These new releases are a cackling witch.
I won't go so far as to say there's nothing worth mentioning this week. I'll just say I ordered some CDs from Amazon yesterday, and none of them are on this week's list. So what is on this week's list? A few curiosities we ought discuss.
For starters, we have an early contender for Best Album Title of the Year. I know nothing of Black Diamond Heavies, but they stole my dream of naming a live album Alive as Fuck. I might have to order that simply because no man is more worthy of owning an album by that name than me.
Second, we have All Time Low's MTV Unplugged. Is All Time Low a really old band I don't know? I know it's a bit tired to make fun of MTV for not playing music but I really didn't know they were still doing Unplugged. Good on them, then. Yours if you want it.
We also have a new record from the one and only Ringo Starr, Y Not. His buddy Paul McCartney makes a cameo on the record. Starr produced the album himself, a first for him. It's not a surprising move, considering he had some problems with producers on his previous record, the pleasant Liverpool 8.
I think I'll be tarred and feathered if I don't mention Vampire Weekend. I've heard lots of talk and buzz about this, but I know nothing of them. I'm suspicious of vampires and anything called vampire. I'm not ruling this one out, but I've not made an effort to familiarize myself with them either. Their new album Contra is out now for those of you already in the loop.
Here's the rest of your list…
Final Fantasy
Heartland
OK Go
Of the Blue Colour of the Sky
Omarion
Ollusion
Vampire Weekend
Contra
Alexander String Quartet
Quintessence
All Time Low
MTV Unplugged
American Chamber Winds
Igor Stravinsky: An American Soldier's Tale
Black Diamond Heavies
Alive as Fuck: Masonic Lodge, Covington, KY
Blockhead
The Music Scene
Jason Boesel
Hustler's Son
Manu Chao
Baionarena
Elvis Costello
Live at Hollywood High
Nick Cave/Warren Ellis
The Road
Ensemble Musica Nova
Guillaume de Machaut: Ballades
T-Model Ford
The Ladies Man
The Gilded Palace of Sin
You Break Our Hearts, We'll Tear Yours Out
Hilary Hahn
Bach: Violin and Voice
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston: 25th Anniversary Edition
Ray Wylie Hubbard
A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is No C)
J-Stalin
Prenuptial Agreement
Philippe Jaroussky
J.C. Bach: La dolce fiamma
Chris Joss
Monomaniacs, Vol. 1
Nana Grizol
"Ruth"
O.A.R.
Rain or Shine
Ellis Paul
The Day After Everything Changed
Polysics
Absolute Polysics
Sharon Shannon
Saints & Scoundrels
Ringo Starr
Y Not
Various Artists
Dengue Fever Presents: Electric Cambodia
Laura Veirs
July Flame