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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: New Music

  • New Releases 1/12/09: Vampire Weekend and More!

    Let’s get right to business.

    *Vampire Weekend’s debut was my favorite album of 2007. It was really light in mood, had a fun vibe, and was different from just about any album that came out that year. In the fickle world of indie-rock blogging, you’re only good until the mainstream has caught up with you, and with a guest appearance on “Saturday Night Live” and almost 500,000 albums sold, they certainly don’t qualify as anyone’s secret anymore. While I have no doubts about the musical merits of their sophomore release, “Contra” (which is out today), I am curious to see how many hipper-than-thou types turn their noses up at the band when they wet their pants at the mere mention of the band’s name two years ago.

    *If you’re like me, you hear the name “OK Go” and you think “treadmills”. Their video for “Here We Go Again” was a viral sensation. Even though I knew of them before the video (thanks to a song called “Get Over It” from their first album which appeared on an MTV compilation), they’re going to be stuck with that video probably for the rest of their careers. Anyway, the power-pop band is releasing album #3 today. “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky” is the title-and I assume said title is a joke and not the band trying to be pretentious.

    *For those of you who make sure to tune in to “106 & Park” every night, you’ll be very happy to know that former B2K member Omarion is releasing his latest album, called “Ollusion”. This guy has a pretty dedicated fan base, but for whatever reason he just can’t seem to cross over. Two of his three previous solo albums debuted at #1, but quickly skidded down the charts and neither has crossed the million-sold mark here in the States. Having been released from his Sony Music contract, Omarion is now on his own EMI-distributed label after brief and unproductive stints in the camps of Timbaland and Lil Wayne.

    *Isn’t it good to know that Ringo Starr’s still kickin’ around? The legendary ex-Beatle releases “Y Not” today, and it’s filled with as many guest appearances as one would expect from someone who gathers a ton of A-list musicians and heads out on the road every year. The featured artists on Mr. Starkey’s latest effort include Ben Harper, Richard Marx, Joe Walsh and some guy named McCartney.

    Get the full list of this week’s releases (as well as future release dates) over at Pause and Play .

  • New Releases 1/5/10: J5, Kanye and More!!

    Welcome to January, folks. The flood of releases has slowed to a trickle, but it hasn’t totally died off. Here are a few of the releases attracting people to stores or their local DSPs this week.

    Ke$ha “Animal”-True story. I don’t recall having EVER heard Ke$ha’s “Tic Toc”, despite the fact that it’s been the #1 record in the country for the past two weeks and recently broke a record for most legal downloads in a week. So in order to not seem totally out of touch, I’m listening to the song in the background while I type this. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to get through this whole thing. Granted, I come into this prejudiced: strike 1 for Ke$ha is that she sang the chorus of Flo-Rida’s obnoxious “Right Round”. Strike 2 is that she has a stupid-ass dollar sign instead of an “S” in her name.

    Sorry, I just had to turn that off-it’s terrible. Give me Robyn. Give me Lady GaGa. Hell, I’d even take Fergie over this crap!! No wonder people talk so much shit about pop music these days. Anyway, for those of you who would be interested in this (and God help you if you are), her debut album comes out today. Watch it become a huge hit.

    Katharine McPhee “Unbroken”: Show of hands-how many of you remember Katharine McPhee? She’s the chick that placed second to Taylor Hicks (and beat out Elliott Yamin and Chris Daughtry) on American Idol back in 2006. Of course, she wound up selling the least out of the four. This is probably because she gave off the vibe of a mature jazz/standards diva on the show and then wound up doing a complete 180 and making a Beyonce record. Still, one must admire the fact that she still has a major label contract (with legendary jazz label Verve, at that!). Her sophomore release will probably be a little more in line with what we heard from her on “Idol”.

    Kanye West “Storytellers”: Is Kanye’s career over? This CD/DVD won’t tell us the answer because it was recorded at the beginning of 2009, a good nine months before Taylor-gate. I’m not sure what the purpose is of releasing this, since there was a point in time when it came on every half-hour on VH-1 and VH-1 Soul, but for those interested in hearing Kanye’s slightly unhinged ramblings, this one’s for you. Me, I’ll just wait until the next studio album.

    (By the way-I don’t think Kanye’s career is over. You think the average Kanye West fan gives a fuck about Taylor Swift?)

    Jackson 5/Michael Jackson: Reissue Campaign: The Jackson onslaught continues. Universal has remastered and re-released every Motown-era Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson solo album, with the exception of the first two, “Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5” and “ABC”, which are still available in a two-fer package. Vinyl junkies can also rejoice, because these reissues are also available on wax. And if you know how difficult it is to find vinyl copies of some of these albums, you’ll truly appreciate the re-release. Personally, I’ll be picking up a few of these to fill a couple of holes in my collection.

    Anyway, that should be more than enough to satisfy you music junkies. Get a full list of this week’s releases here.

  • New Releases 12/21-22/09: Mary J. & More!!!

    I’m pushing this out a little earlier than usual for one reason:

    Mary J. Blige’s “Stronger with Each Tear” is available on amazon Mp3 for $3.99 for today only! Four bucks for a Mary J. album-ANY Mary J. album-is a pretty good deal. I broke my longstanding embargo on buying digital for this, figuring you couldn’t beat the price. Although “Stronger” appears to be on the average side of Mary albums, hell…it’s only four bucks!!

    Also out today (or tomorrow):

    Didn’t buy Eminem’s “Relapse” yet? Want to embarrass yourself by buying the work of a past-his-prime rapper and giving it to your kid, whose probably already moved on to someone else? Well, knock yourself out. “Relapse: Refill” hits stores this week, and if what I’ve heard of the unreleased material is any indication of what the entire album sounds like, stay the hell away. When you haven’t had anything new to say in almost a decade, it’s probably time to hang it up, and the fact that Eminem is in his mid thirties and still slinging poop rhymes and gay-baiting means that, despite his considerable skill, it looks quite unlikely that I will ever pick up another Eminem album for the rest of his career.

    The only other notable release is the “We Are Young Money” compilation from the Lil Wayne-led campaign. Weezy has already done his part for promotion by getting arrested late last week for marijuana possession. Artists appearing on this compilation include Drake, Nicki Minaj, Pleasure P, and Lloyd. In other words, yawn…

    With that, we close up shop on new releases for 2009. January 2010 will bring new music from the likes of Peter Gabriel, Vampire Weekend and Ke$ha, as well as reissues from The Jackson 5 and Maxwell. As always, you can get a full list of this week’s releases here!