This week's list already looks more interesting to me than did last week's. That's a good sign. I still don't see too many "must haves" but there is one album that comes awfully close to it and a few that have piqued my interest to the point I just might have to investigate. Let's get started:
Howling Bells
Radio Wars
I rarely find opening acts interesting, but there are occasional exceptions and Howling Bells was one of them. My wife and I saw Coldplay, Snow Patrol, and Howling Bells in Nashville last month. We're Coldplay fans. We like Snow Patrol (my wife likes them more than I do, but we enjoy them). I knew nothing of Howling Bells. We expected little and were prepared to endure and over the course of their 30-minute set we found ourselves being drawn in. At the end of their set, I rose to my feet. I liked what I heard. I made a mental note to research them. That's when I learned their sophomore record Radio Wars has been available in Europe for some time, but until now there had been no U.S. distributor. Enter Nettwerk. I'm having one of these.
Before leaving the stage, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin encouraged everyone in the audience to go download "Nightingale," which is on this record. I generally despise digital music so I resisted, waiting for an opportunity like this.
Owl City
Ocean Eyes
…in which we find our dashing, handsome, sophisticated, erudite hero admitting he had no idea who the hell this band was. Sorry, we're joining this conversation already in progress. Owl City made last week's iTunes Chart Watch by getting enough pre-orders of Ocean Eyes to make it to #2 on the iTunes Album Charts. This might be one of those times when downloading a single track wouldn't be a bad idea. I'd like to see if there is fire to go with this smoke.
Blur
Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
Blur has reunited with semi-exiled guitarist Graham Coxon and the band is re-introducing themselves to the world — and in particular American audiences — with a new compilation. Midlife is a two-CD set aimed at giving the unfamiliar or the casual a Cliff's Notes edition of the band's history. Actually, they already gave the abbreviated version with their single disc The Best of Blur. This gives a little wider taste and sample. It even has something for some of the more devoted in the form of a track that went out of print some time ago.
I was always much more of an Oasis guy than a Blur guy, but Blur had some good moments. I already have Best so I'm not sure I'm going to invest in Midlife, but for those of you who have none this might be a good place to start.
Elvis Presley
From Elvis in Memphis [Legacy Edition]
I'm not a big Elvis guy, myself, but I bring this release up because one of our friends from The Masked Movie Snobs has already reviewed this re-issue for Blogcritics. Before there was a King of Pop, we had The King.
With that, here is your full list of New Album Releases for the week of July 28, 2009.
Blur
Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur
Kristinia DeBarge
Exposed
Fabolous
Loso's Way
J-Kwon
Hood Hop 2.5
Ashley Tisdale
Guilty Pleasure
Acoustic Ladyland
Skinny Grin
Band of Skulls
Baby Darling Doll Face Honey
Cyro Baptista & Banquet of the Senses
Infinito
Bob & Marcia
Pied Piper: The Best of Bob & Marcia
Ray Davies
Other People's Lives [Original]
The Fuzztones
Lysergic Legacy
James Galway
Celebrating 70: A Collection of Personal Favorites
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
Délivrance
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Live at Woburn
Fred Hersch
Fred Hersch Plays Jobim
John Hicks
I Remember You
Howling Bells
Radio Wars
Hundred Reasons
Kill Your Own
It Bites
The Tall Ships
Kieran Kane
Somewhere Beyond the Roses
Bobby Kray
Tales from a Skinny White Boy
Gidon Kremer
Mozart: The Complete Violin Concertos
Lady Saw
Extra Raw: The Best of Lady Saw
Jerry Lee Lewis
Rock 'N' Roll Never Forgets
Carl Mann
Rockin' Mann
Joe McBride
Lookin' for a Change
Georgia Anne Muldrow
Umsindo
Peabody Conservatory Wind Ensemble
Trendsetters: Music For Wind Band
Robert Spano
Transmigration
Christopher Stokes
Parry: Choral Masterpieces
Original Cast Recording
9 to 5: The Musical
Owl City
Ocean Eyes
Dudley Perkins
Holy Smokes
Iggy Pop
Iggy & Ziggy: Cleveland '77
Elvis Presley
From Elvis in Memphis [Legacy Edition]
The Radio Dept.
David
Riverside
Anno Domini High Definition
Skin
Fake Chemical State
Starflyer 59
Ghosts of the Past
10 Ft. Ganja Plant
Bushrock
George Thorogood
The Dirty Dozen
Various Artists
We're Gonna Change the World! The 60's Chicago Garage Sound of Quill Productions
John Zorn
O'o