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  • Super Tuesday!!

    Not just for the Giants victory parade (GO BLUE!!) or the big Democratic primaries (GO BAM!!), but because albums come out this week by artists that lots of people care about. Yay for Super Tuesdays! Here are this week’s three most anticipated releases, in ascending order of whether I care about them or not.

    Since breaking on to the music scene in 1994, Sheryl Crow‘s been fairly reliable, dropping hit album after hit album in crunchy-rock style, mixing anthemic hits with more reflective material. Her sixth studio album, Detours, promises more of the same, notable because it marks a reunion with Bill Bottrell, who produced her Grammy-winnin’ debut album Tuesday Night Music Club. It’s also her first album since adopting a child as well as being diagnosed with (and subsequently beating) breast cancer. Hopefully this doesn’t lead to her beating her listeners over the head with political nonsense like Melissa Etheridge (bless her heart) did on her absolutely rotten last album.

    http://www.sherylcrow.com/

    Speaking of rotten last albums, I would imagine lots of copies of the more recent handful of Lenny Kravitz adorn the shelves of used CD stores nationwide. He started out aping John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Curtis Mayfield. After a 1998 Greatest Hits album cemented his staying power, Lenny then started to ape himself. Most of his recent songs have been Kravitz-by-numbers, and I’ll be honest with you: even his latest song, “I’ll Be Waiting”, sounds a HELL of a lot like 1998’s “Again” (his biggest hit). However, it’s a good song despite the self-parody and it might bode well for Lenny’s new album (his eighth) entitled It Is Time For a Love Revolution. Once a hippie…

    http://www.lennykravitz.com/

    Well, Jack Johnson isn’t exactly a hippie, but a quick listen to any of his albums will tip you off that the Hawaiian based surfer/rocker’s lyrical style is based on hippie ideals. This is not a bad thing, as Jack’s records (four of ’em if you include 2006’s Curious George soundtrack) are all highly recommended by yours truly. If Jimmy Buffett was thirty years younger and played the comedian angle a lot less, he’d be Jack Johnson (but probably not as good…hopefully I don’t get assassinated by a Parrothead for saying so). Anyway, for those of us who have high-stress city lifestyles and want to imagine what life is like barefoot on the beach with a ukulele, check out Jack’s Sleep Through The Static, my personal recommendation out of this week’s new releases (although the songs on Sheryl’s site sound good enough that I’ll probably get all three albums).

    http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/

    Check out a full list of this week’s new releases at: http://www.pauseandplay.com/cdfront.htm

  • Nope, Nothing Came Out This Week, Either…

    Well, we’re only a week or so until Sheryl Crow, Jack Johnson and Lenny Kravitz kick off with the first superstar releases of 2008. In the meantime, there are a handful of more niche-y kind of albums out this week.
    The Grammy Awards are a week from Sunday, and of course, every year there’s a compilation CD spotlighting the nominees. This year’s comp features Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Paul McCartney and just about everyone else noteworthy up for a gramophone. If you’re looking for a step-up from the average “Now That’s What I Call Music” compilation, this just might be up your alley.
    Shelby Lynne, who you might remember winning a Best New Artist Grammy in 2001 (despite having recorded for over a decade by that point) has an interesting new release out called “Just A Little Lovin’”. 9 of the 10 tracks are covers of songs that Dusty Springfield originally recorded, and although I don’t really have much use for Dusty, I am madly in love with Shelby (I even got to hug her once), and this album is now part of my collection.
    Joe Jackson (no, not Michael’s dad) has a new album out this week called “Rain”. The guy’s been around 30 years and still has the goods-I hear this album’s excellent (although the jury’s out on whether I’ll actually buy it). Joe is well-known for his eclecticism, jumping from power-pop to jazz to reggae at a whim, so if you’re the adventurous type, you might wanna check it out.
    Also, there’s a new set from the indefatigable (it must be the weed) Willie Nelson out, the sophomore set from hard rock upstarts Bullet For My Valentine, a 2-CD deluxe version of Beck‘s breakthrough “Odelay” (I call it his breakthrough because, seriously, how many of you thought he was a one-hit wonder after “Loser”?), a new Blind Boys of Alabama record (if you wanna get your spiritual on), a new Sarah Brightman record (if you wanna get your classical on), and the first Statewide release from Swedish pop singer Robyn in nearly a decade. You might remember her from hits like “Show Me Love”. She was one of the first artists to benefit from that Max Martin pop sound that ruled the late Nineties, and then Britney Spears went and stole her career. Well, she’s still big in Europe, and “The Rakamonie EP” marks the first time that global hits like “Konichiwa Bitches” are available on these shores.
    And I admit it. I wanted to say “Konichiwa Bitches”. So I’ll say it again.
    Happy shopping.

  • Hangin’ Tough…Again!!

    I am a child of the late Eighties and early Nineties. It’s when I became a teenager and really started to develop my musical taste. Somewhere in between getting caught up in the golden age of hip-hop and digging bands like R.E.M., Nirvana and Pearl Jam, I also developed a soft spot for the pop music of the day. So a perusal of my record collection will unveil names like C&C Music Factory, Rick Astley (I don’t care what you say…that boy could sing) and, yes, New Kids on the Block. I wasn’t a super-fan (trust me, I’d admit if I was), but I remember going to The Wiz on Fulton Street in Brooklyn and buying my copy of “Step By Step” (on cassette) the week it came out. I own (still) every album they put out on CD (except for the Christmas album, which I believe costs a small fortune nowadays). I even own several solo albums by Jordan Knight and Joey McIntyre (and I owned the Danny Wood solo album at one point, which wasn’t that bad!).
    At any rate, this leads up to people.com’s report that NKOTB is reforming to tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Hangin’ Tough” (has it been that long? I’m…feeling…really…fucking…old). If you log on to nkotb.com, you’ll also hear what sounds like new music, which leads me to believe that a new album is either being worked on or it’s completed (which, truthfully, excites me way more than a tour does). Either way, for all you New Kids fans out there (and the response I’ve gotten from many of my friends leads me to believe that there are WAY more of you out there than you’re willing to readily admit), be prepared to relive your childhoods. NKOTB is back!!!
    (By the way, I just read that Danny Wood said on his MySpace page that there are no current plans for a reunion tour…although that is quite obviously new music on the group’s site. It could mean that the boys are staying mum, and it could mean that there will be a new album and/or a one-off performance…who knows?)
    I swear I have never seen this video before:
    Low-budget as hell.