| It’s inevitable. Every spring, there’s a glut of new music vying for the attention of music fans and consumers. So, here’s a quick look at some of the season’s most interesting new releases. We can’t guarantee that they’ll all be classics, but they should at least be worth a listen.
Fans of straight-up rock ’n’ roll and the rootsier side of things have a lot to be happy about as April sees the release of a new Bruce Springsteen disc. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions finds Springsteen surrounded by a huge band (not the E Street crew) for a run through folk superstar Pete Seeger’s songbook. "Froggie Went A-Courtin," "Shenandoah," "We Shall Overcome" and many other songs you probably sang in music class are all here.
Also taking old songs and making them their own are The Black Keys, who are releasing Chulahoma (The Songs of Junior Kimbrough) in early May. In a similar vein, Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris have banded together for At the Running Road, a collection of duets recorded over seven years. Anyone who has heard Harris’s duets with Gram Parsons, Roy Orbison and others will know that, while she’s incredible alone, she has the perfect voice for harmonizing. Also due: Dave Alvin’s West of the West,
Hip hop, R&B and other music that is generally classified under the unsatisfactory term "urban" is also well-represented. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Mike Skinner has revitalized British hip hop and electronic music. Under his alias The Streets, he’s about to launch his third disc, The Hardest Way to Make a Living. Taking a break from his acting career, the Dirty South’s Ludacris returns to music with Release Therapy. Just one question – for someone who seems to take himself and his work seriously, why does he call himself ludicrous? A couple of years ago Kelis assured us that her "Milkshake" was better than, well, everybody else’s. The album that song came from was aptly called Tasty. The followup is Kelis was Here and it’s destined to be the sassiest, sexiest album of the season. Also due: India Arie’s Testimony: Vol. 1 Life & Relationship and The Coup’s Pick a Bigger Weapon.
If you’re old enough to remember the early ’90s, or young enough to have nostalgia for the Lollapalooza decade, then you may want to go out and buy a lottery ticket, ’cause this is your lucky day. First off, the most prolific band to survive the grunge era, Pearl Jam, adds another release to their gigantic catalogue. This one is self-titled and if it’s pre-ordered from their website, they’ll send you a bonus disc. Always looking out for their fans, those Pearl Jammers. On the other end of the spectrum, Tool has only released three records so far. Their fourth, 10,000 Days, is out in May. Also due: Ministry’s Rio Grande Blood, Goo Goo Dolls’ Let Love In and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ double-disc, Stadium Arcadium.
With so many major label releases getting the push, it might be easy to feel indie rock is being neglected, but do not fret, my fiercely independent friends. There’s a new Boards Of Canada EP, Trans Canada Highway for a start. Also, Matmos returns with The Rose has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast. I’m not one to throw around the term genius too often, but to stop short of that would be doing Boston’s Mission of Burma a grave injustice. Their second record since reuniting a few years back, The Obliterati, is out on Matador this spring.
Although too many bands have adopted Danielson’s yelping singing style, there’s something genuinely uplifting about this positive music. Ships is the new one and the single, "Did I Step On Your Trumpet" is available for download at www.secretlycanadian.com. Here in Canada, Outside has a couple of exciting releases: Blood Meridian’s second full-length, Kick Up The Dust, and The Hidden Cameras’ Awoo. And, while we’ve heard the rumours about Grandaddy’s demise, we’re happy that Just Like the Fambly Cat hits the streets before the band bites the dust. Also due: Black Heart Procession’s The Spell, The Like Young’s Last Secrets, Regina Spektor’s Begin to Hope, Portastatic’s Who Loves the Sun OST.
Following the untimely passing of both Barry and Bill Cowsill this past year, it may be the perfect time to revisit the music they made with their family as The Cowsills. Although it might mean shelling out a bit for El Records’ new collection, Painting the Day: The Angelic Psychedelia of The Cowsills, it’s probably the best overview of the band’s career. Another artist getting a retrospective is k.d. lang, whose early records – we’re talking a single that pre-dates A Truly Western Experience to the Even Cowgirls Get the Blues soundtrack, as well as a previously unreleased track – will be represented on Reincarnated.
While this is just a drop in the musical ocean, it would be remiss not to mention Argentina’s indefinable chanteuse, Juana Molina, whose fourth album, Son, is certain to be as beautiful and intimate as her last record, Tres Cosas. As well, it’s extremely exciting that Primal Scream’s upcoming disc, Riot City Blues, is ready to go – the first single, "Country Girl" is like all The Rolling Stones or the Faces at their country-rock best, with the delightful Bobby Gillespie singing, of course. Another fine first single is "Blackened Blue Eyes" from The Charlatans’ Simpatico. Can’t wait to hear the rest of it!
It’s going to be a long, hot summer. |
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