Having done a giant weighty physics post, I feel like I should post something more frivolous, so here’s something about music…
I recently purchased a bunch of stuff from iTunes (yeah, yeah, Amazon has DRM-free MP3’s, blah blah, blah. 1) I had a gift card, and 2) I’m not Cory Doctorow), and there was a weird sort of theme to the purchases: new releases by guys whose previous bands I like:
- Bill Janovitz and Crown Victoria, Fireworks on TV. The singer and guitarist from Buffalo Tom, playing with a bar band from Boston. This is the best of the lot, and sounds pretty much like a lost Buffalo Tom album. “My Radio,” “One, Two, Three,” and “Minutes of the Day” are particularly good.
- Dan Wilson, Free Life. The singer from Semisonic, with a solo album that pretty much sounds like a slightly quieter Semisonic record. Party like it’s 1997. The title track, “Against History” and “Easy Silence” are very good, and “Sugar” is just a bit behind.
- Justin Currie, What Is Love For. The singer (with the sideburns) from Del Amitri, with a solo record that sounds like a collection of the mopier Del Amitri songs. “Walking Through You” and “If I Ever Loved You” are good, but this is the weakest of the lot. “No, Surrender” is passionately political, and annoying as hell.
Any other new solo records I ought to be listening to?
And, lest you think I only buy records from people who were in defunct bands, some other recent releases:
- Feist, The Reminder. Enh. I like that “1,2,3,4” song, but other than that, this album leaves me cold. It’s kind of halfway to Björk– the songs are mostly designed to play up her voice, which hovers right on the edge of annoying.
- Bruce Springsteen, Magic. I was initially kind of disappointed in this, as it’s awfully restrained for an album with the E Street Band. I don’t want to hear Bruce and the boys giving 80%, I want 150%. It’s grown on me a bit, though, and they’re playing Albany next Thursday, so we’ll see how the new stuff sounds live.
- Kanye West, Graduation. Because I have to know what the kids are into, you know? I didn’t like this as much as the previous records. The hooks aren’t quite as good, nor as prominent, and that pushes his “let me tell you about my awesomeness” lyrics to the fore, which, enh. It got old, fast.
I also picked up a shop-teacher’s handful of singles: “Painkiller” and “5 Mile (These Are the Days)” by Turin Brakes and “Sugar Buzz ” and “The Magic of December” by Lil’ Cap’n Travis. “Sugar Buzz” and “5 Mile (These Are the Days)” are probably the two best songs out of the whole lot. I’m not sure what that means, but there you go.