially when you’re an artist who has traded in on gay imagery and tons of gay fans for years. I wonder how a cuban heel tastes in your mouth, Mr. Nelson?

    Mr West: Lip Synching?
    So, according to this news clip, the message boards are abuzz, wondering if Kanye lip-synched his “Saturday Night Live”. Folks, find a place somewhere that has the clips of his performance and you tell me if he’s lip-synching, because if I was miming, I’d have made sure the vocals I was miming to sounded a hell of a lot better than Kanye’s did on Saturday night. Kanye fairly obviously used a background singer to hit the high notes he would have otherwise muffed, and the Auto-Tune was in full effect, but anyone with half an ear can tell the dude wasn’t lip synching.