New Releases 1/5/10: J5, Kanye and More!!
January 5, 2010
Welcome to January, folks. The flood of releases has slowed to a trickle, but it hasn’t totally died off. Here are a few of the releases attracting people to stores or their local DSPs this week.
Ke$ha “Animal”-True story. I don’t recall having EVER heard Ke$ha’s “Tic Toc”, despite the fact that it’s been the #1 record in the country for the past two weeks and recently broke a record for most legal downloads in a week. So in order to not seem totally out of touch, I’m listening to the song in the background while I type this. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to get through this whole thing. Granted, I come into this prejudiced: strike 1 for Ke$ha is that she sang the chorus of Flo-Rida’s obnoxious “Right Round”. Strike 2 is that she has a stupid-ass dollar sign instead of an “S” in her name.
Sorry, I just had to turn that off-it’s terrible. Give me Robyn. Give me Lady GaGa. Hell, I’d even take Fergie over this crap!! No wonder people talk so much shit about pop music these days. Anyway, for those of you who would be interested in this (and God help you if you are), her debut album comes out today. Watch it become a huge hit.
Katharine McPhee “Unbroken”: Show of hands-how many of you remember Katharine McPhee? She’s the chick that placed second to Taylor Hicks (and beat out Elliott Yamin and Chris Daughtry) on American Idol back in 2006. Of course, she wound up selling the least out of the four. This is probably because she gave off the vibe of a mature jazz/standards diva on the show and then wound up doing a complete 180 and making a Beyonce record. Still, one must admire the fact that she still has a major label contract (with legendary jazz label Verve, at that!). Her sophomore release will probably be a little more in line with what we heard from her on “Idol”.
Kanye West “Storytellers”: Is Kanye’s career over? This CD/DVD won’t tell us the answer because it was recorded at the beginning of 2009, a good nine months before Taylor-gate. I’m not sure what the purpose is of releasing this, since there was a point in time when it came on every half-hour on VH-1 and VH-1 Soul, but for those interested in hearing Kanye’s slightly unhinged ramblings, this one’s for you. Me, I’ll just wait until the next studio album.
(By the way-I don’t think Kanye’s career is over. You think the average Kanye West fan gives a fuck about Taylor Swift?)
Jackson 5/Michael Jackson: Reissue Campaign: The Jackson onslaught continues. Universal has remastered and re-released every Motown-era Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson solo album, with the exception of the first two, “Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5″ and “ABC”, which are still available in a two-fer package. Vinyl junkies can also rejoice, because these reissues are also available on wax. And if you know how difficult it is to find vinyl copies of some of these albums, you’ll truly appreciate the re-release. Personally, I’ll be picking up a few of these to fill a couple of holes in my collection.
Anyway, that should be more than enough to satisfy you music junkies. Get a full list of this week’s releases here.
New Releases 12/21-22/09: Mary J. & More!!!
December 21, 2009
I’m pushing this out a little earlier than usual for one reason:
Mary J. Blige’s “Stronger with Each Tear” is available on amazon Mp3 for $3.99 for today only! Four bucks for a Mary J. album-ANY Mary J. album-is a pretty good deal. I broke my longstanding embargo on buying digital for this, figuring you couldn’t beat the price. Although “Stronger” appears to be on the average side of Mary albums, hell…it’s only four bucks!!
Also out today (or tomorrow):
Didn’t buy Eminem’s “Relapse” yet? Want to embarrass yourself by buying the work of a past-his-prime rapper and giving it to your kid, whose probably already moved on to someone else? Well, knock yourself out. “Relapse: Refill” hits stores this week, and if what I’ve heard of the unreleased material is any indication of what the entire album sounds like, stay the hell away. When you haven’t had anything new to say in almost a decade, it’s probably time to hang it up, and the fact that Eminem is in his mid thirties and still slinging poop rhymes and gay-baiting means that, despite his considerable skill, it looks quite unlikely that I will ever pick up another Eminem album for the rest of his career.
The only other notable release is the “We Are Young Money” compilation from the Lil Wayne-led campaign. Weezy has already done his part for promotion by getting arrested late last week for marijuana possession. Artists appearing on this compilation include Drake, Nicki Minaj, Pleasure P, and Lloyd. In other words, yawn…
With that, we close up shop on new releases for 2009. January 2010 will bring new music from the likes of Peter Gabriel, Vampire Weekend and Ke$ha, as well as reissues from The Jackson 5 and Maxwell. As always, you can get a full list of this week’s releases here!
New Releases 12/15/09: Wrapping ‘09 Up with Some Soul
December 15, 2009
The release schedule has slowed to a trickle, so…I don’t have a lot to write about this week. That might make some of you happy. Anyway, here’s what’s coming out today.
Alicia Keys “The Element of Freedom”- Even when Alicia Keys does wrong, she does no wrong. Neither of the two singles released so far-”Doesn’t Mean Anything” and “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart”-have exactly set the world on fire, but she still finds herself at the top of both the Pop & R&B charts with “Empire State of Mind”. A Jigga-less version of “Empire” appears on this album, in addition to a duet with Beyonce, meaning that Alicia has now joined the list of artists who have joined forces with both members of the Carter household.
Alicia’s a weird one for me. I like her, but she’s yet to make a studio album that I enjoy all the way through. She’s still prone to clumsy lyricism, for one. With that said, though, her good qualities outweigh the bad ones and I have no qualms adding this to my collection.
Robin Thicke “Sex Therapy”: This appears to be the John Legend “Evolver”-type album for Mr. Thicke, AKA the “Robin Thicke Sells Out” record. “Sex Therapy” includes guest appearances from the likes of Jay-Z (yet again), The Game, Snoop Dogg and annoying new female rapper Nicki Minaj. Now as someone who generally likes his R&B to be guest rapper-free, this concerns me. But the first single and title track is the “Let’s Get it On” of 2009, and I might be able to forgive having to sit through another record with the D-O-Double G if Robin gives us a couple more baby-makin’ anthems.
The only other release of note is “Lucy”, an EP by Julian Lennon and James Scott Cook. This is a charity record, benefiting several Lupus research foundations. The titular “Lucy” was a schoolmate of Julian’s. A drawing he made of her famously piqued Julian’s dad’s interest and resulted in the Beatles classic “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. Lucy passed away from lupus-related complications last year, so the song “Lucy” is, in part, a tribute to her. The album artwork also includes a reproduction of that original drawing-which I’m sure will be of special interest to Beatles fans. It’s Julian’s first music in something like a decade, it’s cheap, and it’s for a good cause. Pick it up, why don’t you?
For a full list of this week’s releases, be sure to check out Pause and Play .
First Listen: Billy Corgan’s “A Song for a Son”
December 10, 2009
I’ll admit. Billy Corgan gets on my nerves.
First, there was the fact that he just seemed like an obnoxious prima donna. Granted, “Siamese Dream” and “Mellon Collie” are classics, but Billy just came across as kind of an egotistical whiner-especially after firing D’arcy and James Iha and kind of outing them as not contributing very much to the Pumpkins sound. I was just weirded out by the fact that he fires the whole band and then rehires the unreliable heroin-addict drummer?
The last Pumpkins album was a moderate commercial success, although I gotta say that I was lukewarm on the album and VERY disappointed when I saw them live a couple months later. Now, Billy is promising to release 44 new songs over the period of 3 years free over the internet. I have to laugh, because Billy’s complaining about the state of the industry is kinda hypocritical given the fact that his ability to give away 44 free songs on the internet is largely due to the promotional machine that the music industry provides. It’s easy for him to make that statement because he doesn’t have to worry about making money.
Anyhow, this is about Billy’s new song “Song for a Son”. I wasn’t expecting much from it, but I like it way more than I initially thought I would.It’s a typical grandiose rocker, with traces of peak-era Elton John and Queen. His voice seems to have gotten less grating over time as well, which is a good thing. As Billy has reformed the Pumpkins with a COMPLETELY new lineup (and is now allegedly dating Jessica Simpson…shudder…), I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the months to come.
Get “A Song for a Son” here.
New Releases 12/8/09: Chris Brown, Timbaland & More!
December 8, 2009
For some reason, December has established itself as the month when a lot of bigname urban artists release albums. I’m not sure when or how that happened, but over the past couple of years, this month has hosted releases by Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige and Jamie Foxx…and, hark! They all have new albums scheduled for release THIS December! How coincidental! However, those albums won’t be out for another week or two, so let’s concentrate on what’s in stores today:
Chris Brown “Graffiti”: So, here’s the test: can Chris Brown recover his career? That’s hard to say. A lot of people have a hard time separating someone’s art from their personal lives, although an interesting case study can be found in R. Kelly. Those child-porn charges didn’t stop people from coming out in droves to buy “Chocolate Factory”, did it? That said, Kelly returned with an album that got excellent reviews and spun off a couple of hit singles. So far, “Graffiti”’s first single, “I Can Transform Ya”has only scored moderate success, and reviews of “Graffiti” have been savage. So this will be an interesting one to watch. Finally, if Chris’s album outsells Rihanna’s in the first week, what does that say about us as a society?
Timbaland “Shock Value 2″: Allow me to say for the record: as talented as Timbaland is as a producer (and despite being overrated, the man *is* talented), his albums tend to suck. The first “Shock Value” had a couple of good songs and a ton of crapola. This one piles on the star power to the point that there might not be a whole lot of actual Timbo vocalizing on this album-which is probably a good thing. Guests on this album include (inhale) Gucci Mane, Drake, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, The Fray, Chris Daughtry, Katy Perry, T-Pain, Keri Hilson, Brandy and others. This might be my only purchase of the week-promises to be an interesting listen.
Snoop Dogg “Malice N Wonderland”: Does anyone even care about Snoop’s music anymore? “Sexual Seduction” got me all excited about buying his last album, “Ego Trippin’”, and then the album turned out to be a piece of shit. Let’s face facts: Snoop has basically made variations of the exact same album for the past sixteen years. Nothing suggests “Malice” will be any different, although the production, courtesy of legends like DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and the rapidly-falling-off Dr. Dre, will probably be stronger than on any of the D-O-Double G’s latest albums. Still, this is a “skip” for me.
Gucci Mane “The State vs. Radric Davis”: I knew I wasn’t going to like this dude as soon as I heard his name. As soon as you hear “Gucci Mane”, you know he’s one of those Southern rappers with a mouth full of gold teeth, talking absolute nonsense. Now, to be fair, I only heard this guy once-I caught a commercial just yesterday announcing the album’s release on BET, but those 30 seconds were enough to convince me that this guy is an absolute joke. Of course, given the guy’s impending jail sentence for a parole violation, this will probably be the biggest seller of any of the albums listed here. Sigh.
Clipse “Til’ the Casket Drops”: After a frustrating two-album stint with Jive Records, the Thornton Brothers of Virginia have linked up with Columbia Records and are now releasing their third effort. Granted, Jive and Columbia are both Sony-distributed labels, so I don’t know how much different things can possibly be, but let’s just say it’s a new start for the sake of agreement, OK? Anyway, I find these guys annoying, although some people (especially white music critics) seem to go completely apeshit over these guys. Oh well, they don’t have to go back to the ‘hood and see the consequences of an environment where kids actually accept the unapologetic drug and violence tales of acts like the Clipse as the gospel truth. Honestly, I don’t either, but that’s the environment I come from and it pisses me off to see the unfortunate situations a lot of urban youth find themselves in being exploited by record executives and artists who don’t give a fuck as long as they’re being paid.
</soapbox>
Elsewhere, not a lot to report. Ska-rock legends The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are releasing their first album in seven years, while Jared Leto and 30 Seconds to Mars have settled their legal differences with their label and have returned with “This is War” (look for this one to do boffo numbers when all is said and done…). “Glee” (the most overrated new TV show this year) releases a second soundtrack in record time (the first one came out barely six weeks ago), and there are also new albums out by Jimmy Buffett (for you youngun’s, he’s like an old version of Kenny Chesney or Jack Johnson) and Puddle of Mudd (write your own joke in here).
A full list of this week’s new releases can be found here.
In the Holiday Spirit with Rahsaan Patterson
December 1, 2009
One of the biggest crimes in the music industry is that Rahsaan Patterson is not a bigger star. A gifted songwriter (having written for artists like Brandy and Tevin Campbell) and an exquisite vocalist (think about the love child of Chaka Khan and Stevie Wonder), it galls me that his former “Kids Incorporated” castmate Stacy (Butterface) “Fergie” Ferguson has #1 singles and million selling records and Rahsaan doesn’t even have a major label contract.
That said, Rahsaan has built up quite the cult following over the past decade and change. He’s released four excellent studio albums and I just discovered his 2008 Christmas album “The Ultimate Gift”. I haven’t listened to much holiday music over the past couple of years (for no good reason), but the combination of the strong writing (6 of the 10 songs are originals written or co-written by Rahsaan), the genuine emotion (this doesn’t seem like a contract filler at all) and that soulful voice put me in the mood for good cheer almost as soon as the Thanksgiving turkey got cold!!
The track I’ve posted here is his version of Paul McCartney’s 1978 chestnut “Wonderful Christmastime”. While Macca’s version will remain a classic, Rahsaan updates the track with some serious use of the Linn drum machine, a staple of all those classic Prince tracks from back in the day. Makes you wonder what the Purple One would have done with a happy, uptempo holiday song (because, quite frankly, I LOVE “Another Lonely Christmas”, but that song makes me want to slit my wrists. Enjoy!!
P.S., it doesn’t look like Rahsaan’s main site has been updated recently, but be sure to check out his MySpace page.
New Releases 12/1/09: R. Kelly, BlakRoc & More!!
December 1, 2009
After the deluge of releases over the past two weeks, it’s only right that the industry takes some time to chill out. The list of major releases is pretty thin this week. Here are the highlights.
Blakroc “Blackroc”-This is one of the more interesting projects to be released this quarter, or even this year! Blues rock duo The Black Keys have joined forces with a host of hip-hop artists to make what I hear is a quite entertaining record. Scary fact: this album was co-spearheaded by one of my least favorite people in the whole world, Damon Dash. Anyway, the list of guest artists is pretty superb: Mos Def, Q-Tip, Pharoahe Monch, RZA & GZA (along with a posthumous ODB appearance) and…Jim Jones. Hey, you can’t win them all.
R. Kelly “Untitled”- This is Kells’ first album since being acquitted of child molestation charges last year, and it’s hard for me to even believe that this is in stores, considering the fact that this has been moved around the release schedule more than any other album I can think of in recent memory. Anyhow, this album has zero buzz-the single “Number One”, which featured Keri Hilson, barely scratched the Top 10 on Billboard’s R&B chart, and something tells me this album is going to be a huge flop. I haven’t been more excited to see someone’s career go down the toilet (pun intended) since 50 Cent caught a brick last week.
Allison Iraheta “Just Like You”- Truthfully? I can’t even remember this broad. I suppose she finished third behind Glambert and Kris Allen, but I seriously can’t recall one song the lady sang. Either way, she managed to score a record deal with Simon Fuller’s 19 Recordings (not a prerequisite for every 3rd place finisher). Unfortunately, she’s also releasing the album in a year when the winner generated weak sales and even the runner-up had to basically sell his ass on network TV to get noticed. Sorry, Allison.
Juvenile “Cocky & Confident”-Juvenile is still around? At this point in time, fans of New Orleans rap care about one dude and one dude only: and he is NOT Juvenile. He better make up with Baby and them and either have a Hot Boys reunion or jump on Weezy’s next album. I don’t think *anyone* cares about this album outside Louisiana.
The Bravery “Stir the Blood”- I’m gonna try this without hitting Wikipedia. I believe this is The Bravery’s third album. I’ve actually owned each of the first two, and can’t remember a single thing about them other than the fact that I no longer own either one, so that should tell you a little bit about what I think of the band. These guys are completely anonymous, although I read a good review of this album somewhere. If you’re a fan, you’ll be happy. If you’re not, there’s probably no reason to become one.
And that’s more or less it, folks. Get the complete list of new releases from our friends at Pause and Play by clicking here.
New Releases 11/23/09: A Day Late & A Few Dollars Short
November 24, 2009
I knew that this week’s new releases had been moved up a day to 11/23/09, but I wanted to let the AMA posts stay on the front page for a while, so I’m technically hitting you guys up a day late. Forgive me. Anyway, this is Thanksgiving week, Black Friday is upon us, so the heavy artillery is coming out. Here’s what’s up with this week’s releases.
Rihanna “Rated R”: Rihanna’s been all over the press pimping this record, from Diane Sawyer interviews to award show performances. This is her first album since officially becoming a superstar, and also her first album since the Chris Brown assault back in February. This marks the introduction of a tougher, angrier Rihanna, as evidenced by the album’s “Parental Advisory” sticker. I’ve been unimpressed by the three singles I’ve heard so far, which is usually a bad sign, but I bought the album anyway. I hope to have it reviewed later in the week. We’ll see if I wasted my money. Guests here include Slash, Young Jeezy and will.i.am (also not a good sign).
Susan Boyle “I Dreamed a Dream”: Ms. Boyle caused an internet sensation earlier this year due to her appearance on Simon Cowell’s “Britain’s Got Talent”. An unassuming country woman from England, Boyle has a voice like an angel. She was quickly scooped up to a record contract and her debut album has broken pre-order records on Amazon.com. This will be the Josh Groban “Noel” of 2009. Never underestimate the dollar of the over-40 customer. These are the folks who don’t think that music should be free.
Lady GaGa “The Fame: Monster”: 2009’s breakout artist is re-releasing her debut album with a whopping EIGHT new tracks. Now, folks. Where I come from? Eight tracks is an album. Thankfully, GaGa is doing right by her fans and is releasing those eight tracks a la carte in addition to as a part of her wildly successful “Fame” LP, which includes the hit singles “Just Dance”, “Paparazzi”, “Lovegame” and the super-ubiquitous “Poker Face”.
Shakira “She Wolf”: I gotta admit, Shaki’s half-ass performance of “Give it Up to Me” at the AMAs officially turned me off of buying this record. And I actually really like the disco-infused title track. My issue isn’t so much with Shakira turning towards dance/pop, but that “Give it Up to Me” is a completely uncreative collaboration with Timbaland and Lil Wayne designed to make a hit, and it appears that Shakira totally phoned it in. The rest of the album contains collaborations with The Neptunes (which could feasibly be interesting, given Shakira’s offbeat lyricism) and a second partnership with Wyclef Jean, who saved her last album from Flop City with “Hips Don’t Lie”.
Boyz II Men “Love”: Here’s some laziness I can forgive. The pre-eminent R&B group of the past 20 years is releasing their THIRD consecutive album of covers (actually, it’s their third out of four, but the one non-covers album was only released overseas and through BIIM’s website). I can forgive this because, quite frankly, the last couple of albums of BIIM-written material were pretty mediocre. On “Love”, the trio goes straight for adult contemporary radio with covers of “I Can’t Make You Love Me” (one of my favorite songs of all time), Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now”, and…”Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls? I gotta hear this one.
Also in stores and online this week: Beyonce releases her first live album, “I Am: Yours”, featuring a performance at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas. She also releases another damn “deluxe” version of “I Am: Sasha Fierce”, featuring two new songs. Birdman takes some time off from tonguing down his “son” Lil Wayne to release “Pricele$$” in what will be yet another fruitless attempt to gain even a fraction of his protege’s success. Regis & Joy Philbin join the holiday fray with their album “Just You, Just Me” and hope to get some of that Susan Boyle money. Also in stores: future one-hit wonder Jay Sean, neo-soul stalwart Angie Stone and the debut album by the guy who made an ass of himself on network TV two nights ago and thus doesn’t warrant a featured spot in this column, Adam Lambert.
A full list of this week’s releases can be found here. Happy Shopping!
New Releases 11/17/09: Super Tuesday, Part 1
November 17, 2009
The closer we get to Thanksgiving, the bigger the releases get. There’s a whole shitload of new albums coming out today. Here are the highlights.
John Mayer-”Battle Studies”: “Continuum” was the album that made even people who don’t like John Mayer like John Mayer. Think what you want about the guy personally (and he does come off as an insufferable douche on occasion), the guy has not made a bad album yet. That said, I’m approaching “Battle Studies” with trepidation. First single “Who Says” was just OK, and my man GG tells me that the album is super-slow. I read another review that suggests that JM has gone back to his cheezy “Wonderland” subject material. At any rate, this is the album I’m most looking forward to this week. We’ll see if I wind up disappointed.
Them Crooked Vultures-”Them Crooked Vultures”: All hail the latest rock ‘n roll supergroup! This band features Queens of the Stone Age singer Josh Homme, legendary Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and Nirvana/Foo Fighters/Probot/Queens of the Stone Age drummer Dave Grohl. I swear, Grohl has more jobs than a Jamaican. Early reports are suggesting this might be one of the best rock albums of the year. Although I like QOTSA, Foo Fighters and Led Zep individually, is there something wrong with me because I’m not especially excited about this one?
Norah Jones “The Fall”: This is allegedly the album on which Norah Snorah puts the piano down and picks up her gee-tar. This album was on my to-buy list as recently as last night. But then I thought some, and I realized that I haven’t gone back to any Norah albums for repeated listens since the first one. I love Norah…her interviews and side projects suggest much less of a stuffshirt than her albums do. I’m just not sure I need another album of hers.
50 Cent “Before I Self Destruct”: So…50’s new album was released on iTunes last week, but those sales are being held over to be included with the physical sales from this week to create the first week number. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened (sales for Michael Jackson’s “Bad” weren’t tabulated after the album’s first week either), but it DOES suggest that the notoriously confident Fiddy is feeling some heat. I can’t imagine his new album (which is buzz-free and has been delayed for the better part of the year) outselling John Mayer even with two weeks of sales. Given my complete dislike of anything Curtis Jackson-related, I’ll be staying far, far away from this one.
Rakim “The Seventh Seal”: The long-awaited new album from the Greatest Rapper Alive (fuck Lil Wayne and anyone else who dares to put themselves in this spot) has been ten years in the making. While I’m sure Ra’s rhyme skills have eroded with time, the man at half speed is still better than 95% of the emcees out there. The big variable here is going to be the production. Rakim hasn’t always had the best ear for picking out beats, and if lyrics were all that mattered in hip-hop, I’d probably enjoy listening to a lot more Canibus records. Anyway, I’m sure hip-hop junkies in my age group are jizzing in their pants over this one.
But wait, there’s more!!
British pop star Leona Lewis follows up her #1 hit “Bleeding Love” (and being snuffed in the face at an autograph signing) with her sophomore release “Echo”/ “Idol” winner Kris Allen gets ready to set the record for worst-selling debut album by an “American Idol” winner with his self-titled effort/ Janet Jackson takes a break from blaming Dr. Conrad Murray for her brother’s death with a new “Number Ones” collection (I’m a little disgusted that JJ only decides to talk about her brother’s death when she has a new album to promote)/ Katy Perry assumes people give a fuck about her as a live performer with a new “MTV Unplugged” set/ Paul McCartney releases his 9832405th live album/ Boyz II Men release their third consecutive album of covers with “Love”, this time strolling directly into the adult contemporary market with versions of hits by Journey and Bonnie Raitt/ teenage Usher discovery Justin Bieber releases his debut album today/ UK megastar Robbie Williams returns to American shores for the first time in half a decade/ R&B group Pretty Ricky replaces it’s lead singer Pleasure P. and forge on with a new album, and finally, future one-hit wonder OneRepublic returns with the follow up to their debut album, which produced the hit Timbaland-assisted single “Apologize”.
(catches breath)
Now is that a lot of stuff or what?
Usher’s “Raymond vs. Raymond” Gets It’s Wig Pushed…Up??
November 16, 2009
It’s commonplace in the music industry for an album to be announced and then pushed back for weeks, if not months, if not…well, you get the picture. So, it’s always a surprise when an album gets pushed forward, especially in the competitive holiday market.
Usher’s “Raymond vs. Raymond” was originally scheduled for a December release, then got bumped into early 2010, and just got bumped back up to a December 21st release. He’ll be competing against high-profile December releases from the likes of Mary J. Blige, Jamie Foxx and Chris Brown with this album, his sixth studio album.
First single “Papers” is already #2 on the U.S. R&B singles chart, and the rumors are that this is an intensely personal effort, something I’m kind of on the fence about. Considering the trajectory of Usher’s career and the “stories” behind his albums, I wonder if Usher is merely creating drama to sell records? Well, whether the drama is real or manufactured, the proof will be in how good the album is, and now we’ll get to find out before 2009 draws to a close.
