Music Blogs

Anyone who thinks that the music business isn't at an all-time high will be in for a rude awakening this week--as a nonstop array of classic albums emerge from a stunning number of industry greats!

Among those greats? England's next big thing Great Adele, America's son of a famous singer Great Jakob Dylan, rap superstar legend and tatooed Great Lil Wayne, onetime female confessional superstar Great Alanis Morissette, potential best new band in America Great My Morning Jacket, one-half of legendary Steely Dan Great Walter Becker, superstar genre-bustin' asterisked Great N*E*R*D, and a bunch of other Greats too numerous to mention in this paragraph!

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Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III (Cash Money): From its charming cover, featuring the face of a tattooed toddler, to its charming covers of rock hits "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "Play With Fire," this is one of the year's most ambitious attempts at full-fledged rap crossover superstardom ever! With guest stars the likes of Jay-Z, and some of the most fascinatingly innocuous free-associations ever unleashed upon a public all too eager to lap it up, it may well be the album of the century! The album's thematic focus on onetime presidential First Brother Billy Carter is a bit puzzling, true--but it's probably because of that whole beer thing, huh? In the words of a guy I recently picked up hitchhiking: this record may be better than a steak sandwich! Do you have any money?

Jakob Dylan: Seeing Things (Columbia) In the absence of all that Wallflowers album-rock sonic fluff, and with the careful low-key stripped down Rick Rubin production sound in full force, this disc--Dylan's first-ever solo album--sounds better than most rational beings might have hoped! The songs ring true, the vocals are warm and Dylanesque--hey, everything this guy does is Dylanesque--and the effect is as artfully convincing as, say, those old albums that Chris Jagger recorded in the '70s. Like, they were good, if you could get over who actually made 'em! At this rate he may be the new Steve Forbert!

Alanis Morissette: Flavors Of Entanglement (Maverick/Reprise) You know, I have to kind of say I like Alanis Morissette after all this time--though the moments when I actually feel like listening to her music are, I don't know, not as often as she'd probably like! As a human she's funny, she has a winning personality, and I genuinely feel she's interested in pursuing her artistic muse--sort of like Lil' Kim, I suppose. But in the tradition of Under Rug Swept, Feast On Scraps, and Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, this new album has a title that makes my head hurt! What's in a name? Easy--bones!

Walter Becker: Circus Money (Mailboat) As the half of Steely Dan not known for singing, Walter Becker makes records that sound like Steely Dan except with another guy singing! Partnered here with bassplayer/producer Larry Klein, Becker has created a marvelous album that is intelligent, musical, and filled with that sort of cynical Steely gusto that grows more appealing with each listen.  It's 2008, and between a parade of indie rock clownheads who can't sing and American Idol dorks who grew up aping Michael Bolton, Walter Becker sounds like Pavarotti! Amos Pavarotti, Cleveland's legendary whistling plumber!

Adele: 19 (XL/Columbia) She's from England and she's got a great voice and she's not "cute" like those other chicks Kate Nash and Duffy and Lily Allen--she's simply a great singer! And she's probably sick and tired of Amy Winehouse comparisons as well! And at the end of the day all that matters is the quality of her music, right? That's why I think it might be best to compare her to one of those hot summer days when you've just taken a 10-mile bike ride, the sweat's dripping down your forehead into your eyes, you pull into a 7/11 and reach into the cooler and grab a big 20-ounce bottle of Diet Mountain Dew, you open it up and take that first refreshing gulp, and the guy behind the counter bellows, "Hey, pay for it first, moron!"

My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges (ATO/RCA) Speaking of Alanis Morisette, I find it slightly ironic that MMJ--as hipsters call 'em!--titled their new album Evil Urges. Because--frankly--for the past few years, when people invariably ask me, "Do you like My Morning Jacket?" I have been compelled to respond, "Yes, but not as much as your pretty pink dress!" I genuinely think these guys may be one of the best bands playing rock 'n' roll in America, but face it: Isn't a snappy response like the one above simply more aesthetically satisfying than listening to some stupid CD?

The Beach Boys: U.S. Singles Collection: The Capitol Years, 1962-1965 (Capitol/EMI) You'd think that virtually everything the Beach Boys ever recorded in their heyday would be commercially available at the moment, but as this fabulously packaged collection of a-sides, b-sides and c-sides illustrates, there's some great material still waiting to be purchased by everybody! Featuring hits galore, deluxe vocals, and the opportunity for listeners to close their eyes really hard and go back in time and change the course of the 1968 presidential election--oh, no, wait, that'll be the next box set!--this package may rival that Bon Jovi box set that Elvis ripped off and then some! Surprisingly good!

N*E*R*D: Seeing Sounds (Star Trak/Interscope) Adventurous and appealing are two words that start with the letter A! That said, this album is a pretty good! Featuring Pharrell Williams and a couple of his buddies, it's a unique blend of rock, hip-hop, catchy tunes, and the sort of thing that guys who deliberately reside on the cutting edge like to produce! I would tell you more, but this band's unfortunate choice of names renders it virtually unsearchable in today's databased-to-the-max world--in the same manner that The The and Live and Beyonce with that little squiggly line on top of the "c" have problems that will actually affect those artists'  financial bottom line in the years to come! And all I learned from MySpace was that some "Friend" told them: "you need to change your layout, it looks boring! I found this cool new site with THOUSANDS of FREE layouts, they even have FLASH ones!" Sheesh, maybe it is wrong for a man to have a sugar baby!

Love: Out Here, False Start (Collector's Choice) Two fascinating albums seeing reissue here that are worthy of your attention: Originally issued on the Blue Thumb label in 1969 and 1970 respectively--after Love's legendary run on Elektra--they're both slightly flawed (the first by an excessive drum solo, the second by occasionally ordinary material) but rewarding listens nonetheless. The latter's opening track "The Everlasting First" features the guitar-playing of Jimi Hendrix--some contend he was quite good!--and that sort of thing actually didn't happen very often, so you may want to check it out. On the other hand, you may want to put gas in your car!

Plies: Definition Of Real (Big Gates) Apparently long disturbed by non-fans who insist on calling him either "Fries" or "Piles," this highly regarded rapper brings Akon, Ne-Yo, T-Pain and Rick Ross into the studio and--in an unexpected turn of events--devotes at least 45 minutes to a heartfelt panel discussion about quantum theory, cosmology and whether the latest Rambo film borrows too much from Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci! You'd think they'd be talking about their cars or something!