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  • New Music In Stores & Online: 8/12/08: Jonas Brothers, “American Mall”, NKOTB and More!!!!

    It’s another quiet week on the music front…why do I feel like I’ve been doing nothing but repeating myself for the last three or four weeks? At any rate, unlike last week, there’s at least one release guaranteed to do big numbers, and that release is…drumroll please…

    The cover of the new album by the Jonas Brothers, entitled \"A Little Bit Longer\".

    1) The Jonas Brothers “A Little Bit Longer”
    Website

    Honestly? I always got the Jonas Brothers and the Naked Brothers Band confused until the lead singer did a face plant at the American Music Awards last year and jumped right back up like a trouper. The only one of the brothers whose name I even know is Joe Jonas, because, well, how can you forget a name like Joe Jonas? If anyone else my age knows any more information than this about the New Jersey-based teen band, then you either a) have a teenage daughter or b) should be waiting for the feds to come in and seize your computer. Anyhow, this album has gotten surprisingly good reviews from the likes of Blender & Entertainment Weekly, and the brothers recently landed the cover of Rolling Stone. Not bad. Expect this album to lead next week’s chart by quite a large margin.

    More new releases after the jump…

    (more…)

  • Music To Synchronize Swim To: Music for Team USA

    So, if you’re like me and you’re completely bored with just about everything on TV, you’re probably watching at least some of the Olympics. While ordinarily things like gymnastics and diving wouldn’t turn my crank, I guess I can take it once every four years. Plus, it’s always nice to see a team like the U.S. Men’s Basketball team either annihilate everyone in their presence or get upset by some ragtag team (take THAT, spoiled Yankee athletes!!)

    Anyway, the folks at AT&T have joined forces with some of today’s hottest musical artists to put together a soundtrack for Team USA. Much like Olympic-related albums in the past, these songs are largely inspirational anthems. Unlike most Olympic-related albums in the past, these songs are only available through AT&T wireless phones OR this site:

    www.att.net/TEAMUSA

    Among the artists featured are Colbie Caillat, Queen Latifah, 3 Doors Down, Nelly, Chris Brown, Lady Antebellum and the Goo Goo Dolls. Here’s a little teaser/sampler of some of the music you can get.

  • Monday Morning Inspiration: “If I Am”

    The Long Island-based band Nine Days was barely more than a blip on the pop culture radar screen. They scored a huge hit in 2000 with “Absolutely (Story of a Girl)”, which was one of the most annoying songs of the year, and I was unfortunately dating someone at the time who absolutely loved it. I think I heard it so many times I finally gave in and said “OK, OK, I like it”.

    I don’t remember when I came into possession of Nine Days’ debut album, “The Madding Crowd”, but one song on the album (which turned out to be the follow-up single and strangely nowhere near as big a hit) affected me a great deal.

    The good thing about lyrics is that they generally tend to be ambiguous enough that you can formulate the meaning of the song to whatever suits you. While “If I Am” may indeed be about a guy expressing his devotion to a girl, it could just as easily be about someone talking to a friend who’s going through a rough patch and trying to shake him or her out of their doldrums.

    The lyric “you should never let the sun set on tomorrow/before the sun rises today” is probably as profound (and truthful) as pop music gets.

    The video sucks, so maybe it’s best to just listen to the song, but at least I’ve given you the option, right? Whatta guy.