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Pop Rock Nation

Category: Releases

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  • The New Music Files 1/27/09: The Boss is Back

    bruceWelcome to the first “big-name” release date of 2009. There’s something for everyone this week, whether you’re an indie snob, a meat and potatoes rock ‘n roller, or a nostalgic hip-hopper. Here’s a quick taste of what’s new and interesting.

    Bruce Springsteen Working on a Dream: There was apparently a wealth of good material that didn’t make the cut on Bruce’s last album, 2007’s Magic, so he and the E Street Band have cobbled the rest of those moments up, polished them a little, and voila. Working on a Dream is here. With Bruce’s usual intense character studies, anthemic rockers and political message, The Boss’s legion of followers is sure to be satiated.

    Franz Ferdinand Tonight!…Franz Ferdinand: The Scottish foursome scored a huge smash with “Take Me Out” a few years back, but their follow-up didn’t fare as well. Album #3 promises more of the dance/rock sound that brought the band fame, with a little bit more emphasis on the “dance” side of the equation. This could be the sleeper of this week’s releases.

    The Bird & The Bee Ray Guns are Just Not the Future: I discovered this mellow duo via their ethereal cover of The Bee Gees’ “How Deep is Your Love”, and picked up their self-titled debut as well as Please Clap Your Hands, the EP that contained said cover. Album #2 should blow them up, hopefully to the status of kindred spirits like Feist. Someone hook these folks up with an iPod commercial, stat.

    Hoobastank For(n)ever: Crappy title, generic band, quite probably the end of their career, unless lightning strikes again and the band comes up with another “The Reason”-type hit.

    Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes Eye Legacy: Why a Left Eye solo album is being released seven years after her death is totally beyond me, especially considering her solo debut (which was released overseas but canned by her label here in the States) was widely available as an import (hell, I own it…). Even more galling is the fact that this album contains plugged-in guest verses from the likes of Missy Elliott, Chamillionaire and Bobby Valentino. This is one I’d definitely say stay away from, or at least tread carefully.

    Elsewhere, Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante releases his latest solo album, The Empyrean, which features a guest shot by bandmate Flea. James Ingram tries his hand with gospel on Stand (In the Light), a collection of spiritual songs. Jayhawks frontmen Mark Olson & Gary Louris team up for Ready for the Flood, while my man Duncan Sheik continues his exploration of theater with Whisper House. And for those of you who are up for hearing Steve Martin play and sing, you might wanna check out The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo, which is sure to be more exciting than “The Pink Panther 2”.

    On the reissue/compilation tip: Grammy Nominees 2009 arrives in stores just a little under 2 weeks before the big show, and Motown celebrates Valentine’s Day with Love Songs collections from The Commodores, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight and the Pips and The Jackson 5. Speaking of the J5, the albums Destiny and Triumph are being remastered (finally!) and re-released, from their later days as The Jacksons. Six Alan Parsons albums also get the remaster/reissue treatment, while Kylie Minogue and Rihanna both come out with remix albums. Finally, in the “we never asked for this” column, there’s a 20th Anniversary Special Edition of…Tone Loc‘s Loc-ed After Dark, for those of you (all five of you) who care to delve beyond Wild Thing and Funky Cold Medina.

    Happy shopping, folks. Get your complete list of this week’s releases here.

  • The New Music Minute: Will Your Life Suck Without the New Kelly Clarkson Song?

    Now that American Idol is back, you’re gonna see a lot of Idol-related artists and things poking their heads out to create some kind of synergy with the show, and lo and behold, Kelly Clarkson is back. Last we heard from Kelly, she and label head Clive Davis were at loggerheads over the direction of Kelly’s career. He found Kelly’s album My December (which really wasn’t bad) uncommercial, while Kelly was insulted by the fact that Clive wanted her to record with songwriters-for-hire and wasn’t appreciative of her following her muse. My December went on to sell a respectable (these days, at least) 800,000 copies, but her previous album sold 6 million, so we know who won that battle.

    So, Kelly’s gone back into the studio with her tail between her legs, and the first single from her upcoming fourth album is My Life Would Suck Without You. Maybe I need to give the song a few more listens, but I have one fundamental problem with it. It sounds EXACTLY like her breakout hit, the Grammy-winning Since U Been Gone. Um…it also sounds quite a bit like Jimmy Eat World’s The Middle. Not that I’m against artists who have a particular sound and go back to that well on occasion, butseriously: if you were drunk and listening to Suck…, you could fit the words to Since U Been Gone in here. That song was lightning in a bottle, and Kelly’s already proven herself talented enough to vary her sound up a little, so the end result is a little disappointing. Take a listen and tell us what you think.

  • The New Music Files 1/13/09: No-No-Notorious!!

    notoriousHey, we took a break for a coupla weeks and now we’re back. The music industry is slowly shaking out of it’s slumber, and while there aren’t any superstar releases for a couple weeks still, there is some interesting niche-y kinda stuff getting released. We’re gonna roll with a new format this year and see if it sticks.

    The big deal this week is the release of the Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious on Friday, and a few days in advance of the movie’s release, we have the soundtrack. This will be the 4th compilation of B.I.G.’s material released since his death. There’s fairly significant overlap between this CD and the Greatest Hits album Bad Boy put out two years ago,with the exception of a couple of demos, and one song featuring B.I.G.’s 12 year old son. Let’s hear it for exploitation!!

    Not much else going on. Jam band lovers can rejoice because the Derek Trucks Band is releasing their new album, Already Free today. On the R&B side, we have new releases from the bluesy Syleena Johnson and former Broadway star Heather Headley, whose first gospel album comes out today. All you jazziacs can take a listen to the new Ravi Coltrane and Joshua Redman releases, and late 90s fetishists can pick up the new (hed) p.e. album.

    A few interesting things going on as far as reissues. The Now That’s What I Call Music series turns its’ attention to Motown just in time for the pioneering label’s 50th anniversary with a track listing remarkably similar to the Motown #1s CD that came out about half a decade ago. Odessa, one of the Bee Gees‘ earlier efforts, gets the 2-disc deluxe treatment today, and Sony’s environmentally friendly Playlist series has a ton of new entries, ranging from Run-DMC and The Jacksons to Van Morrison and Dan Fogelberg.

    You can get the full list of new releases here.