Huge, Commendable Releases and... Bo Bice?

Try to contain your excitement, everyone. No, seriously. This is a pretty good week for album releases, all genres considered. So get your torrent software ready (don't even try to deny it), and let's run down the list, shall we?

We'll start off with the biggest of them all: The baddest of the bad; the album that people will be talking about for years to come. When your future self looks back on this very day, May 18, 2010, he/she will undoubtedly be thinking, "Wow, I remember that day. For that's when the laudable American Idol runner-up Bo Bice released his masterpiece, his crowning achievement, his pièce de résistance: 3. Oh, and what a day it was."

What's that, you say? No one remembers Bo Bice?

Oh.

Joking aside, there really is some intriguing new music dropping this week. Certainly mentionable is Infinite Arms, the new release from Band of Horses. The album is actually still streaming on their website, so that's something worth checking out.

Another heavy-hitting "B" band in the indie world, Ohio's own Black Keys, are also back with their eighth album, Brothers. Early praise for this thing has been plentiful. Then again, who could expect anything less from a couple of Ohioans? That's right. We're kick-ass. Flaunt it.


Soulstress Janelle Monae is one of the most hyped artists of the week; her new album The Archandroid is Monae's first since she came under the wing of Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Bad Boy Records. A lot of positive things are being said about this album. My opinion? If the rest of Monae's album is anything like the first single "Tightrope," this release has the potential to cross a lot of boundaries genre-wise. (Side note: I'm considering growing my hair and messing around with it to get it to look like Monae's. Think I should? Think I'm out of my mind? Free this Thursday? Send all answers to Kevin.S.Rutherford@gmail.com.)

Moving on, it would be asinine not to mention LCD Soundsystem and This is Happening. Sure, the title sounds like self-reassurance that this is, in fact, "real life" during a particularly potent drug trip, but come on, has LCD Soundsystem led us astray yet? Plus, the lead single is called "Drunk Girls." Is that not reason alone to give this album a chance?

Let's take a different route for a moment and delve into the reggae side of things. Jamaican reggae/ska legends Toots and the Maytals are releasing what seems like their thousandth album, Flip and Twist. And on a semi-related note, Damian Marley, one of Bob's many sons, is releasing a collaboration album titled Distant Relatives with rapper Nas. One has to think there will be at least a minor reggae influence there given Marley's track record. Those are two albums I'm definitely looking forward to. The Maytals are downright superb, and Marley has always done his surname proud. That said, if there are any among the Marley offspring that seem closer to rap, Damian's the man. That should be an interesting collaboration indeed.

Those are just a few of the many albums dropping this week. From Janelle Monae to Damian Marley, Band of Horses to Black Keys, one thing's for sure: it ain't an off-week.

BRB, gonna go listen to this devastating new Bo Bice album.


--Kevin Rutherford, Managing Editor