We've had winners from Oasis, Dave Carter, AC/DC, and we're just getting warmed up. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals are back with a new album and this one is destined to get serious playback. I've not heard anything from Cardinology yet, but Adams has been playing much of the album on his tour in advance of the record's release. RA records can be exercises in frustration, but 2007's Easy Tiger was a solid listen with a couple of stunning moments. I have a good feeling about Cardinology.
Squarepusher (OK, it's really just a guy with a boatload of electronic blurpy noisemaker thingies. Oh, his name is Tom Jenkinson) takes electronic music and infuses it with as much humanity as possible. In this case, the human element is jazz. Now, I sure haven't heard every electronica recording out there, but my ears tell me that Squarepusher has to be one of the most jazz-influenced outfits in the genre. If you've ever been interested in this kind of thing but have been afraid to pull the trigger, Just A Souvenir might be the perfect gateway into that world.
Or...you can just stay home and cower, ya big baby!
Here are all of this week's new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:
Ryan Adams/The Cardinals
Cardinology
Lost Highway
Alternative Country-Rock, Singer/Songwriter
The Cure
4:13 Dream
Geffen
Alternative Pop/Rock
Deerhunter
Microcastle
Kranky
Experimental Rock, Post-Rock/Experimental, Indie Rock
Eagles of Death Metal
Heart On
Universal
Hard Rock, Garage Punk, Alternative Pop/Rock
Kaiser Chiefs
Off with Their Heads
B-Unique/Universal Motown
Indie Rock
Pink
Funhouse
LaFace
Dance-Pop, Urban, Pop/Rock
Snow Patrol
A Hundred Million Suns
Geffen/Fiction
Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock
Dave Alvin
The Best of the Hightone Years
Shout! Factory
Heartland Rock, Americana, Roots Rock
Burt Bacharach
Live at the Sydney Opera House
Verve
Pop, AM Pop, Movie Themes, Film Music, Soundtracks, Early Pop/Rock
Black Milk
Tronic
Fat Beats
Midwest Rap, Underground Rap
Bloc Party
Intimacy
Atlantic
Indie Rock
Brown Wing Overdrive
ESP Organism
Tzadik
Sound Collage, Process-Generated, Noise, Experimental
Cause Co-Motion!
It's Time! Singles & EPs 2005-08
Slumberland
Indie Rock
Ry Cooder
The Ry Cooder Anthology: The UFO Has Landed
Rhino
Contemporary Blues, Roots Rock, Country-Rock, Blues-Rock, Album Rock, Americana, Film Music, Instrumental Rock
Cradle of Filth
Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder
Roadrunner
Goth Metal, Heavy Metal, Death Metal/Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal
Crystal Stilts
Alight of Night
Slumberland
Indie Rock, Noise Pop
Diana Damrau
Donna: Opera and Concert Arias by Mozart
Virgin Classics
Classical Vocal Music
Article comments
1 - Pico
Bloc Party's new CD is the pick of the week. Album cover-wise, anyway.
2 - Josh Hathaway
Just got my RA disc and I'm about to start listening.
3 - Jordan Richardson
Looking forward to Eagles of Death Metal and hearing Squarepusher's latest. Should be a pretty cool week.
4 - Jordan Richardson
Oh, and The Fame is finally out from Lady GaGa. I reviewed that back in August(they wanted me to!) and I maintain that it's one of the best dance-pop albums of the year.
5 - Tom Johnson
Definitely picking up Ryan Adams ("the last album under my name!" - we'll see how long that lasts) today, maybe the Squarepusher, thanks to Mark pointing it out because I completely overlooked it coming out. (Truthfully, I may just download the FLACs for Squarepusher from Bleep.com and save $5-6 if the packaging looks as minimal as theirs have been lately. Getting tired of buying folded over cardboard.)
6 - zingzing
mark, if you like squarepusher for its jazz sensibility, you should check out red snapper. electronica in some sense (mostly because it's on warp), but also jazz-influenced and hip-hop influenced... dunno if they're the greatest thing ever, but they are interesting from that perspective. that said, i've read a lot of good stuff about this squarepusher. methinks i might steal it.