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The Tuesday Roundup: New Releases 08.08.06
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August 8, 2006
Movers, Shakers and Noise Makers
 Breaking Benjamin is one of those modern hard rock bands that not a single music critic or industry insider admits to liking...so actually, you won't hear anything about them, this week. Next week, however, they'll have the #1 album in the country, and everyone will finally acknowledge their existence, mostly by bitching about the persistent popularity of awful post-grunge bands like Nickelback, Staind, and these guys. I'll spare you my bitching, and just note that when this chest-thumping nonsense sells 150,000 copies in its first week, I'll feel just a teensy bit deader inside.
Already, the new albums getting the most ink this week appear to be debuts, by pop/R&B sex kitten Cassie and massive (at least physically -- he's 300 lbs) Miami rapper Rick Ross. Cassie's only had one hit, but it's a big one, the slithery "Me & U," and being the top priority of Diddy's Bad Boy label won't hurt either. Figure on her moving about 100,000 units and landing somewhere in the top five. Ross is a regional favorite, but hasn't quite been able to break onto the national stage, despite boatloads of hype from Def Jam. Plus, it's been a terrible year for debut rap albums (Yung Joc aside), so I'm guessing Ross won't move more than about 20,000 copies of Port of Miami.
That leaves the veteran acts, and I'm betting they'll do quite well. Sure, Slayer missed the 6/6/06 boat, but no one was gonna buy Christ Illusion because of its release date anyway. The diehard fans -- and they remain legion -- will snap up new Slayer no matter when it comes out. Ani DiFranco, meanwhile, has one of the most doggedly loyal fan bases of any indie artist in history -- she churns out a new album every year and they reliably rack up good sales. Bet on 35,000 units for Slayer and 20,000 for Ani.
The Best of the Rest
 Barsuk, the label that brought you Death Cab for Cutie, is finally giving one of 2006's great albums a U.S. release. Jim Noir's Tower of Love is an understated little gem of a folk-pop record, all sunshiny melodies and child-like lyrics that are by turns amusing and startlingly dark.
Imagine if Brian Wilson and Syd Barrett had made an album together and you get a sense of just how weird, baroque and downright catchy this record is.
Beyond that, the only other new album this week that's found a home in my CD player is Kaki King's Until We Felt Red. King, best known as a virtuoso jazz/folk acoustic guitarist, branches out here with more elaborate arrangements, and adds her waifish voice for the first time to several tracks. Often, when instrumental artists try this, the results are embarrassing, but King wisely doesn't overdo it, and it works.
Also this week: Carl Barat reminds us all that the Libertines were a two-headed monster, but also that he was the less monstrous head; the debut from his new band Dirty Pretty Things is pretty tame stuff compared to the "Fuck Forever" antics of Pete Doherty and Babyshambles…. Hellogoodbye releases a sturdy pop-punk debut LP that doesn't quite live up its title -- but
then again, who can live up to a title like Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! ….ex-Veruca Salt member Nina Gordon sounds more like Liz Phair than Liz Phair does…. La Rocca sound more American than most Americans do (they're Irish, but apparently hail from the town of McAsbury Park)…and Hyper sounds uncannily like the Prodigy, which is only surprising until you find out that two of the guys in the band used to be in the Prodigy.
Oh yeah…there's also a new Gin Blossoms record out this week. Remember them? Apparently they got the same memo that told the Spin Doctors and Soul Asylum that it was time to reunite and put out a new record. I haven't heard the record yet, but considering the band's best songwriter, Doug Hopkins, killed himself after their first record, I can't say I have any desire to.
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Playlist: Five for Summer
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August 7, 2006
This week's Top Five tunes offer up a nice, sunny, summertime vibe, I think. Nothing says summer like songs about breaking garden gnomes and cruising the city streets with Iggy Pop.
1. Jim Noir, "Eanie Meany." I'm like the last blogger on earth to jump on the Jim Noir bandwagon, but what the hell. His album finally comes out in the States this week, and it's still freakin' great. Be sure to listen to the lyrics -- it's such a happy, mellow tune, but it's really about an angry footballer threatening his neighbor with a bat.
2. Scissor Sisters, "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'." Oh, those sassy Scissor Sisters, making an irresistibly catchy dance tune about not wanting to dance. Sing along while you shake your groove thang -- now that's irony.
3. Kinky, "Una Linea de Luz." Two words: more cowbell! These guys had one of the best albums of 2002 with their Latin-electro-pop-funk debut, then dropped a dud by trying to be a conventional rock band on their followup, Atlas. Their forthcoming third album, Reina, sounds like a return to form.
4. G. Love, "Hot Cookin'." I'll always have a soft spot for the man who gave the world "Cold Beverage." His new album has a southern-fried rock 'n' soul thing going on that suits his laid-back style perfectly.
5. Teddybears, "Punkrocker." How great is it to have Iggy Pop singing a completely non-punk-rock anthem about what a punk rocker he is? How even greater is it that the song was done by a bunch of beat-programmers from Sweden?
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Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself...
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August 6, 2006
I'm a man of -- well, not much wealth, but hopefully of some taste. You decide.
I've been writing about music and obsessively collecting it for about 10 years or so. I like to think this gives me a nice vantage point somewhere halfway between casual listeners who rarely dig deeper than what they can hear on the radio, and those insufferable hipster critics who claim to have discovered the Pixies while they were still in the womb.
I like the Kills not the Killers, the Stone Roses not Guns N' Roses, Danger Mouse not Modest Mouse, the Velvet Underground not Velvet Revolver, the Dresden Dolls not the Pussycat Dolls, Zap Mama not Papa Roach, punk not crunk, and Eno not emo. I like the Arctic Monkeys and the Cowboy Junkies, the Black Keys and the Black Eyed Peas, Crowded House and funky house, Led Zeppelin IV and Chicago V, James Brown and Jack White, John Coltrane and Kurt Cobain. And yes, I just spent way too much time thinking up that list.
So what can you, gentle readers, expect from this blog? Well, like most blogs, probably a lot of random, self-indulgent crap...but hopefully some stuff along these lines, too:
- Playlists. Every Monday, I'll post five of my current favorite songs over there in the right-hand column, all linked up so you can listen to them while I tell you what's so damn great about them.
- New releases. Every Tuesday, I'll post a few obligatory words about the big new albums everyone will be talking about, followed by a few under-the-radar picks.
- Music news. Yeah, ARTISTdirect already has a news page for that, but if it's some little blip of a story that's too trivial for in-depth coverage but too ridiculous to pass up, you'll find it here.
- Concert reviews. I'm an old crank, so I don't go out as much as I used to, but when I do, I'll describe every guitar solo, every trip to the bathroom, and the back of every head I'm stuck staring at. I know, I can't wait, either.
- IM chats with movers and shakers. Occasionally, when I run out of things to say, I'll try to rope some of my industry colleagues and contacts into having an online discussion that I'll then post here, typos, smileys and all. Because even I get sick of listening to myself pontificate every once in awhile.
- Witty analyses, blindingly brilliant insights, casual observations, and half-assed critiques of every industry trend, musical fad and cultural boondoggle I happen to notice.
So pull up a chair and dig in...the banquet is served.
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1. Jim Noir - Eanie Meany
2. Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
3. Kinky - Una Linea de Luz
4. G. Love - Hot Cookin'
5. Teddybears - Punkrocker (feat. Iggy Pop)
About the Blogger
Name: Andy
Location: Los Angeles, California
When not blogging, Andy updates site content for ARTISTdirect, dreams of being a superstar DJ, and interviews artists he secretly doesn't care about.
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