Spring is just around the corner, and that also means were knee-deep into the thick of American Idol season.
I quit following AI somewhere around the time of that Sanjaya guy, myself. So all I can really tell you about this year's karaoke fest is that the finalists include a blind guy, and a girl with the unlikely name of Lil' Rounds (sounds more like the next Biggie Smalls, than the new Beyonce to me) — who I've heard is actually quite good.
No matter, though. Cause a new American Idol winner inevitably means the return of past AI champs, and this week we've got two of 'em.
Kelly Clarkson is back with what we're told is a less rockin' and more "poppin'" new disc called All I Ever Wanted. Led by the brassy hit single "My Life Would Suck Without You," this should return Clarkson to the mega-seller ranks. Her fellow former Idol champ Taylor Hicks is also back with the grey-haired soul of The Distance, which was reviewed on BC earlier this week by our own Connie Phillips.
Ex-Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell's new solo album is called Scream, but don't expect to hear much of the primordial grunge-metal of his previous bands here. The new album unites Cornell with R&B/hip-hop/pop wunderkind Timbaland, and is being called a "post-grunge midlife crisis" by at least some of the decidedly-mixed reviews we've already been seeing.
Rounding out this week's picks is the new album from hip-hop/R&B tough guy The Dream, as well as the new one from Luka Bloom (reviewed here last week by BC's Bill Sherman).
El Bicho is as excited as a giddy schoolgirl over the new one from sophisticated jazz ingenue Madeleine Peyroux, and is here to tell you all about that. But first, Donald Gibson's pick is the first ever concert DVD/Blu-ray release from the great Stevie Wonder.
Every avid music fan keeps in mind a list of artists that he or she would drop everything — but has never had the chance — to see in concert. I’m not talking about the run-of-the-mill productions that roll into the same towns each year, but rather those rare, special events — whether a stop on a once-in-a-lifetime tour or a one-night-only affair — that inspire us on road trips or cross-country flights. For nearly three decades, literally for as long as I could remember — until September 14, 2007 at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta — Stevie Wonder topped my list.
Recorded over two nights last year at London’s O2 Arena, Live At Last — an apt title if ever there was one — now makes its way onto DVD and Blu-ray, marking the Motown legend’s first-ever official concert film. Chock full of classics that are at turns romantic (“My Cherie Amour,” “You Are The Sunshine of My Life”), idealistic (“Visions,” “As”), and anthemic (“Living For The City,” “Higher Ground”), the performance covers Wonder’s illustrious career. And for me, it underscores why I’d always longed to witness Stevie Wonder in concert…for once in my life.
Christmas comes early to the Hive this year as Madeleine Peyroux releases her fourth album, Bare Bones. I have been a huge fan since I first became enraptured with her exquisite, expressive voice back on her 2004 release, Careless Love, and I eagerly await what she has in store. This will be her most complete work as an artist to date because she was involved in writing all 11 songs. She again works with producer Larry Klein and re-teams with Steely Dan's Walter Becker with whom she co-wrote "You Can't Do Me."
On the opening track "Instead," with its shuffling-down-the-street arrangement, the lyrics offer perfectly attuned advice for the troubling times we find ourselves in as she suggests, "Instead of feeling low, get high on everything that you love / Instead of wasting time, feel good 'bout what you're dreamin' of." Rounder and Amazon are kind
enough to present a five-song listening party. No need to RSVP, but if you see me there, say 'hello.' I plan on attending until I get my own copy.
Here are all of this week's new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:
Kelly Clarkson
All I Ever Wanted
RCA
Pop, Adult Contemporary
Chris Cornell
Scream
Interscope
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Pop/Rock, Dance-Pop
The-Dream
Love vs Money
Def Jam
Contemporary R&B, Pop
Mirah
(A)spera
K
Indie Rock, Indie Pop
Madeleine Peyroux
Bare Bones
Rounder
Vocal Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Razorlight
Slipway Fires
Vertigo
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock
Arbouretum
Song of the Pearl
Thrill Jockey
Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Country-Rock
BLK JKS
Mystery
Secretly Canadian
Indie Rock
Ballas Hough Band
BHB
Hollywood
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Pop, Club/Dance
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Mark O'Connor: Americana Symphony
OMAC
Contemporary Orchestral Music
Bishop Allen
Grrr…
Dead Oceans
Indie Rock
Corbin Bleu
Speed of Light
Hollywood
Teen Pop, Contemporary R&B
Luka Bloom
Eleven Songs
Big Sky
Alternative Folk, Contemporary Folk, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Urban Folk
The BoDeans
Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams [Collector's Edition]
Rhino/Warner Bros.
Heartland Rock, Roots Rock
Nat King Cole
Re: Generations
Capitol
Hip-Hop, Pop, Vocal Jazz, Club/Dance
Corneille
The Birth of Cornelius
Sony
French Pop, Contemporary R&B, Neo-Soul
Cursive
Mama, I'm Swollen
Saddle Creek
Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Julie Doiron
I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day
Jagjaguwar
Sadcore, Indie Rock
Steve Earle
Live at the BBC
Hip-O
Heartland Rock, Americana, New Traditionalist, Roots Rock
Estonian National Male Choir
Silva Caledonia
GB Records
Contemporary Choral Music
Europa Galante
Luigi Boccherini: Trio, Quartet, Quintet & Sextet for Strings
Virgin Classics
Classical Chamber Music
Extra Golden
Thank You Very Quickly
Thrill Jockey
Indie Rock, Afro-Pop
Girls Aloud
Out of Control
Polydor
Teen Pop, Pop/Rock, Dance-Pop
Handsome Furs
Face Control
Sub Pop
Indie Rock
John Wesley Harding
Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead [Bonus CD]
Rebel Group
Alternative Folk, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Urban Folk, Contemporary Folk
Taylor Hicks
The Distance
Rocket Science
Bar Band, Blues-Rock
Bertie Higgins
Captiva
Toucan Cove
Soft Rock, Pop/Rock
J. Holiday
Round 2
Capitol
Contemporary R&B
Red Holloway
Go Red Go
Delmark
Soul-Jazz
Stephen Hough
Stephen Hough in recital
Hyperion
Romantic, Post-Romantic & Modern Piano Music
Shirley Johnson
Blues Attack
Delmark
Contemporary Blues, Contemporary Gospel, Electric Chicago Blues, Soul, Soul-Blues
Paul Jones
Starting All Over Again
Collectors' Choice Music
Pop/Rock, Blue-Eyed Soul, British Invasion, AM Pop
Herbert von Karajan
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 9
Audite
Romantic Orchestral Music
B.B. King
Live at the BBC
Island
Modern Electric Blues, Soul-Blues, Early R&B
David Knopfler
Anthology: 1983-2008
Renaissance
Pop/Rock
Ronnie Milsap
Then Sings My Soul
CMG
Country Gospel
Mott the Hoople & Ian Hunter
The Golden Age 1969-1997
Raven
Proto-Punk, Hard Rock
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
Dead Oceans
Indie Rock
New Found Glory
Not Without a Fight
Epitaph
Punk-Pop, Emo-Pop
Beth Orton
Trailer Park [Legacy Edition]
Arista/Legacy/Heavenly Record
Electronica, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Trip-Hop, Alternative Pop/Rock
Gene Parsons
Kindling
Collectors' Choice Music
Folk-Rock, Country-Rock
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
XL
Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Americana, Contemporary Folk
Elvis Presley
I Believe: The Gospel Masters
RCA/Legacy
Traditional Gospel, Southern Gospel, Inspirational, Contemporary Gospel, Early Pop/Rock
Raymond Scott
100th Anniversary Doll and CD Set
Press Pop
Obscuro, Computer Music, Space Age Pop, Swing, Electronic, Cartoon Music, Novelty
Rod Stewart
Unplugged…and Seated
Warner Bros.
Album Rock, Pop/Rock, Folk-Rock, Soft Rock, Adult Contemporary
Bernie Taupin
He Who Rides the Tiger
American Beat
Pop/Rock
Various Artists
Respect: Aretha's Influences and Inspiration
Ace
Pop-Soul, Traditional Gospel, Motown, Black Gospel, Urban, Soul, AM Pop
Various Artists
Where the Girls Are, Vol. 7
Ace
Pop-Soul, Girl Group, Soul
We Five
There Stands the Door: The Best of We Five
Big Beat UK
Folk-Rock