Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
What a HUGE week for new releases this week. I have been looking forward to August 24 for weeks now and I’m going to get to all the albums that have my attention in good time but there are a few major releases I should probably touch on before I get to the good stuff.
Katy Perry
Teenage Daydream
Wow, do I not care about this release but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t mention it here at the top. A pair of singles from this record have been dominant hits of the summer at radio at a time when dominant hits have been hard to find. As far as pop confection goes, I find Perry slightly less nauseating than I do some of the other names at the top of the chart but there’s hardly anything original here nor is Perry an amazing vocalist. She’s playing the part and she’s doing it well enough to have made a name for herself. I’ll pass but have at it if this is your thing.
Charlie Musselwhite
The Well
Charlie Musselwhite was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame earlier this year and he’s returned with his first album of new material since winning the Blues Music Award for Album Of The Year for his magnificent Delta Hardware. Musselwhite traced some of his Delta roots in the lyrics on DH and that trend continues on The Well, an album that might be the most personal of his illustrious, brilliant career. Song topics range from the events that helped him face his struggles with alcohol and have helped him find 22 years of sobriety as well as a stint he did in Cook County Jail.
Duke Robillard
Passport To The Blues
Duke Robillard is one of those musicians who transcend style or genre. He’s known primarily for his blues-based work but this is a man who has toured with Tom Waits (and he covers Waits on this album) and has made records that emphasize his ability to play jazz and swing as well as blues. As the title suggests, this new record is a potent blues-based record that stands among the finest he’s ever made.
Ronnie Earl
Spread The Love
Ronnie Earl is not only one of the great living guitar players, he’s a man on a mission to deliver a message and that message is communicated with heart, soul, empathy, and vision on his latest studio recording. Spread The Love is an all-instrumental affair that still manages to say so much. Nobody plays like Ronnie Earl. He is the Tao of Tone. He is an ever-open channel and emotion and expression flows through him in the most natural way conceivable. Earl revisits songs from his past as well as offering up new compositions and he sounds as amazing as ever.
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
Hawk
I am forever drawn to Mark Lanegan’s voice and have been for half my life. I don’t have exact record keeping but I’m comfortable saying there are few voices I’ve spent more time listening to than his, beginning with his work with Screaming Trees as well as his solo career. Hawk is the third pairing of Lanegan with Isobel Campbell, formerly of Belle & Sebastian. The pairing of her soft, sweet voice and Lanegan’s thick, rich, gravely voice is one of the great gifts of this first decade of the 21st century. I’ve heard only one track from this one but I’ve pre-ordered it and can’t wait for it to arrive.
!!! – Strange Weather, Isn’t It?
Antony And The Johnsons – Thank You Your Love
Al Jolson – Performance 1932 – 1949
Apocalyptica – 7th Symphony
Bad City – Welcome To The Wasteland
Barb – Barb
Bathory – Bathory
Bathory – Blood Fire Death
Bathory – Hammerheart
Bathory – Twilight Of The Gods
Bizzy Bone – Crossroads 2010
Blackhawk – Greatest Hits Live
Blind Guardian – At The Edge Of Time
Blu – Her Favorite Colo(U)R
Boxer Rebellion, The – Union
Boxer Rebellion, The – Exits
Brenda Lee – Songs Of Inspiration
Bush, Kate – Aerial
Campbell, Isobel/Mark Lanegan – Hawk
Capstan Shafts, The – Revelation Skirts
Carey, S. – All We Grow
Chipmunks, The – Christmas With The Chipmunks
Cho, Margaret – Cho Dependent
Cipollina, John / Gravenites, Nick Band – Rockpalast West Coast Legends Vol. 1
City Of Fire – City Of Fire
Clay Walker – Top 10
Clay Walker – Christmas
Coen, Gabriele – Awakening
Collins, Paul – King Of Power Pop!
Cotton Jones – Tall Hours In The Glowstream
Dandy Warhols, The – Capitol Years 1995-2007, The
Dashing Suns,The – Really Like You
Dead Confederate – Sugar
Deva, Sarah Jezebel – Sign Of Sublime, A
Devil Wears Prada, The – Zombie Ep
Disney – Disney Villains: Simply Sinister Songs
Disney Songs & Story – Beauty And The Beast
Disney Songs & Story – Mickey’s Spooky Night
Disturbed Tribute – String Tribute To Disturbed
Douglas, Dave & Keystone – Spark Of Being: Expand
Douglas, Mason – My Wild Heart
Earl, Ronnie And The Broadcasters – Spread The Love
Eels – Tomorrow Morning
Ehrlich, Marty & Netsky, Hankus – Fables
Evora, Cesaria – The Essential Cesaria Evora
Fantasia – Back To Me
Fennesz / Daniell / Buck – Knoxville
Fitz & The Tantrums – Pickin Up The Pieces
For All Those Sleeping – Cross Your Fingers
Gappy Ranks – Put The Stereo On
Golden Dawn, The – Power Plant
Grass Widow – Past Time
Grey, Jj & Mofro – Georgia Warhorse
Guetta, David – One Love (2010 Version)
Guido’s Orchestra – Live From The Heart Of Europe
Gulley, Steve And Tim Stafford – Dogwood Winter
Hi-Power Entertainment Presents – Cholos N Thugz
Holiday, Billie – The Lady Sings
Horne, Lena – The Essential Lena Horne – The Rca Years
Ill Bill & Muggs – Kill Devil Hills
Ion Dissonance – Cursed
Jimmy & David Ruffin – I Am My Brother’s Keeper / [Expanded Edition]
John Coltrane – The Definitive John Coltrane On Prestige And Riverside / [2 Cd]
Jones, Spike – Strictly For Music Lovers
Jp, Crissie Hynde & The Fairground Boys – Fidelity!
Jp, Crissie Hynde & The Fairground Boys – Fidelity! (Deluxe)
Kataklysm – Heaven’s Venom
Katatonia – Night Is The New Day ( Special Edition With Bonus Track )
Kerrie Roberts – Kerrie Roberts
Kidz Bop Kids – Kidz Bop Halloween Party
Land Of Talk – Cloak And Cipher
Laner, Brad – Natural Selections
Lang Lang – Lang Lang Live In Vienna
Lang Lang – Lang Lang Live In Vienna
Langford, Jon & Skull Orchard – Old Devils
Leblanc, Dylan – Paupers Field
Little Big Town – Reason Why, The
Lynn, Barbara – It Ain’t No Good To Be Good (2xcd)
Magic Kids – Memphis
Malevolent Creation – Invidious Dominion
Man Ray – Summer 88
Mancini, Henry – The Essential Henry Mancini
Maple Bee – Chasing Eva (2xcd)
Marsalis Family, The – Music Redeems
Mass – Angel Power (Re-Issue)
Minogue, Dannii – The 1995 Sessions
Mir, Lana – Lana Mir
Mogwai – Special Moves (Cd+Dvd)
Morelenbaum, Paula & Swr Big Band – Bossarenova
Musselwhite, Charlie – The Well
Never Shout Never – Harmony
Never Shout Never – Harmony (Amended)
Nils Lofgren – I Came To Dance
Pacifika – Supermagique
Party Cats, The – Kid’s Dance Party: Halloween
Patti Page – Performance
Perry, Katy – Teenage Dream
Perry, Katy Tribute – Piano Tribute To Katy Perry
Press Play – Ny2la
Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard
Randy Rogers Band – Burning The Day
Rickolus – Youngster
Ricky Skaggs – Mosaic
Robillard, Duke – Passport To The Blues
Schulze, Klaus – La Vie Electronique 3
Scofield/Metropole Orchestra – 54
Sex Pistols – Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle
Showdown, The – Blood In The Gears
Siebert, Buedi – Pyramid Call
Soap&Skin – Lovetune For Vacuum
Sonny Rollins – The Definitive Sonny Rollins On Prestige, Riverside, And Contemporary / [2 Cd]
Soundtrack – Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore (Christopher Lennertz)
Soundtrack – Going The Distance (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack – The Tudors Season 3 (Trevor Morris)
Stuart, Marty – Ghost Train, The Studio B
Sword, The – Warp Riders
Tallest Man On Earth, The – Shallow Grave
Tallest Man On Earth, The – The Tallest Man On Earth
Tamar Kaprelian – Sinner Or A Saint
Terrapin Pond – Hello All Stations
Tesh, John – Grand Piano Romance
The Pack – Wolfpack Party
The Young Punx – Mashpop And Punkstep
Thelonious Monk – The Definitive Thelenious Monk On Prestige And Riverside / [2 Cd]
Thom Starr & The Galaxies – Anthology
Travis, Randy – I’ll Fly Away
Trigger The Bloodshed – Degenerate
Usher – Raymond V Raymond (Deluxe Edition)
Usher – Versus
Van Zandt,Townes – Texas Troubadour
Various – The Engine Room – A History Of Jazz Drumming From Storyville To 52nd Street
Various – Seehorn Soul Farm
Various – My Country – Smash Hits
Various – 20 Years Of Century Media Vol4
Various – Countdown To The New Year
Various Artists – The Roots Of The Rolling Stones
Various Artists – Bloody War : Songs 1924-1939
Various Artists – R&B Hits Reggae Style Vol. 4
Vindicator – The Antique Witcheries
Watson, Dale – Carryin’ On
Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Rivers
Williams, Hank – Hillbilly Hero
Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper – Songs Of Inspiration
Wine-O – Wine-O (Clean Version)
Wine-O – Wine-O (Explicit Version)
Wright, Brittney – The Beginning
Y’anna – The Promise
Year Without A Santa Claus,The – Year Without A Santa Claus,The
Zorn, John – Filmworks Xxivñthe Nobel Prizewinner
