Sometimes you gotta' play the hand you are dealt.
Which, in the case of this week's installment of the new album releases, means that it's pretty slim pickings. So much so, that my usual musical partners in crime Mark Saleski and Tom Johnson both apparently chose to take a powder — leaving me here alone to fly the mothership solo this week. So be it fellas, and enjoy the day off.
Fortunately, it is a somewhat good week for new hip hop, led by Ego Trippin', the ninth album from Snoop Dogg. The Doggfather's latest comes just in time to give the rap veteran something to sell as he heads to this year's WWE Wrestlemania pay per view extravaganza to referee "Bunnymania," a women's match featuring WWE Divas who have all posed nekkid for Playboy at one point or another. Maybe, I should talk to Snoop Dogg about switching jobs with him.
Speaking of Divas, Kelis has a compilation of her Hits out this week. Clayton Perry wrote an excellent review of this release here on the site last week, that also gives a very complete history of this under-appreciated R&B Diva (at least in this country). It's a great read, that you can check out here. Other notable hip hop releases this week include new albums from Rick Ross and Fat Joe.
American Idol judge Randy Jackson has got something called Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1 out this week. Now, while I'll admit that I'm not much of an Idol fan, I've always had kind of a soft spot for Jackson, dog! For one thing, he did do time on the bass with the non-E Street Band that Springsteen toured with in the early nineties, so he merits respect right there. I hear fellow Idol judge Paula Abdul is on a track or two as well, which gives this release that additional curiosity factor.
I wasn't aware that The Vines had been around long enough to warrant a hits collection, but nonetheless they've got The Best of the Vines in stores this week. Seattle veterans The Presidents Of The United States Of America (or POTUSA as they are called by fans) take another stab at regaining their mid-nineties form with the sure to be humorous post-grunge pop of These Are the Good Times People.
Oh. Lest I forget, there are also a couple of new volumes of the always mega-selling NOW! series, Now That's What I Call the 80s and Now, Vol. 27.
And that's pretty much all she wrote for this week.
Like I said, sometimes you just gotta' play the hand you are dealt.
Mark Saleski and Tom Johnson did not contribute picks this week. You were sorely missed, so hurry back okay guys?
Here are all of this week's new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:
Fat Joe
The Elephant in the Room
Virgin
East Coast Rap, Gangsta Rap
Kelis
The Hits
Jive
Urban, Contemporary R&B
Rick Ross
Trilla
Def Jam
Southern Rap, Gangsta Rap
Snoop Dogg
Ego Trippin'
Geffen
West Coast Rap, Gangsta Rap, Hardcore Rap, G-Funk
Alkaline Trio
Goddamnit [CD/DVD]
Asian Man
Emo, Punk-Pop, Punk Revival
Eric Bibb
Get on Board
Telarc
Contemporary Blues
Hana Chu
Michael Torke: Blue Pacific
Ecstatic
Contemporary Piano Music
The Cranberries
Gold
Island/Mercury
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Pop/Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock
Reverend Gary Davis
Manchester Free Trade Hall 1964
Document
Country Blues, Blues Gospel, Acoustic Blues, Folk-Blues
Dr. Manhattan
Dr. Manhattan
Vagrant
New Wave/Post-Punk Revival, Indie Rock
Joe Ely & Joel Guzman
Live Cactus!
Rack 'Em
Americana, Neo-Traditionalist Country
Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims
Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims [RVG]
Blue Note
Hard Bop, Cool, Bop
Randy Jackson
Randy Jackson's Music Club, Vol. 1
Concord
Pop/Rock, Urban
Jason & the Scorchers
Fervor/Lost & Found
Caroline
Roots Rock, Country-Rock, Cowpunk, Americana, Heartland Rock
Jaymay
Autumn Fallin'
EMI/Blue Note
Alternative Singer/Songwriter
Margie Joseph
Hear the Words, Feel the Feeling
Collectors' Choice
R&B, Soul
Margie Joseph
Margie Joseph
Collectors' Choice
Urban, Soul
Junior Boys
Body Language, Vol. 6
Get Physical
Club/Dance, House, Left-Field House, Post-Disco, Techno
Junkie XL
Booming Back at You
Nettwerk
Club/Dance, Big Beat, Funky Breaks
Jonas Kaufmann
Romantic Arias
Decca
Opera Arias for Tenor & Orchestra
Greg Laswell
How the Day Sounds
Vanguard
Indie Rock
Stephen Layton
Poulenc: Gloria; Motets
Hyperion
Modern Music for Choir & Orchestra
Charles Lloyd
Rabo de Nube
ECM
Modern Creative, Post-Bop
MxPx
The Ultimate Collection
TNL
Christian Punk, Alternative CCM, Punk-Pop, Punk Revival, CCM
Marian McPartland
Twilight World
Concord
Standards
Meshuggah
Obzen
Nuclear Blast
Scandinavian Metal, Progressive Metal, Heavy Metal, Alternative Metal, Death Metal/Black Metal
Shawn Mullins
Honeydew
Vanguard
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter
Michael Reisman
Animals in Love [Original Score]
Orange Mountain Music
Contemporary Film Music
Stile Antico
Heavenly Harmonies [Hybrid SACD]
Harmonia Mundi
Renaissance Vocal Music
Original Soundtrack
Black Magic: Music from the Dan Klores Film
Rhino
Soundtracks, R&B, Funk, Soul
Mike Patton
A Perfect Place
Ipecac
Experimental, Sound Collage
Waylon Payne
The Drifter
Universal
Americana, New Traditionalist, Contemporary Country
Presidents of the United States of America
These Are the Good Times People
Fugitive
Comedy Rock, Punk-Pop, Post-Grunge, Grunge, Alternative Pop/Rock
Pride Tiger
The Lucky Ones
EMI
Hard Rock
Saosin
Come Close [CD/DVD]
Capitol
Post-Hardcore, Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Metal
Saving Abel
Saving Abel
Virgin
Post-Grunge, Hard Rock
Various Artists
Electric Jazz Lounge
Verve
Crossover Jazz, Contemporary Jazz
Various Artists
Funky Nassau: The Compass Point Story 1980-1986
Strut/!K7
Post-Disco, Club/Dance, Alternative Dance, Urban, New Wave, Pop/Rock
Various Artists
Now That's What I Call the 80s [1 CD]
Sony
Contemporary R&B, Pop/Rock, New Wave
Various Artists
Now, Vol. 27
Sony
Pop-Rap, Pop/Rock, Urban, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Contemporary Country
Various Artists
Tooth & Nail Records: The Ultimate Collection
Tooth & Nail
Alternative CCM, Emo, Punk-Pop, Alternative Pop/Rock, Third Wave Ska Revival
The Vines
The Best of the Vines
Capitol
Punk-Pop, Garage Punk, Garage Rock Revival, Post-Grunge, Alternative Pop/Rock