Ten CDs: Too little, too late edition
So, I got waylaid on Thursday, and didn't get to bring you my 10 snap judgments on 10 new CDs. No matter, we can do it on a Sunday. And keeping with the theme of belated assignments, I dug up 10 old as dirt albums that I have been sitting on, for quite literally years.
Paris Combo "Attraction" [Release date: April 16, 2002; How do I have this? amNewYork didn't even exist back then.]
French lounge music. Coooooooooool. I'm wearing a beret and smoking a Gauloise as I listen.
Stars of Track and Field "Centuries Before Love and War" [Release date: June 6, 2006]
The name is a Belle and Sebastian reference, but the sound has little in common with the Scottish twee pop outfit. It's kind of your basic Europop by way of Oregon.
Smoking Popes "At Metro" [Release date: February 28, 2006]
I gotta be honest, I've only ever heard of these guys because of their inclusion on the "Clueless" soundtrack. (I love that movie.) And that song, "I Need You Around," is here on this concert disc. And the rest of the album: Two very enthusiastic thumbs up! Fine mid-'90s rock fun!
Nelly Furtado "Promiscuous feat. Timbaland" single [Release date: June 29, 2006]
Here's a song that says a lot about the contemporary human experience.
more after the jump...
Lola Ray "Liar" [Release date: July 11, 2006]
Kinda cheesy pop, but there's something really charming about it. It's very comforting, and there are some interesting bass lines.
Oppenheimer s/t [Release date: June 6, 2006]
Unimpressive.
Stephanie McKay s/t EP [Release date: September 26, 2006]
McKay kicked ass at last year's CMJ festival. The New Yorker has an energized funk/soul style, and she delivers her message (social responsibility, in the vein of Tracy Chapman) with passion and conviction. It's more fun live, though, than it is on this CD.
Editors Rarities EP [Release date: August 18, 2006]
Man, I have some weird stuff in my pile. This B-sides and, well, rarities collection was put out shortly after the band's first album, "The Back Room." It sounds just like every other thing Editors has ever done — an Interpol outtake.
Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris "All the Roadrunning" [Release date: April 25, 2006]
I cannot believe I let this gem languish at the bottom of my stack for more than a year. It's everything you'd hope for from a collab between the Dire Straits frontman and the country and western siren. Knopfler has the coolest voice ... and Harris is no slouch herself, of course.
Alaska! "Rescue Through Tomahawk" [Release date: March 8, 2005]
A trio made up of late-'90s college rock stars. You can definitely here that aesthetic in this album. It's slow burning awesomeness. There's very little info out there about the band, but check out their MySpace, if you really wanna know.
Final score: Five out of 10! Whopping!
Bonus: Metric!
eh.www.amNY.com
