Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

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

Alicia Keys & Jack White Perform For 007: This Could Be Interesting

I like Alicia Keys. She’s made progressively better albums. She’s certainly good looking. I give her props just for being a contemporary R&B singer who plays an instrument.

I love Jack White. The White Stripes have one of the most consistent catalogs in rock currently. If you were to pick any band to come of age in the 21st century so far that’s a lock for the rock & roll hall of fame, The White Stripes and Coldplay would probably be it. And I’m willing to forgive that shitty first Raconteurs record (I didn’t even bother with the second one).

Alicia Keys (photo by Jusez)

But together? For the theme to the new James Bond movie? Doesn’t that just seem a little…weird?? Well, you’ll get to hear the results of their team-up soon enough. “Another Way To Die”, the theme to the upcoming 007 feature “Quantum of Solace” will hit stores as part of the movie’s soundtrack in late October. Not to say both artists haven’t exercised their collaborative juices before. Keys has worked with everyone from Nas to Christina Aguilera to John Mayer, while White produced Loretta Lynn’s comeback album “Van Lear Rose” and was behind the boards (and behind the guitar) for “Go It Alone”, one of the best songs on Beck’s “Guero” album. I guess soon we’ll see if these two great tastes wind up tasting (sounding) great together.

OK, Alicia got the pic. Jack, you get the video. Fair?

July 29, 2008
New Music In Stores & Online 7/29/08: Wow, This Is Bad

In most years, there’s a period from mid-July to mid-August during which NOTHING comes out. As a record buyer, this is frustrating because you’re walking into record stores and not finding a thing that strikes your interest. On the other hand, with the holiday selling season closer than you think, it might be a good idea to save your money for the deluge that awaits.

Anywhere, here’s my five picks (if I must) out of this week’s releases. How bad is it? I’m actually mentioning one of the same releases this week that I mentioned last week. Thank God for semantics.

Sugarland “Love on the Inside”-The hottest country duo in the land took an interesting tactic with their new release. It came out last week in a “deluxe” edition, while this week marks the introduction of the presumably less-bells-and-whistles containing (and cheaper) regular version. Ten years ago, if you were to tell me that I’d even be considering buying an album like this, I’d have laughed you into September, but I’ve acquired a fondness for modern-day country. Although I’ve not heard much of Sugarland (aside from the godawful duet with Bon Jovi that I mentioned in last week’s column), I could very well be tempted to check this one out.
$Country duo Sugarland\'s new CD \"Love on the Inside\"$
http://www.sugarlandmusic.com/splash.html

Rick Springfield “Venus in Overdrive”-Here’s something that just might freak you out. The guy that teenage girls drooled over in the early Eighties (my cousin had a picture of him hanging in her bedroom back in the day) is approaching 60. SIXTY. Nevertheless, the indefatigable Springfield continues playing and touring. This is Rick’s first album of original material in five years. His last album, “The Day After Yesterday” was an interesting collection of covers. I said “interesting”, not good.

http://rickspringfield.com/

(more…)

July 29, 2008
“Like I Never Left”-Whitney’s Back!

I’ll admit that I’ve never been the world’s biggest Whitney Houston fan. She’s held my interest for 2 or 3 songs per album, though, and I certainly won’t deny that she’s in possession of an amazing voice. A voice that, to my ears, has gotten better as she’s aged. Her last two studio albums, “My Love is Your Love” and “Just Whitney” found her tackling material that was a bit more mature and substantial than the likes of “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” and those God-awful Michael Masser ballads that she started her career singing.

Whitney Houston in concert, 2007 (Photo: JKevin01)

As anyone on the planet Earth knows, Whitney’s career has been derailed by all sorts of drama: the tempestuous marriage to Bobby Brown and subsequent divorce, problems with various substances that left the former model looking like the sister of Pookie as played by Chris Rock in “New Jack City”, the fact that her daughter Bobbi Kristina is already going to need YEARS if not decades of extensive therapy. However, over the past year or so, Whitney has made several public appearances (usually in the company of her label owner/Svengali Clive Davis) and has looked damn good. While rumors of a new album have been floating for quite a while, we finally get our first taste of the scheduled-for-November release with “Like I Never Left”.

And the verdict? It’s a pretty good song, with a mellow, summery vibe. It’s not a blow-the-doors-open huge single, but Whitney’s in fine voice, the song doesn’t try too hard to align itself with current trends, and Akon (by some strange act of God) turns out to be a pretty decent duet partner. If he can do do this for Whitney, there might be hope for that Akon/MJ collaboration after all.

Take a listen for yourself. What do you think?

July 28, 2008