New Music Tuesday - March 11, 2009

Have you ever experienced a wind so cutting and cold that it seems to suck a little bit of your soul out. No matter what your ambitions are that day, that wind hits you and all you want to do is crawl into bed and do nothing all day. That wind hit me today at a blustery 81kms/hr, it was unpleasant to say the least. 

Saying that, staying inside with a soul sapping wind outside makes for some good writing time and time to listen to some music. So that is what I did, I made myself a cup of tea and put on some music, two new albums and a few more that I felt like listening too. So this week, there will be two CD reviews, some music news and random sights from the Toronto subway system. 

CD Reviews:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

Karen O, Brian Chase and Nick Zinner return since their amazing album in 2006 Show Your Bones. Karen O is one of my favorite vocalists of all time, their lead off track "Zero" is exceptional track which showcases the beautiful range that Karen O possesses. Due to the leak of the album the release date was pushed up, with the digital release coming out yesterday and the physical CD coming out on April 6th. 

The album is more subtle and softer than some of their previous albums, it is a beautiful balance in the YYY's discography. The softer sounds exposes Karen O's softer side and the tracks flow together in a near perfect arrangement. This will certainly be very well received by critics and will go down as one of their best albums to date. 

With the now customary production credits to Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio a beautifully crafted album was created with highlight tracks such as "Skeletons", "Dragon Queen" and my favorite track on the album "Little Shadow" which is a great melancholy song which just fit the day so well it was an instant favorite for me, because nothing beats a song that can fit a moment or day perfectly. Buy It! You will want this album in your collection. 

Chris Cornell - Scream

Mr. Cornell has released another solo album which is usually pretty good. This one was a musical experiment for Chris Cornell as he decided to give his buddy Timbaland a call to produce it............................................................................................... that's right Timbaland of Missy Elliot and Justin Timberlake fame. I have listened to this album six times since I got it yesterday, there is something about Chris Cornell's voice that connects me with my youth and brings fond memories back. 

I can't decide if I dislike this album and it may grow on me as I listen to it more because it is not difficult to listen to (thanks to Cornell's vocals). But, the pop beats and guest vocals from Justin Timberlake and John Mayer make me wonder if I actually hate this album. HATE it, and I have never deeply hated an album I have review thus far. I have disliked a few of them, but this album is like a accident involving a truck carrying chocolate and another one carrying brussels sprouts, in the aftermath you have chocolate covered brussels sprouts which you might think "Hey, that might be good".... but you only think that because you like chocolate and let me tell you chocolate covered brussels sprouts are in fact not good... they are not good at all. 

DON'T Buy It...

Music News

Really not a lot of crazy news happening. But here are some clippings from the papers...

U2 is going on a world tour in support of their new album....

Miley Cyrus bashes Radiohead for not saying Hi.... (probably a good plan on Radiohead's part)

Billy Corgan some how became the voice of music in the US and spoke before Congress.......

That's really it. Hopefully something interesting happens this week.

Random Stuff on the T-Dot Subway:

Welcome to a new segment in NMT, as life in the big city is always very interesting nothing is more interesting in Toronto then the subway. Every day is better then television the things that can be seen. 

Monday I awoke in a sleepy state not having slept well the night before. Go through the regular morning routine I hopped on the bus and off to the subway I went. As I got on the subway there were no seats so I stood near the doors and was trying not to fall asleep when I looked up at the older gentleman standing beside me as he tore off half of the page in his magazine and popped it in his mouth like candy. He then proceed to chew on said paper for about 10 minutes before swallowing it. 

That folks is the oddest thing on the subway I have seen this week. I will keep you all posted on the ever evolving adventure known as my move to Toronto as the weeks go by...

Till next week

--Dave