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Pop Rock Nation

Category: People

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  • New Release of the Week 5/26/09: Mandy Moore

    mandy

    When she debuted ten years ago with the pop confection “Candy”, no one thought Mandy Moore had any legitimate staying power. Yet here she is, kicking off her second decade in the biz. Of course, in that time she’s evolved from a teenybopper pop artist into a folk-influenced adult pop singer. Her new album, “Amanda Leigh” (the title is her given first and middle name) comes out today, and it’s the follow up to 2007’s well-received “Wild Hope”. I don’t have a lot of info on the album, but I wonder if her new hubby, Ryan Adams, makes an appearance. Heh. If you’d told me in 2001 that Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams would be husband and wife, I’d have asked for some of what you were smoking.

    Here’s Mandy’s video for “I Can Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week”.

    Here’s what else you’ll find in stores and online this week.

    Marilyn Manson The High End of Low: Everyone’s favorite malcontent is back with a new album. Manson’s returned to the headlines recently after being cited in yet another school shooting, however, his shtick has gotten pretty old by this point, and the shock value has long since died down. Does anyone still care? I guess we’ll find out.

    Julian Marley Awake: Bob certainly multiplied, didn’t he? For those keeping score, Julian was once a member of the Melody Makers with his brother Ziggy and two of his sisters. This solo record contains a cameo from the Lost Boyz’ Mr. Cheeks (where has he been hiding?), as well as, of course, several members of the very large Marley clan.

    Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: These indie rockers have built up quite a buzz over the past couple of months. They scored a plum spot as the Saturday Night Live musical guest before even releasing their new album. “Wolfgang” has also gotten great reviews from mags like Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly.

    Boyz II Men Cooleyhighharmony: Expanded Edition: You’ve gotta wonder sometimes who decides to make these deluxe album packages. Some of the others coming out in the near future I can understand (like, for example, Charles Mingus’ “Mingus Ah Um” and Dave Brubeck’s “Time Out”, both of which are also released today), but Boyz II Men’s first album? Nothing against the guys, I’m just not sure what value Hip-O Select saw in putting this out. At any rate, it contains two previously unreleased tracks and a shit-ton of remixes, and I’ve written more about it than any album other than Mandy Moore’s, so it must have some value, right?

    Check out the entire list of this week’s new releases here.

  • Jay Bennett, Formerly of Wilco, Dies at 45

    Jay Bennett, a former member of Grammy winning alt-country/alternative/folk/rock band Wilco, passed away Sunday night from unknown causes. Bennett was a multi-instrumentalist and engineer for the band, who was kicked out in 2001 after well-documented squabbles with band leader Jeff Tweedy (which continued after Bennett was ousted from the band). Recently, Bennett filed suit against Tweedy, claiming he was owed royalties for work he did while a member of Wilco.

    In addition to his work with Wilco (which included the critically adored 2001 album “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”), Bennett recorded a handful of solo albums and also worked as a session musician for artists including Sheryl Crow.

  • The Top 100 Songs of the ’00s, #97: “Promiscuous”

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    Remember pre-“Promiscuous” Nelly Furtado? All cutesy and quirky. A far cry from the sex goddess we now know her as.

    She and Timbaland (who, as much as I think he’s overrated, is responsible for 8 or 9 songs on this list) had worked together before (on Missy Elliott’s “Get Your Freak On” remix and a single for forgotten femme-cee Ms. Jade), but “Promiscuous” was the song that revitalized both their careers.

    Adding “sexy”, to “sassy” and “spunky”, Nelly and Timbo traded lines in a manner most flirtatious. Furtado proves herself a pretty capable rapper (at least these days), while Timbaland debuted his new Eighties-inspired production style. The result? A jam that lit up dance floors during the early summer of ’06.

    Great song and all, but I believe Nelly when she says that Timbaland didn’t know the meaning of the word “promiscuous” when he wrote the song. Who’s gonna go to a club and say “hey, girl who sleeps with everybody, I want YOU!” “OK, guy who sleeps with everybody…let’s get together!” Although, if you’re getting around that much, your game probably is MVP like Steve Nash.