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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: New Music

  • New Release of the Week 1/26/10: Corinne Bailey Rae

    Corinne Bailey Rae’s self-titled 2006 debut was one of the surprise successes of 2006. Her amalgam of soul and acoustic pop won her 2 million fans here in the states and won her a ton of Grammy nominations, and she did it without the benefit of a huge radio hit.

    It’s pretty fair to say that a follow-up would have taken less than four years to complete, had Corinne’s husband not died from a drug overdose back in 2008. That event shook Corinne to her core, and she went through a period where she (justifiably) did not feel like writing songs and making music.

    Finally, two years after her husband’s tragic death and nearly four years since her debut album’s release, Corinne is back with her sophomore work, “The Sea”. Advance reviews have largely been positive, and I’m looking forward to hearing the album. You can check out my pal Jeff Giles’ review of “The Sea” over at Eat Sleep Drink Music right here.

    Also out this week:

    *Lady Antebellum “Need You Now”: This co-ed trio is the hottest thing in country music right now not named Taylor Swift. The title track has already been a huge country hit and it’s made its’ way into the Top Ten on the pop charts as well. Expect “Need You Now” to open at the top of the Billboard charts next week with huge numbers.

    *Michael Jackson “This is It” DVD: Those of you who didn’t get the chance to catch “This is It” in theaters really missed out. Despite the drug addict rumors, Michael was on top of his game as he was rehearsing for his run of shows in England. He also comes across as more human than anyone who’s followed him in the past two decades would think. Seriously-even if you’re not a super-fan, you’ll be impressed by the movie. There’s not a ton of bonus footage on the DVD, which kinda sucks.

    *Barry Manilow “The Greatest Love Songs of All Time”: Is it me, or has Manilow done about 30,000 different versions of covers albums? Isn’t this guy a songwriter? Can’t he write his own material?

    *David Sanborn “Only Everything”: One of the few horn players I can think of that I can immediately recognize when I can hear him-the others are Miles Davis and (sigh…) Kenny G, Sanborn is a legendary figure in jazz as well as pop, having played with everyone from David Bowie to Lenny Kravitz. I also have a soft spot for the guy because I was at one point co-workers (and friends) with his son Jonathan and he was surprisingly cool for a celebrity’s kid. His daddy raised him right. Anyway, the elder Sanborn’s new album features guest appearances from James Taylor and Joss Stone, among others.

    Get the complete list of new releases from the fine folks at Pause and Play here!

  • First Listen: Gorillaz’ “Stylo”

    Since the Gorillaz project was conceptualized a decade or so, I’ve gotta say that in terms of Damon Albarn projects, they’ve been my favorite. Blur’s always been kinda scattershot for me, and The Good, the Bad and the Queen was one of those albums I regretted buying after the first listen. Honestly, I could care less about the marketing gimmick (in this case, the band being “animated”)-all that matters to me is whether the music is good or not. For the most part, it has been, and Gorillaz has rightfully become the most critically adored and commercially accepted project of Albarn’s career-at least here in the States.

    Anyway, there’s a new Gorillaz project coming later this year entitled “Plastic Beach”. The first single from it is called “Stylo”, and it features Albarn’s nasal vocal tones with assistance from a vaguely-recognizable Mos Def (who has officially recovered his mojo) and soul legend Bobby Womack (who can still sing with power past retirement age, if this song is any indication). The song itself is a little on the repetitive side, but I like the overall vibe of it. All Gorillaz songs seem to have this haunting quality to them.

    Check out the song on Gorillaz’ official website and let us know what you think.

  • New Releases 1/19/10: Spoon, RJD2 & More

    Hope that those of you who had a 3-day weekend had a good one, and hope that those of you in Massachusetts made it out to the polls today. Welcome to yet another Tuesday, one in which there are less new releases than normal-yep, it’s January. Here are some of the highlights.

    Spoon “Transference”-I really tried to like “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga”. Really. It just didn’t do anything for me. Of course, that probably just shot down the tiny sliver of indie cred I have left, but I don’t care. I did catch Spoon doing a soundcheck a couple of months ago, and they sounded pretty good-until the actual show, when they were completely upstaged by the two bands opening for them (Phoenix and Passion Pit). Anyway, we’re not about negativity here-this album should officially catapult Spoon into the major leagues.

    RJD2 “The Colossus”-Ramble John Krohn, better known as RJD2, splits the difference between Moby and DJ Shadow. Each successive album has been less hip-hop based and more indie-pop based, which is fine. The guy’s talented. People slept on his last album, “The Third Hand” (which, to me, was Moby-er than ever before), but it was pretty good. “Colossus” might be my sole purchase this week.

    “Crazy Heart” Original Soundtrack-If you watched the Golden Globes Sunday night, you’re well aware that Jeff Bridges took home the Best Actor in a Dramatic Motion Picture trophy for his performance of a down-and-out country singer in “Crazy Heart”. Newcomer Ryan Bingham also took home Best Original Song for “The Weary Kind”, also from this movie. Bridges (who turns out to be a pretty fine singer) turns in a few vocal performances here, as does Colin Farrell (!). The soundtrack was produced by T-Bone Burnett, who brought us one of the most popular soundtracks in recent years: “O Brother Where Art Thou”.

    Also in stores today: a new one from Motion City Soundtrack (produced by Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus), British favorites The Editors (produced by legendary boardsman Flood, of Depeche Mode and U2 fame) and a new Eels record.

    Get your complete list of this week’s releases here.