A few new albums to check out…

Snow Patrol – Eyes Open

Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere

She Wants Revenge – She Wants Revenge

(new to me, at least)

I grabbed a couple of tracks from Arctic Monkeys recently, and I’m all about “I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor” and “Fake Tales of San Francisco”. Check ‘em out on iTunes. While you’re there, buy some more Bloc Party – they still kick ass and have several tracks available beyond those from Silent Alarm.

Why does hearing a song currently on my “playlist” being used in a commercial I feel is targeted at “grown-ups” bother me? Seriously…it makes me want to listen to the song a bit less than before seeing the commercial.

Case in point: in my opinion, Kasabian’s “Reason Is Treason” should not be used to sell Kellog’s Nutri-Grain cereal bars. The clip they use doesn’t include any of the lyrics – no verse, no chorus – just a bit of the music. How many people interested in that product are going to recognize that particular song? I’m thinking not so many. Then again, Kasabian isn’t exactly a well-known band at this point. Perhaps the ad agency just figured it was a safe bit of music at a good price and threw it in there. Who the hell knows, but it bugs me.

And while I’m not wild about Saturn using a song by The Bravery (”Unconditional”), I feel it’s at least more appropriate than Kellog using Kasabian. At least the SKY is a fairly cool little car. [Incidentally, if you have a TIVO you can watch the new Saturn SKY commercial on your "Now Playing" list.]

So early last year I stumbled upon Damien Rice – the ‘O’ album – and really, really enjoyed it. And when I had listened to it a few times all the way through, I realized it was quite possibly Lisa Hannigan that I was enjoying the most – her voice is just amazing. Then I saw them both perform on one of the late shows, and I was spell-bound by Lisa. There was just something about the way she sang – not just her voice but her entire presence, so earnest and simply sweet (or painfully sweet, depending on the song). Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m not infatuated with the girl or anything – it’s not a physical thing. It’s just something about the way she sings, and it goes beyond just the sound of her voice. I figured at the time it was just that – that album, with that voice, at that time in my life – it all just fit. Without all of the pieces, I wouldn’t have been as impressed or intrigued by her. Turns out, that’s not the case!

Mr. Rice and Ms. Hannigan have a new single available (I’m a couple weeks behind, I know) called “Unplayed Piano”, and here’s the kicker: if you buy it on iTunes (for $.99), you get a video version as well. I grabbed it, listened to the song (good – not great, but good), and then watched the video. It wasn’t just the album+voice+time-in-my-life, ’cause I was mesmerized yet again by Lisa Hannigan. The girl is just amazing! Check out the song and the video if you get it from iTunes – it’s definitely worth a buck.

I’ve picked up a few new albums in the last couple weeks, but I never seem to remember to mention them. Finally, here we go…

Kaiser Chiefs – Employment
“Modern Way” is good, as is “Na Na Na Na Naa” and “Everyday I Love You
Less and Less”, but “I Predict a Riot” is probably my favorite cut from
this one. “Oh My God” has the best line, though, with “But you work in
a shirt with your name tag on it, drifting apart like a plate-tectonic.”

Kasabian – Kasabian
I bought it for “Club Foot”, which I’m sure I’ve heard somewhere
(movie, tv show, something) though I haven’t placed it yet. Turns out,
the whole freakin’ album is good. Score!

Kings of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak
Not sure what caused me to grab this one. It was probably an iTunes
suggestion based on the Kaiser Chiefs and Kasabian I already had in my
cart. God bless the auto-suggestions, ’cause this is my favorite of the
three. There’s a couple of tracks I could live without and tend to skip
over, but the rest are great.

Stereophonics – Language, Sex, Violence, Other?
I had grabbed a half-dozen tracks by this band off of iTunes almost a
year-and-a-half ago. They were, I believe, AOL Sessions – acoustic
versions of some tracks from their prior album – and I loved them.
Based on that, I bought this one, and…well…it’s not that great.
It’s ok, don’t get me wrong. It’s certainly “listenable”. But other
than “Dakota”, there’s nothing here that makes me think this is the
same band. I’m not saying I want every album from a band to sound the
same – not at all. I just didn’t get into this one that much.

Thievery Corporation – The Cosmic Game
I borrowed this one from Michelle, and it’s become my
“music-to-code-by” album for now. It’s spacey-trippy and blends nicely
into the background of my mind while I’m working, yet it’s not boring
(usually a requirement to avoid distracting me).

Queens of the Stone Age – Lullabies to Paralyze
I finally broke down and snagged this one after Jeremy suggested it
several times. I haven’t really listened to it, yet, but I don’t think
I’m going to like it. There’s a few cuts I may keep in rotation for a
little while, but overall it’s a disappointment.