What’s In My CD Changer, Volume 2
* Communiqué - Poison Arrows: With A&R cats seemingly groping about for the next The Killers, labels could do worse than to take a look at Communiqué. I’m not sure what their situation is with Lookout at the moment, but I’ve always said these dudes could be massively popular if they had the marketing heft of a major behind them. Whether they want that is another story. Still, I’d like to think there are a lot of people who would enjoy Communiqué’s propulsive synth-rock jams, but never got a chance to hear them. This is one of my favorite driving around records. You can listen to two tracks from this album by clicking this link.
* Thicke - A Beautiful World: Yes, he’s Alan Thicke’s son and, yes, he did look like Bike Messenger Jesus in the video for a song where he soul-cooed over the entirety of “A Fifth of Beethoven,” but I have a tremendous amount of irrational love for this record by Thicke. I know he’s a terrible lyricist (sample lyric: “Sometimes you read like William Shakes/Your scent is sweet like Betty Crocker bakes”), but the melodies are enough to override all that. His upcoming full-length, a collaboration with the Neptunes out soon on Star Trak, is one of the five or so records I’m eagerly anticipating this year. The lead single has disappointed some– and it is by-the-numbers nu-Pharrell R&B– but the only thing that’s been a disappointment in advance of the album is that it isn’t titled Touch Me, I’m Thicke.
* Usher - Confessions: It’s been a while since Ursher had a stranglehold on pop radio, so Confessions actually seemed like an appealing listen for the first time in months. I used to keep a list of People I Want To Punch In The Neck. Until I heard this album, Usher was on that list. Sure, there’s some grown ‘n’ sexy VH1 Soul filler crammed in at the end of the album, but even the filler is pretty decent. Tracks like the Just Blaze-produced “Throwback” make this a surprisingly solid record even outside of the mega-hits. I never expected to like this. That I still find it interesting almost two years after its release should qualify the guy for some sort of medal.
* Tom Vek - We Have Sound: I thought the similarity between Tom Vek’s song “Cover” and Irresistable Bliss-era Soul Coughing was just coincidental at first, but listening to it again this week, I have to wonder if he is actively trying to ape that sound. Everything from the bass sound to the vibes sample to the little Doughty-esque “uh” he slips at the end of phrases makes “Cover” sound like a sequel to “Soft Serve.” Maybe I’m imagining it. You can listen to it on this episode of my podcast and hear for yourself.
* Dios Malos - Dios (Malos): Dios (Malos) strike me as a more drug-obsessed American version of The Magic Numbers here. To be clear, that’s because of their music, not the fact that they have more than a passing familiarity with Husky jeans. Honest! On that very same podcast episode that I mentioned in the last paragraph, you can hear a Dios Malos track. God Bless Star Time International for releasing the good rock, by the way.
* Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life: Have you ever had someone ruin a band or an artist for you? I mean, you associate some music with a person, then something happens to sour your relationship with the person and the music becomes a casualty as well? A woman I dated briefly a few years ago ruined Stevie Wonder for me. How brutal is that? Anyway, I haven’t been able to listen to Stevie much since then, but I came across this disc on my shelf and said, “eff it, bro. I am getting over this nowsville.” I loaded it in the changer. When the disc popped up, I made it about 25 seconds in before I had to skip to the next disc. Dammit.
* Jay-Z - The Blueprint: This happened, like, eight blog years ago, but I just wanted to listen to “The Takeover” after Cam dropped his Jay diss track. I am not even remotely qualified to comment on this beef, so I will spare you and move on.
* Death Cab for Cutie - Plans: I used to be a total moron for Death Cab (evidence: this URL is a Death Cab reference), but I never really got into Transatlanticism and my fanaticism had almost completely worn off by the time Plans dropped. I’m not sure why. You might think it has something to do with Death Cab’s status as the New American Standard For Boring among cranky hipsters and critics, but I think it has more to do with my initial fandom coinciding with a stretch where I went way too long without touching a breast. I’m not as sad now and I don’t need music to heighten my melancholy moods nearly as often, so I don’t need to turn to Death Cab much anymore. It’s not a bad album, though. I’d rank this directly in the middle of their recorded output, if you care. You probably don’t, though. I don’t blame you.
* Apollo Sunshine - Apollo Sunshine: Honestly, the only reason I listened to this was because it had the SpinART logo on the back. A ton of promos come through our office and though I might try, I simply can’t listen to every one of them. There are certain labels I trust and SpinART is one of them. I’m glad I did give this a chance, though, because I’ve had an immeasurable amount of fun flailing around my apartment while I’ve got “Today is the Day” cranked up. Tracks like “Eyes” and “Phone Sex” helped make this one of my favorite albums of last year. I could have just as easily ignored it. I’m very glad I didn’t. Here is a link to yet another podcast I recorded that includes an Apollo Sunshine song.
* Shirley Horn - Travelin’ Light: I have an odd fascination with celebrity playlists on Rhapsody, even though I rarely get anything out of them. Sometime last Spring, I came across a playlist by Nouvelle Vague, which initially intrigued me because it seemed like Rhapsody were making very liberal use of the word “celebrity.” The playlist, while short, was exceedingly listenable, though, and the Shirley Horn song that anchored it had a lot to do with that. It’s a cover of The Beatles’ “And I Love Her,” only she changes the pronoun. These are usually warning signs, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t one of the sexiest things I’ve ever heard. The rest of Travelin’ Light is more than decent. I think the amount of time I spent listening to Shirley Horn and Blossom Dearie over 2005’s warm weather months would have made a lot of grandparents very happy. I can see myself repeating that process again this year.
