New Music TuesdayNovember 6th!!

New Music Tuesday November 6th! Yeah Baby!

It was an okay week for music. Mainly new stuff for me to check out. And that aint a bad thing!!

“Que Sera, Sera” performed by Damien Rice and David Gray from the album “Live Earth” with various artists titled “Concerts for the Climate Crisis” including Madonna, The Police, Foo Fighters, John Mayer, John Legend, and of course Damien Rice and David Gray to name a few. John Legend sings “Mercy Mercy Me” and I would have picked that song if Corinne Bailey Rae wasn’t singing with him. Ewwwe. David and Damien blend über well for this personal favorite of mine. I will never forget that drunken buffoon singing this at the Alibi karaoke and wanted me to come help him with the song. Turns out he didn’t really care if I sang; he just didn’t want to do the song anymore. Oh well, I picked up the reins and flew like nobody’s business. Great cause for the album, too. Cheers.

“Fine Line” from Little Big Town’s new album “A Place to Land”. They are a little bit big time country… Sometimes I don’t think I hear the twang that’s become so hickster, and perhaps I wouldn’t have submitted them to countrytown, yet they have done so themselves. So be it. They is a’ight. They get old school funk country in the song” Novocain”.

“Call to Arms” from Angels and Airwaves new album “I-Empire”. Even though this band is lead by the former frontman of Blink-182, this group isn’t as cheesy as their bandname suggests. Now I’m not gonna get surly here and bad mouth Blink-182 or Angels and Airwaves for that matter. No, this band deserves a little bit of credibility, for they wrote a song called “Star of Bethlehem”, which I have now seen. It’s actually a beautiful song. I’m sorry that people feel like they have to sabotage musicians by leaking their album onto the internet before the release date. That’s what happened to poor Angels and Airwaves. Lame. Stupid “fans”. Geesh.


American Gangster Soundtrack. Well, Jay-Z was supposed to be on the soundtrack, or have his own soundtrack for this movie, or something like that. Whichever it is, people are pissed. iTunes doesn’t have Jay-Z. So I would put a song from this soundtrack on my list, but out of principal, I am not. Just wanted to let you all know that the album is out. Haven’t seen the movie, but want to, cuz I myself am an American bad-ass gangsta.

“Loose Ends” from Great Northern new EP “Sleepy Eepee”. Love the sleepy eepee part. Love this song. The whole EP is kickass. The melodic tones and outrageous cover art intrigues me. Their sound is Great. Ha ha. Seriously though, if Sheryl Crow and her buddies decided to become modern day Mamas and Papas, this would be it. Great enough for you yet? I’m checkin up on them now. Great.

“NY State of Mind” from Nas “Greatest Hits”. Never before in my New Music blog history has the quotes on the album been so appropriate. I’m sorry, but “Greatest Hits” from NAS??? What?? More like Nasty! Ok. So a hiphop fan I am not. I don’t reach for my Akon or Snoop Dog or Bow Wow or Lol Jon or Ludacris or Mario or Outcast or Sean Paul or T.I or 50 Cent or Young Jog or Nitti or Parrell Williams tracks straight when I get home. I let them grace my iPod because they have some good songs with a good beat and catchy lyrics. You can’t deny that the hiphop industry is here to stay. I chose this song because it’s a different take on the NY that I know and love, and unlike some people I know, I like to hear and understand the other side of the coin of something I am passionate about. Life’s a bitch and then you die, right?

“Book of Lies” from Saga’s new album “10,000 Days”. Well this band is definitely mid-80’s soundtrack material. The have been together since 77, which is cool. What’s not cool is that their lead singer Michael is leaving them at the end of this month. WTF? This song rocks. I’m gonna go get my Mr Pib and leather glove (notice singular not plural on the glove) and rock out to my new found friends Saga.

“Brave” which is Idina Menzel’s new single. You can tell she’s a Broadway star even when she’s singing a normal song. This song Brave is similar to the ballad they have the American Idol sing every year. Even the words “If this is the moment I stand here on my own. If this is my right of passage that some how leads me home” are totally idol. Can’t you picture Kelly or Jordan or even Clay sing it??? Yeah me too. Idina is the star from Wicked and Rent, so I’m not makin fun here. I’m just pointing out that it’s a bit musical theater sounding, and I love musical theater! However, her song from the Desperate Housewives soundtrack doesn’t sound like Broadway at all. So Idina doesn’t have one foot on stage while in the studio after all.

“Headlines” which is the Spice Girls new single. Mostly, these girls make the headlines through their personal lives and not their talents. Oh well, as Americans we are supposed to like that sort of shit, right? Even Perez has fallen under the Spice Girl trance. Step away from the light Perez!! See them for what they truly are! Five has-beens who need money! I must say they all look phenomenal! This song is a bit boring, but the clips I’ve seen of their recent performances are not, so maybe their new album (??!) will be a bit more exciting then “Headlines”. Blech.

“The Girl you lost to Cocaine” from Sia’s new EP “Day Too Soon”. Wow, Sia is wicked cool. She’s naughty and nice all at the same time – good thing cuz Santa’s on his way. She has that flicker in her voice like Fiona, lyrics like Tori, and sassiness like Joss Stone. Her style is totally different from the three I mentioned though. She’s somehow positive while singing about cocaine. How’s that? Well I really can’t say. You must listen for yourselves. I have her “Breathe Me” song from “Colour the Small One” and it’s rad.


“Hijómalind” by Sigur Ros’s album “Hvarf/Heim”. You all probably don’t remember me mentioning an iTunes essential called “Alt. Yoga” a long while back, that contained songs by Mono, Eplosions in the Sky, and Jens Lekman to mane a few, but Sigor Ross was a part of that list as well. I am gonna have to start collecting those tracks, I seem to stumble across these bands that I like and am wanting more. This band is from Iceland, and like the other famous Icelander Bjork, they have that cold eerie instrumental psychedelic sound. Here is my favorite part of this review: they actually are described in the genre of “shoegazing”. SHOEGAZING??? Huh??? That is AWESOME!!! You: “So… how would you best describe your band’s sound?” – Me: “Oh, I’d have to say we fall in the category of SHOEGAZING.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Must be an Iceland thing.

“Paths in the City” from Richard Youngs' new album “Autumn Response”. Good lord you can actually feel the weather change while listening to this album. The whole thing is perfectly sync with the leaves falling outside my office window. You see the fog settling in, the harvest moon shining, and the smell of the smoke in the fireplace. Amazing and beautiful. IT would be even better if there were no words and just instrumental. We can’t always get what we want, right?

“Little Brother” from Grizzly Bear's new album “Friend”. Anne and I saw Grizzly Bear open for Feist, and I wasn’t super impressed at the time. I was in a funk though. So I was surprised that I really liked the tracks I listened to from this new album of theirs… Sometimes a band live isn’t that great. Sometimes it’s the sound, sometimes it’s their showmanship (or lack there of), sometimes it’s your mood. OR sometimes, they just suck. I think Grizzly Bear’s problem that night was me. This song is contagious. It makes me want to direct the music video for it.

“In Mcdonalds” from the Burial’s new album “Untrue”. Electronic synths being portrayed here need your speakers to be top notch. Other wise you will not be getting the full Burial experience. Definitely club discothèque music here, but I like it. It’s very “Banana Republic” during the holidays – you know the haunting almost Christmas music but it’s not and yet it should be snowing outside to the beat? Yeah you know.