Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - "Dark Night of the Soul"

Wow, I *just* found out about this album a couple of days ago, and had to listen to it immediately. I literally dropped everything I was doing to find it and make sure that it was part of my permanent collection... after I'd only heard the first two minutes. Even just the first track on this album makes it worth having.

I can't believe I didn't get this CD earlier.... this album is definitely one of the best that I've heard in a while. Dark Night of the Souls delivers precisely what I expected from two musical greats. Danger Mouse kicks ass, Sparklehorse kicks ass, and together, they'll flip your world upside down (not just rock it, they'll sway you so hard you actually get flipped upside down). The music isn't anything to rock out to though; it's pretty calm and relaxing and, thus, mildly depressing sounding... but I love it.

The only problems: "Angel's Harp" and "Pain" are both rather horrible in my opinion. "Angel's Harp" significantly worse though. Really, it just irks me that they had to throw a couple of shitty songs on the album. I'd safely say that these two songs are the only things stopping me from giving this album a 5 star rating.

"Revenge" (the first track) is phenomenal, and features the Flaming Lips. Although I haven't looked up or listened closely to the lyrics, they seem to be pretty good. Go ahead, get excited, I know you want to. Anyway, this is my favorite song on the album so far. The rest are awesome as well too though.

GET THIS ALBUM! 'Nuff said.

My vote: 4.5 stars

My favorite tracks: "Revenge" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-86OH2JREQ "Little Girl" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZfgMrhUMGU & "Everytime I'm With You" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjFJkIkna20&feature=related

Phoenix - "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"

What a ballsy album title! Fortunately for Phoenix, their album is good enough to steer clear of disappointing and maybe even offending some seriously critical listeners. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a great listen for all ages.

From the sounds of it, MGMT and Phoenix could probably make a great collaboration together. Just a thought. As long as we're on the subject, Phoenix would probably do well with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! too. To think of it differently, Phoenix sounds like a mix between the two bands.

I think I may just possibly like every song on this album, so it's difficult for me to choose my favorites. Gotta love the 80s groove thing going on with "Fences". "Love Like a Sunset" is a bit drawn out, but I think it's like an electro-rock version of a jam session or something. The build-up in the track is pretty cool and the song shows some versatility. Even so, it's probably my least favorite of the bunch. It's worth mentioning that, if I'm not mistaken, "Lisztomania" is the first radio hit off of this particular album.

I absolutely suggest you take a listen to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix for yourself. You can probably find the whole track listing streaming on myspace, youtube or last.fm. I'm pretty sure this is an album that almost anyone will grow to like... that is, unless you really just hate this type of music.

My vote: 4 stars

My favorite tracks: "Lisztomania" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhhzV5Xv9Tw & "Fences" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68sBpKAWsX0

Weezer - "Raditude"

It's been a while since Weezer has released an album I've actually been interested in. Raditude seems like it's a good edition to Weezer's list - yet still a bit made-for-the-radio sounding on some songs. The lead-singer, Rivers Cuomo, definitely wrote some very catchy choruses for this album.

While perusing through the songs, I was shocked to hear Lil' Wayne (among other surprising additions). At the sound, I stopped to make sure I was actually still listening to Weezer. I pretty much had that feeling throughout this entire album, as there were definitely a few deviations from the norm...

For some odd reason, Weezer also decided to put a little bit of Indian (the country) influence on this album. "Love is the answer" features some crazy instrumentals and is totally hippy sounding considering the lyrics.

"The Underdogs" reminded me of a Ben Lee song on first listen, and continues to do so almost every time. Not only is the song slow, but Rivers sings in almost an identical style to Ben Lee's and his voice even sounds similar. Seriously, take a listen to a slower Ben Lee song and compare it to this one. You'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

I commend the band's effort to think outside of the box. Not sure how much I'll like this album after I keep listening to it though. Their older stuff seems better off the bat, but I'll give the new sound a try.

My vote: 3 stars
My favorite tracks: "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDIzMGh94vo & "The Girl Got Hot" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovEoRAXf6zc

K'naan - "Troubadour"

K'naan can definitely check off the "collaborate with awesome musicians" box for this album; tracks on "Troubadour" feature Damian Marley, Adam Levine (lead singer of Maroon 5), Kirk Hammett (guitarist of Metallica), and Mos Def & Chali 2Na (of Jurassic 5).

This album gives a completely different perspective than most American rap. The lyrics almost serve as an informative political statement for the world basically saying "Somalia's effin' crazy", except in a more tactful manner.

The beats on Troubadour are fairly basic, but still sound good. K'naan did a great job with matching artists' rapping/singing styles with the instrumentals for songs, giving the album quite the eclectic sound even from track to track.

On "America', K'naan raps in Somali. Pretty rad, not gonna lie. I think my personal favorite track is "ABCs" with the catchy elementary school sound on the hook paired with some hard verses to compliment. Although Adam Levine helps out singing on "Bang Bang", I'm not the biggest fan. Also interesting to note that K'naan steals some Pharcyde lyrics on this song - probably the reason why I don't like the song. I'm all for listening to good music (which he proves by quoting a classic), but I also think there's something to be said about lyrical originality.

Overall, worth the purchase? Perhaps, just because it's an interesting album. K'naan definitely shows promise as an artist and clearly has the connections, but I think he needs to choose a narrower musical focus to become a great rapper. By that, I mean he's mixing too many genres on this one.

My vote: 2.5/3 stars

My favorite tracks: "If Rap Gets Jealous" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlBFLuW-_ek & "ABCs" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu3biFTak2I & "America" -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cTC6rGE9jo

Oh dear...it's a new year?

It's been a while; I've been horrible, I know. BUT, I promise I've been listening to plenty of new (at least for me) music, and will review several albums soon! My apologies go out to those of you that have been squirming in painful anticipation...