New Music Week Of September 28th, 2009: Miranda, Madonna, Mariah and Hayley!!
White Liar – Miranda Lambert – The crazy ex-girlfriend is back and this country singing sweetheart of the rodeo is as tough and smart as she was on her terrific sophomore effort. I bought a couple of other songs off album # 3 Revolution and they are all great, especial “The House That Made Me” -a lovely, lump in the throat, ballad, but this country swing with what sounds like a hand picked steel guitar rocks in all the right places country rocks your world. Single Of the Week.
Celebration (Benny Benassi remix) – Benassi’s remix sounds old fashioned but not in a bad way, the echoy Madonna vocal has been done before, usually by Benny himself, and the vibrating bass is made to be blasted loud just like back in the day.
H.A.T.E.U. – Mariah Carey – The third song I’ve heard off Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel is the third knock out in a row, apparently a much better album than last years disappointing E=MC2, Carey seems to have toned down her hip hop tendencies and settle into a gorgeous pop groove.
Careful – Paramore – Sure I loved Riot and thought “Misery Business” was one of the best single of 2007 but they were dreadful in concert in 2008 and I thought the Twilight song was a major bummer. This is the second song off Brand New Eyes and the second huge disappointment. It sounds like paramore only without the melody. Oh, and Hayley looks just like Marie Lynn and I don’t particularly wanna think about Marie Lynn.
Check My Brain – Alice In Chains
Death To All But Metal – Steel Panthers
Keepin’ Halloween Alive – Alice Cooper
Wheels – Foo Fighters
OK, pop pickers, which of these cats is joking you and which is serious? It’s really hard to tell but the best of the lot is parody metal hair band Steel Panther “death to mariah carey, death to sheryl crow, they can kiss each other round the camel toe” they sing and it’s hard not to bang your head in agreement. “Keepin’ Halloween” isn’t quite self-parody, when you’re stick us beheading dolls on stage and playing golf it’s kinda hard to make fun of yourself. “Wheels” is really nothing at all: it floats away as you listen to it and Alice In Chains is death metal as long term career move, not bad but not very good either.
Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop – Langdon Pigg
Naturally – Selena Gomez & the Scene
You know the Pigg song from that AT&T, right? Well, it’s much, much worse over four minutes. “Naturally” is a rare misstep for Selena Gomez -a rock song that doesn’t rock and doesn’t pop.
Spring Can Really Hang You Up (Quartet Version) – Barbra Streisand – Not that Barbra really needs it, I mean, she’s the definition of taking it all too seriously, right?, but Diane gives Barbra a seriousness, a musical gravitas, especially on the Krall Quartet versions, completely invisible on work like 1999’s A Love Like Ours. This is seriously beautiful fully informed Streisand and Frans Landesman was a wonderful lyricist whom Streisand does justice to on this smokey, jazzy cover.
