New songs in my pop spotlight!
OK, we had a lot of new songs this week.
- The Kooks have a new album out and the lead single is "Always Where I Need To Be". They're an admirable power-pop band and this song is classic pop--complete with a catchy chorus. Still, this isn't up to the standard of their last disk.
- Day 26 is getting a prominent spot on MTV's TRL with "Got Me Going". The rhythm track is cribbed from an ancient Bee Gees track, and the singing is so smooth, it's anonymous.
- I haven't heard them before, but Ashes Divide arrives with "Stone". It's a tuneful hard rock track that exhibits a reasonably aggressive guitar sound balancing out the sugary melody. It's a pleasant balance.
- "These Hard Times" is the latest from matchbox twenty. I'm a little tired of this band's boilerplate songwriting and performing and this song is just another mid-tempo number with slick production. I suppose this is intended to catch the zeitgeist with a not-so-subtle metaphor.
- I'm really enjoying the joint effort from Fall Out Boy and John Mayer. They covered the old Michael Jackson hit, "Beat It" and they treat it as a ripping rock tune, avoiding the slightly soft edges of the original. Poor John Mayer guests as the guitar soloist, a thankless chore, being compared to Eddie Van Halen's original solo.
- Three Days Grace rises in the charts with "Never Too Late", a sweeping power ballad with an acoustic guitar riff as the key hook. Like matchbox twenty, this is just reliable, expensively made, big-record-company product.
- We have another new-to-me band, the Courteeners, on the UK charts with "Not Nineteen Forever". It's a bouncing, danceable indie-rock beat with a forgettable melody
- Natasha Bedingfield is back with "Pocketful Of Sunshine". It's a lush arrangement with a taut drum track and a really stupid chorus. No thanks.
- Public Enemy: Fear Of A Black Planet
- Nick Didkovsky: Amalia's Secret
- Julian Orbon: Tres Versiones Sinfonicas
- The Soup Dragons: Hotwired
- The Joggers: Solid Guild
- Deerhoof: The Runners Four
No comments:
Post a Comment