ChordStrike

Katy Perry: Recording Artist, Lady Kisser, Vinyl Doll

For some ungodly reason, Integrity Toys has decided to craft a tiny vinyl likeness of Katy Perry, which you can purchase for the low, low price of $49.95. This is notable not only because you can now add a touch of faux lesbianism to your next shindig at the Barbie Dream House, but also because the words "Katy Perry" and "integrity" have finally been used together in a sentence. Congratulations to everyone!

-- Jeff Reguilon

Take Me “All the Way” to the Ballgame, Eddie

Making its way around the World Wide Web this week are various video montages of Chicago Cubs highlights set to a song called “All the Way,” written by Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, for his beloved hometown team. Now I’m not a big sports fan by any stretch of the imagination, but this particular video brought tears to my eyes and an uncharacteristic twinge of baseball-centric nostalgia to my heart. 

My sense is that no matter where you are from, or what team you routinely root for, a sampling of the song lyrics alone will awaken your love for "America’s favorite national pastime." But add to it the well-known melancholic beauty of an Eddie Vedder composition, and you may find yourself crying into a beer while dreaming of eventual Cubs victory. 

"We are one with the Cubs, with the Cubs we're in love
We hold our heads tall as the underdogs
We are not fair-weather, but foul-weather fans
We are brother in arms in the streets and the stands
There's magic in the ivy and the old scoreboard
The same one I stared at as a kid keeping score
In a world full of green we could never want more
And someday we'll go all the way
Hey, someday we'll go all the way"

When music and sports meet in such a glorious mid-air embrace, we can all feel the love. Experience it for yourself: 

--Shelby Earl

Calexico live at the Moore Theatre, Seattle, September 26, 2008

Showcasing their new benchmark album Carried to Dust, Calexico was relaxed and energetic, playing to the strengths of the uniquely intimate Moore.

Joey Burns had the crowd singing back-up vocals--in falsetto, kind of--early in the set, and was unusually conversational, due no doubt to the clarity of the house sound and the sit-down, theater vibe.

A couple of new faces in the band, a twitchy, young guitarist from Madrid and a seasoned upright bassist from Munich. Calexico seem to pick new members every time they swing through Europe.

The crowd was delighted and enthusiastic, especially for Feast Of Wire tracks and the band’s perennial version of Love’s “Alone Again Or.” No big surprises. The band is comfy, as are their well-vetted fans, whose numbers do grow, albeit quietly, among friends.

Carried to Dust seems like a breakthrough. The songs are notably strong and uncompromised. Live, the band’s striking musicianship, the thrillingly shrill, dueling mariachi  trumpets, and cinematic Latin percussion still sets Calexico apart from all of indieland.

-- Patrick Whalen

Clay: I'm Gay = ClayMate Meltdown

Acknowledging a gigantic elephant in the room, and surely devastating many obsessed fans worldwide, born-again Christian and new father Clay Aiken has finally come out of the closet in a People Magazine article. I've blogged about Mr. Aiken before, and have suspected/known he was gay for years--and now, he's finally willing to admit it. For someone so obviously gay to be in the closet while in the spotlight has got to be one of the toughest places in the world to be. Clay, who recently returned to his role in Spamalot on Broadway, is surely waking up this morning with a sense of relief he's never felt before.

To me, the real story here lies with the super fans--the ClayMates. ClayMates have spent years obsessing over Aiken with message boards and chat rooms, full of cute, gooey, PG-rated love for all things Clay. And while the majority of ClayMates remain supportive, many are freaking out. Check out some of these priceless reactions:

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who is shocked beyond belief! I feel numb I'm so upset. This can't be real!! How can you guys say this won't change anything? This changes EVERYTHING. I don't even know what to think right now."

"I have defended Clay for years against these accusations. What do I say now?"

"Yes I am REALLY, REALLY angry.  I feel like such a fool!  I wish he would have kept his mouth SHUT!"

"This is a gut wrenching day for the ClayNation. Somebody wake me up, I hope it's a dream."

"My head hurts because as soon as I saw the cover, I burst out in tears and haven't been able to stop ever since. If this turns out to be true, I don't know if I can accept it because it would mean he lied to us all of these years. He told us the rumors were not true, he told us he was not gay and to now here it from the media and not him is just too much. The baby story was tough enough to handle, but I don't think I can deal with this."

I know many people won't care and will think this is none of our business, which may be the truth. However, any celebrity must realize that part of the trade-off of fame and fortune is the loss of some privacy. The fact of the matter remains--the public is hungry for juicy information about celebrities, and you have to admit--this is pretty juicy. I, for one, applaud Clay for making the tough decision to do the right thing and be honest with himself, his family, and with the world. He seems instantly infinitely less creepy to me now. I might even listen to his music. OK, well, maybe not. What's your take?

--Alan Wiley

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains

For the punk rock and B movie lovers in the house, a 1982 film has recently surfaced with your name on it. Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains stars a 15-year-old Diane Lane as Corinne “Third Degree” Burns. The recently orphaned and angst-ridden teen rallies her sister (Marin Kanter) and her cousin (Laura Dern) to start a punk rock band called The Stains. The trio then takes to the road with fictional bands, “The Metal Corpses” (featuring Fee Waybill of The Tubes), and “The Looters” (starring members of real-life legendary punk bands, the Sex Pistols and the Clash), and on their short tour experience every rock band's greatest dreams and worst nightmares. Reviews claim that the cult-status film “went on to inspire a generation of female rockers,” and though I can’t validate that claim, I can tell you this; a Friday night viewing of the movie inspired even someone as far beyond their riot grrrl years as myself, to head straight-away to the nearest live music venue for a much needed dose of rock ‘n’ roll.

These Stains are fabulous, see for yourself: 

 

 

--Shelby Earl

Led Zeppelin Seeks A New Singer?

This little news item certainly lives comfortably in the "rumor" category (as it's being reported by England's notorious rag The Sun), but I thought it was interesting enough to share: Led Zeppelin are potentially seeking to replace Robert Plant as their singer. Apparently, he's committed to touring with Alison Krauss in support of their fantastic duo album Raising Sand, and, following Zep's one-off performance at London's O2 last December, the rest of the band is anxious to start touring--with or without him. Would you go see Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant? Sounds like a bad idea to me.

--Alan Wiley

Travis Barker and DJ AM Critically Injured in Plane Crash

Travis Barker of Blink-182 and DJ AM (Adam Goldstein) were critically injured last night when their plane crashed on take off. The pair had just performed at a free concert in Columbia, South Carolina.  The pilot, co-pilot, and two passengers were killed. Click here for the complete story.

--Renata Sadunas

Milestones: 10 Years of One-Hit Wonders

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Amazon music store, we're taking a look back at the pop landscape of the last ten years and distilling our reflections the best way we know how: lists. Here, we consider one-hit wonders, picking one from each year of the last decade. It may be premature, but feel free to share your guess at who will be remembered as 2008's most prominent one-hit wonder in the comments

1998, "You Get What You Give" by New Radicals: To give you some context, Amazon started selling music when calling out Marilyn Manson and Hanson in song was a relevant stab at controversy. Producer, singer, and songwriter Gregg Alexander of New Radicals rode that controversy--plus an anthemic piano riff and an uplifting anti-fakery message--to minor success in the late '90s, then promptly ran away from it, never to be heard from again.
• MP3 • CD

1999, "Summer Girls" by LFO: Say what you will about Lyte Funky Ones, but their achievements in the field of WTF have gone unmatched in the nearly 10 years since "Summer Girls" charted as the trio's only hit. This barrage of non sequiturs and product placement is mind-boggling in its stupidity, but Jennifer Love Hewitt found her shout-out charming enough to date one LFO-er. That's only slightly less shocking than America's making a success out of a song that includes this couplet: "When you take a sip, you buzz like a hornet / Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets."
• MP3 • CD

2000, "Faded" by Soul Decision: "Who Let the Dogs Out" by Baha Men would be the obvious choice here, but this lite-funk, Wham-esque jam is one of the weirdest and greatest songs to come out of the boy-band era. Its message--and remember that most of their audience is 12- to 14-year-old girls--is that your male friends will try to hump you if you dance with them while they're drunk. It's a wonder they never charted again.
• MP3 • CD

2001, "Butterfly" by Crazy Town: When the videos of Crazy Town frontman Shifty Shellshock smoking crack circulated around the Internet to promote his appearance on VH1's Celebrity Rehab, it was apparent that things were not going so well anymore for the tattooed rap-rocker. Back in 2001, though, he surfed a Red Hot Chili Peppers sample presumably far enough to make many a butterfly's legs shake, or at least to make them go crazy.
• MP3 • CD

2002, "Wherever You Will Go" by the Calling: Like Lifehouse and Switchfoot, the Calling had crossover success with clean-cut, quasi-spiritual rock, but that success was limited to mostly just this song. Really, though, it just seemed like one of the kids from 7th Heaven developed a really deep voice and got in cahoots with adult-alternative radio programmers to spin his song about once every 40 minutes in 2002. Needless to say, it was a weak year for one-hit wonders.
• MP3 • CD

2003, "Never Scared" by Bone Crusher: Crunk had just started to bubble up in the mainstream, and who better to usher that guttural southern rap sound into mid-day radio playlists than a totally unhinged 400-pound dude from Atlanta who wanted to rap about escalating a fight outside a club? This song became the theme for the 2003 Atlanta Braves, and it's difficult to imagine a better sound to suit John Smoltz. Bone Crusher never sniffed this sort of success again, though he did perform an extremely crunk version of the Gilligan's Island theme for TBS's reality show. True story!
• MP3 • CD

2004, "F*ck It (I Don't Want You Back)" by Eamon: The foul-mouthed Eamon trafficked in a self-styled genre he called--and this is not a joke--"ho-wop," which is evidently doo-wop sung by a guy who really "love(s) dem hoes." On this novelty single, he edges from tears as he cusses out his ex-lady in what is likely the world's only slow-jam temper tantrum.

 

2005, "Collide" by Howie Day: This song became a hit months and months after the release of the album from which it came, thanks mostly to features in TV shows such as One Tree Hill, Scrubs, and Grey's Anatomy. The ride for the hard-touring Dave Matthews acolyte hasn't been so sweet since then, as he's been arrested twice and bizarrely implicated in the corruption of Britney Spears. Chances of his colliding with the charts anytime soon do not look good.
• MP3 • CD

2006 (TIE), "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt and "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter: This is music that will very likely make some people feel embarrassed for the real emotions these songs inspired before they were overplayed to death, since "You're Beautiful" and "Bad Day" now inspire pretty much only venom or instant LOLs.
• "You're Beautiful" MP3, CD
• "Bad Day" MP3, CD

2007, "A Bay Bay" by Hurricane Chris: The only mystery that this ultra-dumb club banger from youthful MC Hurricane Chris leaves is whether more people will point to it or "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" as rap's official nadir.
• MP3 • CD

Edited To Add: A number of folks have questioned the popularity of these songs, but I assure you they're all legitimate hits. Check the comments, where I list the peak chart position for each of these songs. If for some reason you've never heard these songs, for once you can be thankful for being out of touch.

-- Jeff Reguilon

They’ve Been Hittin’ in Pairs All Year

First, it was Think of One's Camping Shaabi (packaged with a really interesting "making of" video) and K'Naan's re-issue of his 2006 Juno Award-winning The Dusty Foot Philosopher, a pair of albums that hit me rhythmically and harmonically just right. Though the first is a pop album of sorts and the second a straight-up hip-hop joint, they're both multilingual affairs that originate, each in its own way, in Africa. They’re also incredibly ambitious, undeniably flawed works of art that I share with my kids and will return to for years and years.

Less simultaneously, I fell for Hilary Hahn’s Schoenberg Violin Concerto Op.36/Sibelius Violin Concerto Op.47 and Patricia Barber’s The Cole Porter Mix. Both women are among my favorite delvers into what were once referred to as the serious arts. Both women work hard to make musical connections that challenge conventions, the repertoire, and themselves, demanding twin leaps of imagination and faith. Both women came through with albums that I will stick with, and that will stick with me in return.

Next came a hip-hop pairing; first, Saul Williams and, soon after, the Mighty Underdogs, a.k.a. the MCs formerly known as Quannum: Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), Lateef the Truth Speaker, Lyrics Born, et al. All command respect as lyricists. And performers. And their albums deliver. If you strive for rhyme, listen up:

        * Saul Williams, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust
        * The Mighty Underdogs, Droppin' Science Fiction 

Now, this week, another revelation...

I’ve been paying a distant attention to Brooklyn's Parts & Labor for a couple years now. The band's Stay Afraid (2006) and Mapmaker (2007) immediately grabbed my sustained attention, which flared and then burned away in a few days. Enter Receivers, due out on October 21. Hopefully, at some point you’ve come across an incredible album by some musician you’ve only been loosely acquainted with, and you suddenly feel as if you’ve always known she had it in her. Few feelings equate. Check out Pitchfork's free, full steam of the noise-pop mini-epic “Nowheres Nigh."

Catch your breath yet? Now give it one more go.

Then, in what’s become typical one-two fashion this year, along came Censored Colors. The culprits are called Portugal. The Man, and they got to me in 2005, going 65 on the I-5 a few miles outside of Portland, en route from Seattle, with their song “Chicago.” An gutter-scraping, indie-rock geyser of a tune, it was the first of more than a dozen songs from their 2005 debut, Waiter: You Vultures!!, that left me speechless but for a few gasping hyperboles. I still pimp its praises to anyone who isn’t immediately turned off by volume and rough edges.

Point is, Portugal. The Man (based in Portland, via Alaska) now returns with a mountainous pile of harmonic songs I can't get enough of (except for Parts & Labor breaks). Censored Colors requires a listener who appreciates encountering the fertile accidents that result when a sub-virtuosic composer/performer quite simply can’t be stopped. This is frontman John Gourley. Far better in the studio than on stage, the guy's nevertheless a prolific fountain of song and one of my favorite perennial unsungs.

Oh right, lists.

So this morning I spent an eye-opening, over-caffeinated hour with Tom Moon, author of 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (podcast interview to follow; stay tuned and be patient). I’d picked at the book rather than properly read it, but this is how it goes with reference materials, right? Knowing nothing about Moon personally, I wasn’t sure what to expect of the guy who just published the Mt. Olympus of Music Lists.

Regardless, I was wrong to expect either an encyclopedic bully or someone who’d long since begun believing more in himself than in the music he wrote about. Instead, Tom Moon is unflinchingly approachable, a well-spoken, well-listened, humble guy who loves what he does and laughs reverently at having been blessed to nab a gig that amounts to every music writer’s wet dream, whether or not any of us would admit it.

     --Jason Kirk

P.S. Everything in pairs: I also recently finished The World in Six Songs, by Daniel Levitin (of This is Your Brain on Music fame). The Onion’s A.V. Club  gave it a C+. Such generosity inspires.

Frat Bro Troubadors Rejoice: The Keg Amp Is Here

For those of you looking to up the bro factor on your tunes, you'll be hard pressed to find something that achieves the level of dudeness this 20 watt draught keg amplifier offers. When someone crafts one of these from a Budweiser keg, we'll finally be able to hear Kid Rock's music as it was meant to be heard. Maybe this is why he's withholding his new record from digital download stores. Somebody remedy this quickly, or else the generic Rock Heroes cover of "All Summer Long" might end up one of the best selling songs of the year.

[ht: Geekologie]

-- Jeff Reguilon

Jay Smooth on So-Called Hipster Rap: "We've Been Bamboozled by the Bloggers"

Jay Smooth of Illdoctrine.com comes with some salient points about the uselessness of the word "hipster," how acts like the Cool Kids are unfairly hated on, and why you should stop "tight jeans profiling." Head over here if you can't see the video above. It's worth two minutes of your day.

-- Jeff Reguilon

Campy Lisa

As I mentioned a while back, the lovely, bespectacled Lisa Loeb recently stopped by our offices to chit chat and play us a few songs from her recent release Camp Lisa. We are thrilled to announce that we're the exclusive retailer for the digital version of Camp Lisa, which releases today. Hear what Lisa had to say about her own summer camp memories; dating advice; and yes, for all of you reality TV junkies, #1 Single. Has she found her Prince Charming? I couldn't resist asking. Listen and find out.

 

 

--Renata Sadunas

P.S. Here's the link to that book Lisa recommended. I already ordered my copy!

R.I.P. Richard Wright

Richard Wright, a founding member of Pink Floyd, passed away today at the age of 65. Known primarily as the band's keyboard player, Wright also penned numerous songs on classic Floyd albums such as Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. Read the full story here. 

Death Magnetic

Death Magnetic: first listen

It’s here. Here’s the notes on my very first listen.

Unbox
The packaging is fantastic: a triple-gatefold digipak, with grave-shaped die-cuts that extend through 10 pages of glued booklet. Each cut gets concentrically smaller, ripping through the lyric sheets, creating a deep 3-D effect. I don’t recall anything so ambitious (and, undoubtedly, expensive) on the standard retail scale. The band logo is metallic silver on a transparent sticker fixed to the shrink wrap. Protecting the grave, as it were. You can’t get into the package without “breaking the glass.” Big fans will want to buy 2 copies (one for show/save).

“That Was Just Your Life”
Starts with an ominous drone. One can’t help thinking--Metallica “back from the grave.” When the crunch finally comes it’s irreducibly the band at its best.

“The End of the Line”
No let up here. Patented late Metallica. Less impressive, if only because the first track is such a killer. Breakdown is a highlight. Surprising use of space. Is that a waa-waa? “The slave becomes the master” is Hetfield’s call-out as he jumps from the bridge. A self-assessment, indeed.

“Broken, Beat, & Scared”
Another unique breakdown on this one. Reaches back to early 70’s metal without being retro. Shreds, but with a vintage, serrated blade.

“The Day That Never Comes”
This was let out of the box weeks ago. Pure mid-tempo Metallica, with a descending ostinato that wastes no time crawling to the chorus, followed up by chunky transitions. A road we’ve traveled before, but the view very worth taking in. Another breakdown full of unusual sections, judicious use of effects and clean solo lines. You can almost hear the pick impact.

“All Nightmare Long”
Sharp, nearly hardcore stop/starts. The intro to the chorus is kinda Bad Brains-esque, even.

“Cyanide”
It’s time to abandon this chemical compound as a metal metaphor, ain’t it? Musically, this is truly invigorating, though. It couldn’t be any other band, yet Metallica deploys their arsenal from behind the horizon, raining the explosive down unseen. “Suicide/ I’ve already died/You’re just the funeral I’ve been waiting for.” Not sure what that means yet but it hits hard.

“The Unforgiven III”
A neo-classical piano passage opens this, slows, and then the line is picked up by fat guitar strings. A grunge-dusting riff punches in. When the solo section finally comes it sends shivers. The Rubin effect really sinks in for me at this point. The band has never sounded so in control of planetary rock sonics, swallowing worlds whole, Galactus-like.

“The Judas Kiss”
Evolved. Perhaps a different timbre than one would expect from Metallica. This is one of the best tracks herein. Covers a lot of ground.

“Suicide & Redemption”
Instrumental: seems to chew up 30 years worth of hard rock and make it Metallica. Imagine Helmet-shattering crunch, sweeping back to dueling Allmans. The band deftly adopts a variety of voices. “Joy” is not a word that one would normally ascribe to a Metallica record but I feel free to use it here. Overall, Death Magnetic seems like the least insular of all Metallica recordings. The paranoia at the heart of metal in general is intact, preserved even, but rather than limiting, it’s a flexible device that the band seems to wield with complete confidence and mastery.

“My Apocalypse”
Searching, seeking, destroying.

Best of the Month, September 2008: Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip

Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip
Angles

The “Thou Shalt Always Kill” single was the definitive ultimate best track of 2007. Sadly, the re-recorded version on Angles lacks the jolly menace of the original so if anybody has an extra copy of that 7” handy, I’ll trade you an autographed copy of Graduation for it (never played!).

It took ages for Essex lads Dan Stephens and David Meads to get their album out here in the States. Leading with a version of “The Beat That My Heart Skipped,” with a smashing live into, Angles offers a dozen additional electro-blippy hip hop tracks blessed by Le Sac’s self-effacing, incisive rhyming. Highlights include the reality show love song “Look For the Woman,” with a chorus wherein Pip channels Beck and Bono (Love you too much to leave/Don't like you enough to stay), “Tommy C” (a sideways tribute to Welsh comedian Tommy Cooper), and “Development,” which rhymes the periodic table.

  Hydrogen is number one
  Cause hydrogen is what puts the shine in the sun
  Through nuclear fusion, and when it’s done
  It leaves element number two: helium.
  Helium is the second lightest gas that there is
  So we use it in balloons we give little kids.
  Then there’s lithium, often used to treat mental problems.
  Beryllium don’t conduct electric currents, it stops them.

This could devolve into electro They Might Be Giants if Le Sac’s observations on religion, consumerism, and narcissism weren’t so thoughtful. Between the asides and canned laughs, Le Sac and Pip pretty much maintain some kind of real.

Soon to be blaring from a Forever 21 mall store near you, perhaps, but don't let that stop you from missing out on this lovely recording now.

Kanye Arrested

Kanye vs. Paparazzi. Paparazzi lose. Kanye arrested at LAX on felony vandalism charges. The boy's gotta temper. (If the above video isn't working for you, click here.)

--Renata Sadunas

Hear Kanye West's New Single, "Love Lockdown"

The site's slower than all get out, since it's probably getting slammed traffic-wise, but Kanye West just posted his new single on his blog. You can listen to "Love Lockdown" here.

-- Jeff Reguilon

Best Music of September, 2008: "Oceans Will Rise" by The Stills

Why It's significant: The Stills please longtime fans by returning to the dark moods and shimmering guitars of their debut. They also please Al Gore, Greenpeace, Prius owners, and anyone else who might be concerned with the future of our planet by making brilliant, anthemic, environmentally-focused message music that actually makes for enjoyable listening. 

Sure, plenty of people latched onto the Stills' first album because the music media happened to be on one of its "OMG ROCK IS TOTALLY BACK, YOU GUYS" kicks as it was released and the Stills fit neatly in line with bands like Interpol. Still, many found a deeper connection to the record, largely because nothing captures the feeling of what it was like to endure a quarter-life crisis directly after the 9/11 attacks quite like Logic Will Break Your Heart does.  The album resonated with those who found themselves functionally depressed in the wake of tragedy and America's march towards war, wandering aimlessly through life, searching for meaning, love, and direction without much hope.  It also had really pretty guitars.

As time passed before the release of the Stills' sophomore effort, Without Feathers, critics had moved onto other trends, indie rockers found new shiny objects, and those who used Logic Will Break Your Heart as a soothing balm were forced to grow up. This, plus some lineup changes and a move towards a markedly different, less downcast sound earned the record an unfairly chilly reception.

The rosy outlook of Without Feathers is all but gone on Oceans Will Rise, as the band returns to its moody roots and fixates on the destruction of our environment.

The first taste the public got of Oceans Will Rise was a four-and-a-half minute video of a house burning in the desert set against the album's heaviest song, "Snakecharming the Masses." It was instantly clear the band, who had just signed to much-loved Canadian indie label Arts & Crafts, was headed in a different direction.

The band thankfully doesn't take such a menacing tone on the rest of the album, otherwise their eco-conscious message would seem at best like an unwanted lecture and at worst like paranoiac ramblings. Instead, they move from the sparkling call to action "Snow in California" to the stadium-filling U2-esque rock of "Hands on Fire." The result is an album that manages to tackle serious environmental issues while still rocking in a powerful, engaging and highly listenable way. It's medicine that goes down easy. Bands looking to make protest music-- and it's shocking that there aren't more-- could do well to look to Oceans Will Rise as a template.

-- Jeff Reguilon

Recommended: '90s R&B Junkie MP3 Blog

If you're among the tens of people who, like me, dearly miss New Jack Swing, occasionally get the chorus from MoKenStef's "He's Mine" stuck in your head for no good reason, or wonder how Next made a song about dancefloor boners the biggest jam of 1998, Mixtape Maestro Presents: '90s R&B Junkie is about to be your new favorite blog.

-- Jeff Reguilon

Best Music of September, 2008: Honorable Mentions & More

Choosing Patricia Barber's The Cole Porter Mix for my September "Best of the Month" pick was no easy task. There are a ton of noteworthy new and recent releases out there right now, enough to merit mentioning a few more, at least...

Honorable Mentions

The Mighty Underdogs – Droppin’ Science Fiction
Blackalicious’s Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truth Speaker, Lyrics Born, DJ Shadow, Mr. Lif, Chali 2na, MF Doom, and Julian and Damian Marley. All on Def Jux Records. And it’s even better than it sounds on paper. * CD

Joan Jeanrenaud – Strange Toys
This Kronos Quartet alum’s second solo effort is an edgy must-listen for cellists and fans of the instrument alike. * CD * MP3

Anat Cohen – Notes from the Village
Israeli-born Anat Cohen speaks with equally facile longing on both the sax and clarinet. With a band to be proud and a growing cache of street cred, she’s a horn player to watch and a New York voice all her own. * CD * MP3

Lafayette Gilchrist – Soul Progressin’
Whether or not you nuy into the hype that Lafayette Gilchrist is the next Thelonius Monk, the guy’s a showstopper, and what Soul Progressin’ lacks in sheer originality, it more than makes up for in muster. * CD * MP3

More Notable Recent Releases

Saul Williams – The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust
Trent Reznor’s touch takes the spoken-word guru to fabulously creepy new depths. * CD

Grupo Fantasma – Sonidos Gold
Horny, horny, horny! Bring on the ballsy, ballistic brass! * CD * MP3

Art Tatum – Piano Starts Here: Live at the Shrine (Zenph Re-Performance)
Like the pseudo-Gould version of Back's Goldberg Variations before it, this sounds as good as, if not better, than the real thing. * CD * MP3

Vladimir Horowitz – Horowitz in Hamburg: The Last Concert
More like a prayer card at a funeral than a must-have, this one’s still nice to keep around. * CD * MP3

Ximena Sariñana – Mediocre
Attention, Fiona Apple fans: Ximena Sariñana is no mere mediocre machine. * CD

     --Jason Kirk