Rock Problems – The Hold Steady – I don’t know why I find this song so funny… it seems like a perfect comeuppance for the highly obsessive Finn: it’s all find your religions where you may and lose it all and it really runs right back to his old concerns and the new settles into a keyboard.
Hot Cake – The Fall – Second in on the newbiew, close your eyes and it could be any art rock post-punk back. Is it me or is his accent a lot less acute?
My First Kiss (feat Ke$ha) – 3Oh!3 – Why can nobody just write their fucking name? This is a great little groover with the sorta concept rock nyc could write a year of posts about. Anyway, it is all handclaps and handslaps and chanting and oooohs and aaaahs and baby gaga making it as nasty as afirst kiss can be. SONG OF THE WEEK.
Warm Summer Night – The Temptations – I bet in the 23rd century they will still be tempting us! This is a silky, smooth and sweet love song that personifies its title, “… with a cool summer breeze”. The lead singer is (relatively) whatever but the harmonies are are really wonderful. By the way, I bought another song off the CD and it barked…
You’ve Got A Friend (Live) – James Taylor and Carole King – How could they fuck this up??? Well, for one thing, James Taylor can perform the worst improvising known to man. Hey, James when you change it to “all you’ve got to do is call me, yeah” you kill the fucking rhyme. Oooh, and then have King thank the audience at the end. Execrable and useless. Stay with the original or the Carnegie Hall Live version -or the living Room. Or sing it in the fucking shower.
Dang A Lang (feat Lady Saw and Nicki Minaj) – Kinda pop reggaeton goes hip hop -not bad but the first Minaj rap I’ve heard that is no better than ordinary.
Change Of Time – Josh Ritter -There is a certain type of singer-songwriter -smart, tasteful, passionate, loved by the rock crit establishment, that leaves me cold no matter how hard I try. Ron Sexsmith is one. This guy is another. Ritter is the sorta guy who names his latest album off a line off “Hamlet”. Just a straight snooze though the middle eight is clangingly alright.
…And the World Laughs With You (feat Thom Yorke) – Flying Lotus- In a perfect world Yorke would spend his career covering the PJ Harvey song and leave the LA found musicer alone. This song seems to be interlacing two sperate beats and a throbbing piece of bleeps off Miles Davis’ On The Corner. I guess if I have to listen to Yorke this is the place to do it.
Let Me Hear You Scream – Ozzy Osbourne – Sure Ozzy is going through the motions. At 105 years of age so would you. The point is he still knows all the right motions and this screamer (where he can’t reach the high notes or even near em) is still a fun trifle and minor addition to the OO songbook.
Terrified (feat Zachary Levi – Katherine McPhee – In the past two weeks we’ve suffered thru a lotta pretty iffy chicks singing country. This, featuring the bloke from the show Chuck taking himself way too seriously, is another Idol alumni trying to glom onto the mood of the moment: ie lady Antebellum country-pop crossover. It won’t but it’ll break country.
Texico Bitches – Broken Social Scenes – You know how I was bitching about the indie rock label. Fuck that. Canadian rock collective plays indie rock style. A wonderful time is had by all.