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  • New Releases 4/29/08: Madonna, The Roots and More!!!


    Last week was so bereft of quality releases that you knew there was going to be an overflow this week. How fitting that my last new release Tuesday in NYC is going to find me spending a LOT of money!! Here’s the hotlist:

    Madonna “Hard Candy”: Madge is back, she’s dropping the final album on her Warner Brothers contract, and she’s finally dropped the electronic flavorings that she’s favored for the last decade in favor of the R&B-leaning pop that she began her career with. Of course, working with Reggie Lucas, Chic and Jellybean Benitez in ’83 means working with Timbaland, Pharrell and Kanye West in 2008. It’s certainly not her first flirtation with hip-hop/R&B (see “Bedtime Stories” and “Erotica”), and if lead single “4 Minutes” is any indication, we might be getting the best Madonna album since “Ray of Light”. Not bad for a 49-year old mother of three, eh?

    http://www.madonna.com/

    The Roots “Rising Down”: Another act wrapping up their contract, The Roots are ending their ill-fated tenure on Def Jam with a bang. “Rising Down” is a pointedly political work (which means that it will be severely bungled by the Def Jam folks), featuring cameos by Roots album mainstays like Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Interestingly enough, the most commercial song on the album (“Birthday Girl”, which features Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump) was ultimately dropped from the album because it didn’t fit thematically. Well, thematic continuity or no, The Roots’ creative resume is damn near impeccable, and their last three studio albums have been almost perfect, so great things are expected from me on this one.

    http://okayplayer.com/

    Portishead “Third”: Anchored by the sultry/creepy vocals of Beth Gibbons, Portishead helped kick off the British trip-hop movement with 1994’s classic album “Dummy”, an album that still gets heavy rotation in my CD player. After a 10 year absence, Beth and instrumentalist Geoff Barrow are back. Although the reviews I’ve read of the album have been almost uniformly awful (and Barrow has not made any friends in the press, slinging darts at the likes of Danger Mouse and Prince), I’m still interested to hear what the duo has come up with after so long apart.

    Home page

    Estelle “Shine”: Estelle also comes from across the pond. The young singer is the first artist released on John Legend’s Homeschool Records. Given Legend’s star power (and the industry’s current fixation with British female vocalists), it’s no surprise that Estelle’s debut features a star-studded cast including Kanye West, will.i.am and Mark Ronson. First single “American Boy” is cute enough and has gotten a pretty good buzz. Can Estelle follow in the (musical, not personal) footsteps of Brit divas like Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen?

    http://www.estellemusic.com/

    Robyn “Robyn”: I posted a blurb about Robyn a month or two back, when “The Rakamonie EP” was released, and her self-titled full-length album (her first American release in a decade…what is UP with some of these artists) hits stores today. Most of you who remember her obviously do so from the singles “Show Me Love” (not to be confused with house music diva Robin S., who *also* had a 90s hit called “Show Me Love”) and “Do You Know (What It Takes)”. Well, she’s grown up, she has an attitude problem, and she’s making some of the best pure pop music around right now. She’s kinda like Fergie, only GOOD.

    http://www.robyn.com/

    And that’s not it, folks!!! Augustana try to stave off one-hit wonderdom with their sophomore release, “Can’t Hurt, Can’t Love”, Def Leppard’s “Songs From The Sparkle Lounge” is their latest attempt to stave off irrelevance, former neo-soul guitarist/vocalist Lyfe Jennings offers a more commercial side on “Lyfe Change”, complete with T.I. and Snoop Dogg cameos, teenage girl rapper Lil’ Mama’s debut FINALLY hits stores a year after “Lip Gloss” became a Top 10 hit, British soul singer (and critical fave) Jamie Lidell drops “Jim” today, Mudcrutch (the band that eventually became Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) release their self-titled debut today (which may be this week’s sleeper hit), we have new albums from punk legends Mindless Self Indulgence and rock en espanol legends Mana, rock legend Steve Winwood (fresh off a tour with Eric Clapton)and hipster fave Santogold.

    Damn. Do you think folks could have thrown some of this stuff into last week when there was nothing out worth mentioning? Geez.

    Happy shopping!!

    Oh…and get a complete list of this week’s releases here: http://www.pauseandplay.com/cdfront.htm

  • I Guess Mr. Collins Has Had His Phil


    So the music world has been rocked-ROCKED, I say!!-by the announcement that Phil Collins is retiring from touring and releasing new albums.

    OK, so I’m being a little sarcastic. Considering Phil hasn’t made a better-than-average record in a decade and a half (some folks would say more, some would even say he’s *never* made a better-than-average record), I don’t think a whole lot of people are wiping away tears at Phil’s retirement. Actually, his decision to bow out now should probably serve as sort of a guideline for most rockers who find themselves north of 50.

    That said, I’m far from a Phil Collins hater. Over the past thirty-five years or so, Phil’s established himself as not only one of rock’s best drummers, but also s a fantastic pop craftsman. Even if you’re not a pop fan, you’ve gotta admit that through the Eighties, he ranked as one of the decade’s best singles artists-and he’s certainly one of the better blue-eyed soul singers the world has produced. I’ll even admit that about four years ago, I dragged my then-boss to an intimate concert Phil held in New York City that was filmed for a VH-1 special that I don’t think ever aired. Anyway, I even made my boss (who DETESTS Phil Collins and Eighties’ pop in general) stay after the show and wait in line just so I could shake Phil’s hand and tell him how big a fan I was. I’m surprised I didn’t get fired afterwards.

    I really wanted to include the clip of Stewie Griffin singing “In The Air Tonight” to pay tribute to Phil, but Youtube doesn’t have it, dammit.

    So instead, you get one of my favorite songs of the decade: “Sussudio”. Enjoy. We’ll miss you, Phil. Enjoy skiing in the Swiss Alps and boinking hot chicks young enough to be your daughter. And take Tony and Mike with you so they don’t try to reform Genesis with some lameass lead singer again.

  • Chart Chat 4/27/08: Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis, Madonna And More!!


    With NO further ado, I now present you with this week’s Top 20 singles and albums, courtesy of the good folks over at Billboard.

    Top 20 Albums:

    1) “E=MC2” Mariah Carey
    2) “Spirit” Leona Lewis
    3) “Best of Both Worlds Concert” Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus
    4) “Lady Antebellum” Lady Antebellum
    5) “Now That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 27” Various Artists
    6) “Troubadour” George Strait
    7) “Alvin & The Chipmunks Soundtrack” Various Artists
    8) “Juno Soundtrack” Various Artists
    9) “Accelerate” R.E.M.
    10) “Taylor Swift” Taylor Swift
    11) “Trilla” Rick Ross
    12) “Sunset Man” James Otto
    13) “Sleep Through the Static” Jack Johnson
    14) “Welcome To the Dollhouse” Danity Kane
    15) “Daughtry” Daughtry
    16) “Jordin Sparks” Jordin Sparks
    17) “Vol. 3-4: Alchemy Index” Thrice
    18) “Snakes & Arrows Live” Rush
    19) “Little Voice” Sara Bareilles
    20) “The Odd Couple” Gnarls Barkley

    Top 20 Singles:

    1) “Lollipop” Li’l Wayne feat. Static Major
    2) “Bleeding Love” Leona Lewis
    3) “No Air” Jordin Sparks Duet With Chris Brown
    4) “Love in This Club” Usher feat. Young Jeezy
    5) “Touch My Body” Mariah Carey
    6) “4 Minutes” Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake
    7) “Sexy Can I” Ray J. feat. Yung Berg
    8) “Love Song” Sara Bareilles
    9) “With You” Chris Brown
    10) “See You Again” Miley Cyrus
    11) “Low” Flo-Rida feat. T-Pain
    12) “Say” John Mayer
    13) “Don’t Stop the Music” Rihanna
    14) “Damaged” Danity Kane
    15) “Stop & Stare” OneRepublic
    16) “Pocketful of Sunshine” Natasha Bedingfield
    17) “Boss” Rick Ross
    18) “Apologize” Timbaland feat. OneRepublic
    19) “Independent” Webbie, Li’l Boosie & Li’l Phat
    20) “Sorry” Buckcherry

    *Of course, it’s all about Mariah this week, as “E=MC2” becomes her sixth #1 album, putting her in a three-way tie for 2nd place among female artists with Madonna and Janet Jackson (Barbra Streisand is in 1st place, with 8). She should probably enjoy this moment, as Madge will in all likelihood bump Mariah back to 3rd place when “Hard Candy” is eligible to chart the week after next.

    *Although the 463K Mariah sold marks the biggest sales week of 2008 so far and is also the biggest debut week of Mariah’s career, it might be worth noting that in 2007 among female artists, Carrie Underwood, Mary J. Blige and Alicia Keys ALL opened with bigger first weeks. Then again, Mariah’s albums tend to have legs, so we’ll see what happens.

    *Why is radio not playing “4 Minutes”? The Madonna/JT collaboration has been the #1 or #2 downloaded song in America for the past 4 weeks, but stands at #6 this week. From a radio standpoint, the 21st century hasn’t been great to Madge, with her only huge radio hit being 2000’s “Music”.

    *The group Lady Antebellum (which apparently features the brother of fake John Mayer/Katherine Heigl’s hubby Josh Kelley) becomes the second consecutive new country act to crack the Top 5 nationally. I just wanna know who the hell came up with that name.

    *The real John Mayer finds himself in the Top 20 with a second single in less than a month (he’s credited on Fall Out Boy’s “Beat It”). “Say” has been out for something like 5 months now, but makes it’s jump due to a performance on “Dancing With The Stars”. It’s a cute enough song, but after a breakthrough album like “Continuum”, it almost sounds like a throwaway.

    *Also getting a TV-related bump is Gnarls Barkley. Following an appearance on SNL (was Cee-Lo’s mike messed up? The sound was weird), “The Odd Couple” pops back into the Top 20.

    *Alicia Keys’ “No One” FINALLY disappears from the Top 20!! I love Alicia, but I was getting tired of having to type that out every week. Hopefully Timbaland’s grossly overplayed “Apologize” is next.

    *How come when folks mention superstar acts coming out with albums in the near future, no one mentions Usher. Let’s not forget: Usher was the last artist to open with a million-plus week, AND 2004’s “Confessions” is the most recently released album to attain a diamond certification for 10 million plus shipments. “Here I Stand”, which arrives on 5/27, could be a monster.

    *Next week should be a relatively quiet chart week, with Ashlee Simpson being the only notable debut (with a number WAY off the pace of her first two albums). Mariah should be able to hold her ground at the top for a second week, although Leona Lewis fever is just beginning, and her performance on “Idol” last week should cement her position as runner-up.