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

The Massive and the misspelled

May is a month of massive album releases— at least, in terms of this tiny, mostly indie music community in which we choose to dwell, they are massive. Think “summer festival headliner” massive. “Display rack at Barnes & Noble” massive. “Their song's in a car commercial” massive.

Only one week ago new albums from marginally massive bands Broken Social Scene, The Hold Steady and The New Pornographers, to name a few arrived on select store shelves for our gracious ears to hear. But this week also has some impressive names to add to the building list of anticipated albums. The anticipation will be quelled, and our music storage devices—no signs of brand partiality here, my friend—will be contentedly full.

The National’s fifth studio album, High Violet, is arriving via 4AD. Their cerebral lyrics, master craftsmen skills and Matt Berninger’s rumbling vocals found significant success with their previous full-length, The Boxer, which came out way back in 2007. Years later, that album still resonates, but new material is ready and welcome, and we’ll take it, thank you. And speaking of massive, The National are set to play none other than Radio City Music Hall on June 16. It seems these boys have surpassed marginal rock stardom and have entered a central ring of commercial success: Impressive indeed.

Fellow commercial rock star Jack White also has a new album arriving this week from one of his many bands, and that band is The Dead Weather. Along with band mates Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs) and Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age), Jack will be issuing their sophomore release, Sea of Cowards, on his own record label, Third Man Records. The Dead Weather has not encouraged comparable anticipation to what The National has built. In fact, their debut album, Horehound, came out less than a year ago. To their eagerness and energy I say bravo, but to their decision to put out records so close in relative time, I say, "What’s the rush?"

Outside the massive release category, Sleigh Bells’ much anticipated debut album, Treats, arrives Tuesday. A band lauded on the net before the release of any proper album, this Brooklyn duo — who make quite loud music, if you haven’t yet experienced the induced pounding ears syndrome —will now have a full-length to their credit via Mom + Pop Records.

Freak-folk sisters Bianca and Sierra Casady, known as CocoRosie, are releasing their fourth album and their Sub Pop debut, Grey Oceans, this week. They are freaks in a good way but freaks nonetheless.

A few bands unsatisfied with conventional English spellings are also putting albums out this week. GAYNGS are a musical collective created by Ryan Olson with Zack Coulter and Adam Hurlburt of Solid Gold crafting groovy and sexy sounds. The first GAYNGS record, Relayted—out on Jagjaguwar—features vocal layers contributed from members of Bon Iver, Megafaun and The Rosebuds.

And San Francisco garage band Thee Oh Sees— the other spelling mistake band of which I speak — have a new album called Warm Slime In the Red.

There you have it: a wrap-up of this week’s most massive and most notable releases — at least in my humble opinion. I neglected to mention that Meat Loaf has a new album out called Hang Cool Teddy Bear. And I wish had neglected to mention it. I feel strange now.

--Jessi Finn, Blogger/ Album Reviews Editor

Cuatro de Mayo Means Mas Musica

Wow, it's been a rough couple of weeks for new music releases. Cypress Hill. Peter Frampton. Yikes. Relax, music lovers, it's time to come out of your bomb shelters. May is here and so is a huge week for new albums.

Like, really, really huge.

First of all, The Hold Steady will release their much-anticipated Heaven is Whenever. The band is adjusting to the departure of their keyboard guy, Franz Nicolay, but, judging by some released tracks, they manage to stay pretty close to their trademark sound, even with the standard guitar-bass-drums configuration. Actually, "Barely Breathing" features keys, and it has more of a new sound than the other tracks. Oh, and keep an ear out for a pretty slick guitar solo in "Rock Problems."

In poppier, more harmonic news, The New Pornographers look to snap their one-album losing streak with Together, their first release since 2007's Challengers, which (people might hate me for saying) was downright crappy. The significantly less crappy Together has been streaming on NPR for a while, and it appears that the Canadians have discarded the crappiness of their last release in favor of a non-crappy sound anchored by faster if not more upbeat guitar and cello riffs. This is great news for New Porn fans who worried that the band only had three extremely uncrappy albums in them. In summation: Challengers was crappy; Together isn't.

Oh God, there's still so much more.

Freaking Broken Social Scene is back. More Canadians. Sure, they were never super gone, but Forgiveness Rock Record is their first actual album in half a decade. All those musicians? All that time? I have three predictions: it will be eclectic, it will be pretty damn good, it will be pretty damn eclectic and good. Early listens (they've been streaming it on their website, check out that link back there) indicate that I am totally right. As an added bonus, one of the songs starts off with the lyric "Ungrateful little motherfuck," which is just delightful.

For people with other tastes, non-Canadian hip-hoppers Bone Thugs-n-Harmony will drop their first record since Flesh-n-Bone was released from prison (and possibly their last before he goes back). Now, I'll admit I'm not extremely familiar with the aging Clevelanders, but I do feel confident in saying that they will do their best to recapture the sound that brought them so much commercial success in the 90s.

Man, that's a ton of good music for one week. Of course, for every yin, there must be a yang. I feel obligated to mention that, in case there are any aural masochists reading this, May 4th will mark the release of albums by - I kid you not - Michael Bolton, Papa Roach, Godsmack and Toni Braxton. True, that would be an excellent lineup for The Surreal Life, but I'm guessing not a great three hours - give or take (hopefully take) - of music.

- Greg Gallant, Copy Chief

Better luck next time (or something)

This Tuesday’s album releases made me feel terribly ignorant of the musical world, seeing as I didn’t really know a single one of the artists coming out with a new album. Oh, except for Bullet For My Valentine. I guess I owe my guy friends’ high school hardcore/screamo cover band for that. As for everyone else (Who ARE all you people? Am I missing out on something here?), I’ll do my best at what will probably end up being an ostensible album release coverage. I’ll give each band a little listen and a little research and hope for the best. So here it goes.

First up, B.o.B presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray. I heard you were good in last week’s staff meeting. Didn’t know you were a rapper until I just took a gander on your Web site. So your name’s Bob? That’s cool. That’s my grandpa’s name, too. OK. You’re a fine rapper. I can dig it. You did a song with Hayley Williams from Paramore, which is weird. But… I sort of like it. Should I be ashamed? I’m not. I’m sure this album will do great. It’s one that people who predominantly like indie music won’t be that bashful of liking. Sort of like Kanye West. It’s must be your high top, colorful Nikes and your aviator sunglasses. Gets us every time. See you at Lollapalooza.

Moving on. Bullet For My Valentine’s Fever is next. I may be a bit hostile towards them; I spent far too many years being forced to listen to them at full volume in the basements of my friends’ homes. “Come on, guuuuys. I just wanna listen to The Killers!” Anyway, your album cover looks stupid and vampire-y. And that pale girl needs to put on some clothing. Half naked, animated women with triple D breasts were only cool for about three seconds when Anime was at its peak eight years ago. As for your music, I feel like I should be seizing angrily, for lack of a better description. I wish you wouldn’t whisper, “Is it my turn to die?” It makes me feel uncomfortable. And your double bass drumming is getting a little monotonous. I feel like I can breathe when I turn your music off. I don’t like it. Not one bit. Sorry.

Drowning Pool, I KNEW you sounded familiar. You did that song about bodies hitting the floor right? Yeah. Your self-titled new album says nothing new about you except that you’re maybe getting too old to be doing this. You might actually not even be that old, but your music is painstakingly outdated, so that’s the only conclusion that I can come to.

Gogol Bordello, you seem real silly. Your ethnicity is fascinating, and your music definitely sounds unique. But to be honest, Trans-Continental Hustle sort of annoys me. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people find it really entertaining and easy to listen to, but as for me, I’m having a hard time getting through one song. It’s fun, I guess. But it’s not for everyone. However, you do grow a fine mustache, my man. A fine mustache indeed.

My Education, an ambient sort of band (and one that I was unfamiliar with until now), is probably one of the only decent albums coming out this week. What I was expecting upon listening to them for the first time was jumpy indie rock, but what I got was quite different. Despite the album title, Sunrise, this is a pretty dark-sounding album with intense and somewhat eerie instrumentalism, maybe like Explosions in the Sky or Kaki King when she’s not singing.

So I felt bad about not being too familiar with these new bands for about 20 minutes until I realized that maybe I wasn’t missing out on much. Critical and bias though I may be, this week in music is just downright disappointing. Better luck next week.

-Hannah Cook, Staff Writer

Put down the herbs & check out the tunes

While today is a Tuesday, I am pretty confident not too many people are concerned with new music releases, as many people that do love music also love a certain herbal holiday that is celebrated on April 20. Regardless, there are a diverse group of artists releasing new albums today.

The first is Apples In Stereo, an indie pop band with a big imagination, often space and psychedelic oriented, which makes it no coincidence that their new album is titled Travellers In Space and Time. Full of life, high energy and weirdness, this record sounds just like a live Apples In Stereo performance feels.

Circa Survive, a staple in the catalog of emo rockers that have been in high school at some point within the last decade, is releasing Blue Sky Noise. While Juturna was clearly the stand out record for the group, lead singer Anthony Green, formerly of emo-core band Saosin, is still singing his little heart out on this record.

One group that I am certain purposefully released their album today on 4/20 is Cypress Hill, with such great nineties classic hits (literally) like “Hits From The Bong.” The new record, the first for the group in six years, is Rise Up, and I’m sure longtime fans will hope it does indeed rise up to their expectations of the aging group.

Speaking of aging, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Ratt all have new albums coming out today too… I Am What I Am, Country Music and Infestation, respectively… making today not only a great day for weed, but for the old country crooners and hair metal fist pumpers that love it. If you are into that kind of thing, it is pretty much guaranteed you are into at least one of these artists, or definitely should be.

Springtime releases... not all good

Since this is a blog, I am going to pull no punches and give you my bitingly blunt opinions of this week’s newest releases. I will do my best to steer clear of profanity and stereotyping, but I consider myself a true music elitist, so expect an indictment of one (or more) artists that you like. Or, this guy might even really dig something that came out this week and you will just have to read on to find out.

Since the weather is nice and we should all be frolicking in the sunshine, a rundown of anything worth listening to comes first. That will save the readers some time, at least! First, Murs and 9^th Wonder’s collaboration Fornever. Hip-hop heads have been eagerly awaiting this one for a long time, myself included; 9^th Wonder is simply one of the greatest beat masters of the last few decades and he does not disappoint on this disc. Murs can be preachy at times, but he is flipping more quality rhymes here than on anything since The End of the Beginning. There are some weak ones to be sure, but do not miss Fornever if you want an example of what two of the best modern hip-hop artists are capable of.

No surprise, but there is only one other halfway decent album coming out this week. Dosh of Anticon reknown is releasing his album Tommy (no relation to The Who, as far as I know) today, and fans can expect more sonic experimentations, as well as another appearance from Andrew Bird and a variety of other talented musicians. What I have heard leads me to believe that Dosh has included some more dance-y tracks than previous albums.

Now on to everything else, i.e. stuff that I already hate or will hate as soon as I listen to it! The elephant in the room is the new MGMT album, Congratulations. I will not waste too much space on this boring sophomore effort, and all I can say is that sounds like a bastardized, whiny 21^st century version of something a baby boomer might have tripped to in college. Yawn. If you like Of Montreal or bands that are not as good as Of Montreal but still try to sound like them, give it a shot. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Coheed and Cambria’s Year of the Black Rainbow drops this week, too. This band was only relevant when they released Second Stage Turbine Blade, and even that is a stretch. Prog, melodic, you get the idea.

I know some readers may be from Cincinnati, but I truly believe that local heroes Foxy Shazam are pretty bad. In addition to a Super Bowl commercial sell-out moment, the band’s self-titled album is their first on a major label and promises to be even more corporate washed than ever before.

I’ll end the harshest criticism there and end with a tone of indifference. Bleeding Through, admittedly one of my favorite groups at a prior point in time, released their album today, which is also self-titled. I haven’t kept up with the band for many years, but it feels like I never left! Nothing has changed here (as far as I can tell) – just metalcore that sounds like Dethklok at points and crew hardcore at others. Fans of the band may enjoy this.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Too harsh and not witty enough, but I seem to have spent too much time in the sun and I am beat, given that I passed out and regained consciousness several times while writing. Feel free to ignore my ramblings and enjoy this week’s releases, you will probably disagree with me.

Keep living and listening, lobsters!

-- Marshall Pearson, News Editor

Well, well, well, it's already April. Isn't that just a wonderful reminder of how time flies, runs or walks it out? While distracting myself from the ever-tortuous job hunt, I wish to inform you of releases that you should either a) pick up or b) set on fire. A wiser man once said, "Davis, finish writing the goddamn blog," so without further ado let's discuss the "pick up" category.

Erykah Badu's new album, New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh, begins the pick up category. She's backing up this CD filled with what I presume to be music (since I haven't listened to it) with a bad ass music video. Walking down an anonymous city sidewalk, Badu strips down from her coat all the way down to her birthday suit, which earned her international publicity and a $500 fine. Whether you think it's art or a shameless grab for attention, you must watch it (linked above) for the reactions of the unaware public around her. Personally, I think the video is brilliant, and subsequently her album should be "picked up."

The other music is from this guy in Nashville who goes by Makeup and Vanity Set. His new self-titled release came out on March 16. Granted it may be dated, but a) you haven't heard of this person b) you need to know him because c) he rocks harder than an avalanche. His take on electronic music brings a healthy dose of dissonance that people like M.I.A., Designer Drugs and Gozii have also mastered. MVS also nurtures a disco flavor in his music that captures the essence of any good, sweat-inducing dance tune. Pick it up.

I'm growing weary of dishing out compliments. Time for stuff worthy of a fiery demise (note: don't literally set things aflame; I got arrested for it once, and the police were not as fun as both Kindergarten Cop and Rush Hour made them out to be).

Slash is releasing a solo album. Set it on fire.

Asher Roth came out with a new mix tape called Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry. Every word of that previous sentence hurt my feelings. I envision a cruel future where everyone forgot how to read, blunt wrap industries have cornered the lobbies of the House and Senate, and court rooms have been phased out by the introduction of the MMA "judicial" octagon. If we do nothing, this "Rothian" future may become true. Burn this tape.

Well that's it.

End transmission.

-Davis Chambers, Video Director