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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: New Music

  • New Release of the Week 6/9/09: Teena Marie

    teena

    Former protege of Rick James, vanilla soul sister, the one and only Lady T. Whatever you call her, Teena Marie is back with her first album in four years, “Congo Square”. The first single, “Can’t Last a Day” has already made noise at urban radio, and with a guest lineup including MC Lyte, Howard Hewett and Faith Evans, it’s sure to spawn even more hits. The R&B scene has been extra-weak so far this year, so here’s hoping Teena’s new album is the kickoff for a good second half of the year on the soul music front.

    Here’s what else comes out tomorrow:

    Mos Def The Ecstatic– After wowing us ten years ago with “Black on Both Sides”, Mos confused us with the overreaching “The New Danger” and then completely threw us off with a deliberate throwaway album in “Tru3 Magic”, an album so lazily put together it didn’t even have a cover. Now off the Geffen label and on Downtown Records (home of Gnarls Barkley, among others), Mighty Mos is back with an album that will hopefully knock the bad taste of the last couple of records out of listener’s mouths. Early reviews are promising.

    Black Eyed Peas The E.N.D.– On the other side of the hip-hop coin are the Black Eyed Peas. My distaste for them is legendary, but what I find more striking is the fact that their new song “Boom Boom Pow” has been the #1 song in the country for the past eight weeks and I have not heard the song ONCE. I’m sure the BEP will sell kajillions of records without my support anyway.

    Sonic Youth The Eternal– After nearly two decades in the MCA/Geffen family, New York alternative legends Sonic Youth are back on an indie label for “The Eternal”. These guys (and girl) have a pretty strong cult following, and since they’re not gonna make a pop breakthrough anytime soon, I don’t think it matters *what* label they’re on. They’re gonna sell what they’re gonna sell anyway.

    Pleasure P. The Introduction of Marcus Cooper– Pleasure P is the former lead voice of raunchy R&B outfit Pretty Ricky, and this is his solo debut. “Boyfriend #2” has already hit the Top 5 on the R&B charts, and the big production guns were definitely brought out for this release, including Cool & Dre, Ne-Yo and Keith Sweat. You’d think that a lot of these groups would stay together longer. It’s not like anyone’s leaving an R&B group these days to have an awesome solo career. Anyone seen Slim from 112 lately? How about Sisqo?

    A full list of this week’s new releases can be found here.

  • New Release of the Week 5/26/09: Mandy Moore

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    When she debuted ten years ago with the pop confection “Candy”, no one thought Mandy Moore had any legitimate staying power. Yet here she is, kicking off her second decade in the biz. Of course, in that time she’s evolved from a teenybopper pop artist into a folk-influenced adult pop singer. Her new album, “Amanda Leigh” (the title is her given first and middle name) comes out today, and it’s the follow up to 2007’s well-received “Wild Hope”. I don’t have a lot of info on the album, but I wonder if her new hubby, Ryan Adams, makes an appearance. Heh. If you’d told me in 2001 that Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams would be husband and wife, I’d have asked for some of what you were smoking.

    Here’s Mandy’s video for “I Can Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week”.

    Here’s what else you’ll find in stores and online this week.

    Marilyn Manson The High End of Low: Everyone’s favorite malcontent is back with a new album. Manson’s returned to the headlines recently after being cited in yet another school shooting, however, his shtick has gotten pretty old by this point, and the shock value has long since died down. Does anyone still care? I guess we’ll find out.

    Julian Marley Awake: Bob certainly multiplied, didn’t he? For those keeping score, Julian was once a member of the Melody Makers with his brother Ziggy and two of his sisters. This solo record contains a cameo from the Lost Boyz’ Mr. Cheeks (where has he been hiding?), as well as, of course, several members of the very large Marley clan.

    Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: These indie rockers have built up quite a buzz over the past couple of months. They scored a plum spot as the Saturday Night Live musical guest before even releasing their new album. “Wolfgang” has also gotten great reviews from mags like Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly.

    Boyz II Men Cooleyhighharmony: Expanded Edition: You’ve gotta wonder sometimes who decides to make these deluxe album packages. Some of the others coming out in the near future I can understand (like, for example, Charles Mingus’ “Mingus Ah Um” and Dave Brubeck’s “Time Out”, both of which are also released today), but Boyz II Men’s first album? Nothing against the guys, I’m just not sure what value Hip-O Select saw in putting this out. At any rate, it contains two previously unreleased tracks and a shit-ton of remixes, and I’ve written more about it than any album other than Mandy Moore’s, so it must have some value, right?

    Check out the entire list of this week’s new releases here.

  • New Release of the Week: Eminem’s “Relapse”

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    After a lengthy build-up, it’s finally here. Eminem ends the half-decade break between albums with his new set, Relapse.    Despite the lukewarm reception the singles from it have received, all indications point to this album being a blockbuster. Somewhat surprisingly, given the quality of the singles, reviews I’ve read for the album have been overwhelmingly positive, but then again, it doesn’t appear that Eminem is capable of doing wrong in the eyes of most rock critics. Given the current state of the industry, it’ll be interesting to see how this album does. If Em catches a brick, it may be a sign that the music industry has officially reached a point of no return.

    Here’s what else you’ll find in stores this week.

    Busta Rhymes B.O.M.B. (Back on My B.S.)– Seems like just yesterday that Slim Shady and Bussa Bus were labelmates, now they have competing albums coming out the same day. Busta’s eighth solo album has been held up for the better part of the year, with three singles having entered the marketplace without taking off. Methinks his having gone gangsta on his last record left a bitter taste in many of his fans’ mouths. Will hip-hop’s official loudmouth be able to retain his once sizable audience, or is this the beginning of the end for the man who was once one of hip-hop’s sharpest emcees?

    Lenny Kravitz Let Love Rule: 20th Anniversary Edition– Remember when Lenny Kravitz first came out, people thought he was a joke because he was married to Lisa (Denise Huxtable) Bonet and he was a neo-hippie before it was really popular to be one? Well, he who laughs last laughs best. Two decades later, Lenny is a multi-millionaire Grammy winner with a lengthy string of hit albums, and his very first effort is getting the anniversary deluxe treatment by Virgin Records. In addition to a much-needed remaster of his debut, this special edition contains live tracks and demos.

    Tori Amos Abnormally Attracted to Sin– After a moderately successful stint on Epic Records, Tori Amos moves on to label #3 (Universal) with her latest album, “Abnormally Attracted to Sin”. The always-quirky singer/songwriter/pianist delivers yet another serving of her lyrically obtuse but passionately sung music on this album.

    Lionel Richie Just Go– Folks forget about Lionel Richie sometimes, but he still has a fairly large fanbase, after all his last album went Gold. This album’s title track has a little bit of the island flavor that made “All Night Long” such a smash back in ’83, and features guest vocals from Akon. Lionel’s familiar mix of R&B and adult contemporary is here, and “Just Go” should go a long way towards proving that the man has barely lost a step, even as he approaches 60 years of age. And what’s this I hear about a Commodores reunion? Is that even necessary?

    As usual, get your complete list of new releases here.