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Pop Rock Nation

Category: Releases

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  • New Release of the Week 5/12/09: Green Day

    green-day

    They’re ba-a-ack!

    After a five year layoff, America’s favorite punks have returned with yet another “rock opera” sort of album, called 21st Century Breakdown. First single Know Your Enemy is already burning up the charts (it’s currently the #1 modern rock single in the country), and this release has the potential to be huge (or at least what passes for huge in the music biz circa 2009). Strangely, Green Day’s record company isn’t putting this one out until Friday, not the typical new release day in America. Let’s see how many folks out there start off their weekend with some Green Day.

    Here are some other notable titles hitting store shelves this week:

    Cam’ron Crime Pays: The Harlem bred-rapper was big in the mid-Nineties, took a bit of a layoff, came back strong with singles like Oh Boy and Hey Ma in 2002, and then fell off the radar again, even as his proteges Jim Jones and Juelz Santana spawned hits on their own. He’s back again, with what he hopes will be another comeback album, Crime Pays. I haven’t heard anything from this yet, and Cam’ron’s penchant for wafer-thin lyrics and simplistic rhyme styles means I probably never will!

    Steve Earle Townes: Those of you who can get your hands on a copy of last Sunday’s New York Times should check out an article that was written about alt-country main stay Steve Earle and his relationship with the late Townes Van Zandt. Earle served as kind of an apprentice to Townes, and now the apprentice salutes the teacher with a tribute album.

    Paul Wall Fast Life: Who knew this guy was still around? Asher Roth may have displaced him as America’s second-favorite white rapper, but Houston’s Paul Wall isn’t going to take that challenge lying down. The man with one of the most ostentatious grills in rap music (and quite possibly dental) history is back with a new album. Will the fans who were around for Houston rap’s moment in the sun three or four years ago come back?

    The Crystal Method     Divided by Night: This electronica outfit has a pretty interesting guest list for their current album. Among the featured artists are Hasidic reggae-rapper Matisyahu, New Order’s Peter Hook, and…wait a second. Is this the same Justin Warfield who recorded the Q-Tip-esque Season of the Vic back in the early Nineties? Apparently not. This Justin Warfield is 1/2 of She Wants Revenge. Oh well. A man can hope.

    Get a complete list of this week’s new releases here, and for those who don’t know who the hell Justin Warfield (not the She Wants Revenge guy) is, here’s a video for you.

  • First (OK, Second) Listen: Daughtry’s “No Surprise”

    After selling a kajillion copies of his debut album, Chris Daughtry and his namesake band are back. “No Surprise” is the first single from their new album, which is due in July. Daughtry premiered the song on “American Idol” last night (which I didn’t watch…go Celtics), and it’s exactly what you’d expect. A big, hooky rocker that sounds a LOT like Nickelback (the comment section here says Chad Kroeger co-wrote, which wouldn’t surprise me at all). Anyway, I won’t bore you with any further introduction. Check out the song and let us know what you think.

  • New Release of the Week 5/5/09: Elliott Yamin

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    Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!

    Elliott Yamin’s debut album became one of the more unexpected successes of 2007, scoring Gold sales and spawning a huge hit single with “Wait for You”. After releasing a pair of holiday albums, Yamin is officially back with his second proper album, entitled “Fight for Love”. Elliott took a more active role in the songwriting this time around, and also found the budget for some more big-name collaborators. While Yamin has thankfully not gone the guest rapper route, he is collaborating with the likes of Stargate (who also co-composed “Wait for You”) and Jermaine Dupri. We’ve premiered the single and the video here on SonicClash, so rest assured that this is an album we’re pretty excited for.

    Here’s what else is arriving in stores and online this week:

    Ciara Fantasy Ride– Ciara’s third album was originally scheduled to come out last fall, but got pushed back due to a variety of reasons. Now, with a pair of hit singles under her belt (“Never Ever” with Young Jeezy and “Love, Sex & Magic” with Justin Timberlake), Ciara is ready to unleash her latest project onto the world. Other collaborators on this album include Missy Elliott and Chris Brown, who was somewhat controversially not removed from his featured track after the whole Rihanna brouhaha.

    Chrisette Michele Epiphany-Still an unknown to most people who aren’t fans of contemporary R&B, the jazzy-voiced Michele initially scored as a hook girl for Def Jam labelmates Nas and Jay-Z before scoring a modest hit with her debut album “I Am”. She even won a Grammy earlier this year for the song “Be OK”, which featured will.i.am. Michele’s second album moves her into a more contemporary zone, with up-to-date writing and production by the likes of the ubiquitous Ne-Yo. This one might be worth checking out-look for it to be the sleeper hit of the week.

    Ben Harper & Relentless 7 White Lies for Dark Times-I’ve never been much of a Ben Harper fan-he’s always struck me as a milquetoast version of Lenny Kravitz (some of you may argue that Lenny’s already milquetoast enough). Anyway, he’s certainly prolific, releasing albums at an almost once-a-year clip. “White Lies” features a new band called the Relentless 7. The jury’s out as to whether that’ll make his music any more interesting, though.

    Peaches I Feel Cream-If Prince had never found Jehovah and was still putting out nasty records by his female proteges, it would be pretty easy to see him getting behind Peaches, for whom filthy is an understatement. I’m not exactly sure what “electroclash”, but I guess that’s a hipster way of saying she makes modern-day dance music, kind of like a Lady GaGa with a much worse attitude and stronger libido. She’s an acquired taste, but if you’re into her, you’re probably already on your way to the record store to pick this up.

    As usual, get your full list of this week’s new releases here.