New Music Roundup 5/22

First off, for those who use spotify, I have started a Drunk on New Music playlist there.  This is going to be an ongoing rolling list of my favorite [number to be determined; right now it's 21] songs.  It won't be an entirely new list of songs each week, but I think I'm going to stick to a set number, so that when I add a new song I'll be taking off an old one.  If you subscribe to the list, I believe it will automatically update the playlist for you every time I change it. 

Along those lines, not an album, but The Gaslight Anthem have released a new single called 45, and it's on this week's spotify list.  It's about what you would expect from the band, which works perfectly fine with me.  I suspect it will not be my favorite track on their upcoming album (due out sometime in July), but it's another catchy rocking song, and having listened to it several dozen times since finding out about it, I have to say it grows on me.

Kimbra - Vows

Finally, this album gets released in the US, and it is definitely my favorite album of the week.  The track listing on this is a little different than the Australian version released some 8 months ago, and I'm honestly not all that sure how I feel about them: they seem a little too overproduced in the typically modern pop song way, but there is no denying the power of Kimbra's voice, and maybe after spending as much time with them as the other songs they will prove just as catchy.  I'm most impressed with the versatility of Kimbra's voice, sometimes it's deep, soulful, and smoky (she actually pulls off a Nina Simone cover), and other times it's light and coquettish.  I'm a big fan; this is really good pop music.

Selections

Cameo Lover

Settle Down

Good Intent

Call Me

Warrior

Garbage - Not Your Kind of People

Garbage has always been a singles band to me: they always release a couple strong songs per album, but they never released what I would consider a great albums as a whole (that first one was probably the best, I guess).  This album is still pretty much the Garbage from the mid-90's, and due to the recent revival of that era by bands like Yuck and Tribes, the Garbage of the mid-90's still works well enough.  There's a couple of dud tracks, so anyone contemplating buying the album should be aware of that, but when the best tracks are pretty good.

Selections

Blood for Poppies

Control

Automatic Systematic Habit

The Cult - Choice of Weapon

The Cult are bad-ass.  Impressively, they appear to be as bad-ass now as they were 25 years ago.  Maybe "The Wolf" evokes "She Sells Sanctuary" a little too much, but c'mon: "She Sells Sanctuary" is so bad-ass.  This album rocks; no further analysis is required.

Selections

The Wolf

Honey from a Knife

For the Animals

El-P - Cancer 4 Cure

I need to chew on this album for a while, because there's just so many sounds on it: El-P's a producer and rapper, and the production on this thing is impressively dense.  This isn't a fun party hip hop album, it's an angry aggressive rap album, but (at least for now) an interesting one.  I suspect my opinion on this one hasn't crystallized yet, although Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire's guest verse on "Oh Hail No" is unquestionably in the running for my favorite rap verse of the year.  

Selections

Oh Hail No

Tougher Colder Killer

Finally, Gossip also released an album this week, but except for the song "Perfect World," which reminds me of "Holding Out For a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler for some reason, the album is pretty blah.