Amazing What Can Happen in a Couple Weeks

Wow. It's been a while since I last posted. Long stretches of work in the "real world" have not afforded me the time nor the energy to respond to the wonderful world of music news and releases. So it's time for a little catch up in a feature I like to call: "Short and Sweet"

News:

Michael Jackson

This was kind of a big deal. Talented icon and legend with questionable lifestyle choices dies, the media collectively belly up to the "teet" of opportunity and suck the issue dry like the leeches many of them are. Expected and sad, both the death and its coverage.

Julian Casablancas

Strokes lead singer joins everyone else from the band in pursuing a side project. Casablancas' first solo album, Phrazes For The Young, is set to be released this fall. The last couple times we've heard from Casablancas, he was collaborating with NERD and Santogold for last year's Mixtape number one, "My Drive Thru" and singing about a "Boombox" with the Lonely Island dudes. If and when the Strokes finally get around to recording a new record, will anyone still care?


Albums

Bitte Orca / Dirty Projectors

A collection of well-crafted songs, heavy on musicality and experimentation yet incredibly accessible. Nine songs that meld together for a complete listening experience in the way albums used to provide.

The Ecstatic / Mos Def

Best hip-hop album I've heard in a long time. Masterful sequencing of 16 gems - each its own showcase of melody, beats, and lyricism - leads to new discoveries with each repeated listen (and there have been many.)

The Phenomenal Handclap Band

Another full-album experience with nary a clunker, though there are slow spots - TPHB could stand to learn a thing or two from the effective brevity of Mos Def's Ecstatic tracks. Overall, a delicious bouillabaisse of rock, soul, funk, and dance elements, high on musicality and creativity. Forward-thinking and throwbacky at the same time.

Horehound / The Dead Weather

Really, is there anything Jack White can't do? Returning to the drums and letting Kills' singer Alison Mosshart handle the vocals, White and TDW come across like a White Stripes album produced by the Devil himself.


Videos:

Kids (MGMT) and Poker Face (Lady GaGa) / Weezer

Weezer completely rule again!!! Too bad it's not with their own material. It's been a while, Rivers.



Black River Killer / Blitzen Trapper

Portland folkster/freakster act writes song about killing, enlists locals to wear masks, and makes a video worthy of a great "story song."



And now for something completely different:

Skipper Dan / "Weird" Al Yankovic

The pre-eminent parodist of my, yours, and everyone else's generation puts pen to paper for an all-original creation, ostensibly to prove he still can. It's a downer of a tale that many can relate with - substitute your job for the Jungle Cruise ride - played out in a poppy, upbeat song that works in a contrarian way, much the same way Al's career has.