THIS WEEK’S ELITE: Damien Rice, 9 (Warner Brothers) Expecations are high for the forthcoming album by broody Irishman, Damien Rice, after 2003’s debut album O. Don’t miss “9 Crimes” and “Accidental Babies”. folk WORTH MENTION: The Who, Endless Wire (Republic) Bright Eyes, Noise Floor (Parties: 1998-2005) (Saddle Creek) Duncan Sheik, Brighter: A Duncan Sheik Anthology […]
Me First and The Gimme Gimmes & More, Album Previews
THIS WEEK’S ELITE: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Love Their Country (Fat Wreck Chords) country, pop These guys could be the best cover band around. This time around the album theme is classic country hits played as always with the bands signature punk-pop delivery. K.T. Tunstall, K.T. Tunstall’s Acoustic Extravaganza (EMI) acoustic, folk Tunstall […]
Robert Randolph & More, Album Previews
THIS WEEK’S ELITE: Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Colorblind (Warner Brothers) rock, soul Conceived in love and full of energy, Robert Randolph & The Family Band bring down the house with the help of a few friends (Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Leela James). Great album, great band. Start with opening track “Ain’t Nothing Wrong […]
Amos Lee, A Video Playlist
A cool new feature on YouTube allows people to make playlists of videos. Here’s a nice one compiled by sweetbutch covering the first 2 episodes of a series of 12 video podcasts by Amos Lee talking about his new album Supply and Demand released earlier this week. The playlist is nicely capped with a video […]
Ray Charles & More, Album Previews
THIS WEEK’S ELITE: Ray Charles & Count Basie Orchestra, Ray Sings, Basie Swings, (Concord) soul I can’t believe Ray Charles is still making albums from the grave, how remarkable! To me, he’s up there with Elvis in terms of musical genious. Interesting album facts: This GROUND BREAKING CD marks the FIRST-TIME an entire album has […]
Pogues Reissues
Rhino does it again! Remastered, repackaged and revived editions of the first five Pogues albums were released in America last week (their entire catalog was reissued in the UK in 2005). Supervised by the band, the remastered sound is sterling, and the 29 bonus tracks should satisfy any completist — they include the entire Poguetry […]
The Lemonheads & More, Album Previews
THIS WEEK’S ELITE: The Lemonheads, The Lemonheads (Vagrant) alternative, rock Alt rock master Evan Dando and The Lemonheads are back after a 10-year hiatus this time with new members. Thankfully, they picked right back up where they left off. Just rockin’. Start with track #7, “No Backbone”. Here’s a download for you courtesy of the […]
Ben Kweller
I come bearing gifts! While, like Tom, I wasn’t able to track down a full-album stream of Ben Kweller’s new self-titled CD, I did manage to dig up a few tracks, and trust me when I say that they are outstanding. I’m not even going to try to tell you how enchanted I am, just […]
Jonny Lang & More, Album Previews
THIS WEEK’S ELITE: Jonny Lang, Turn Around (A&M) Blues-rocker, Lang, tears it up again. Chew on song “Anything’s Possible” for a taste. WORTH MENTION: Diana Krall, From This Moment On (Verve) Elton John, The Captain & The Kid (Interscope) MISSED OPPORTUNITIES (high anticipation, no apparent album stream): Here we go, another week with a ton […]
R.E.M. & More, Album Previews
THIS WEEK’S ELITE: R.E.M., And I Feel Fine: The Best Of R.E.M. Disc 1 | Disc 2 (Capitol/IRS) This album could easily be a soundtrack for my teen years. These songs were an escape from reality during that awkward time. John Mayer, Continuum (Sony, Aware) Another impressive effort. Soulful “Waiting on the World to Change” […]