Get It 'Til It's Gone...

I was reading Stereogum a couple of weeks ago when I stumbled upon the excellent news that the Counting Crows have finally come out of the woodwork. Through all of the band's strife, they have finally managed to put the finishing touches on their eagerly-anticipated 5th studio album, and have even announced an official release date of March 25th. The band's effort, entitled Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings will be culled into two parts: an edgy rock set (the "Saturday Nights" portion), and a mellow acoustic set (the "Sunday Mornings" portion). Following in the footsteps of pop/rock contemporaries the Foo Fighters (see 2005's In Your Honor), it looks like the Crows are trying to give something for everybody with this record.

The best part is that Adam Duritz and the boys are offering not one, but two free tracks for download as a part of a "digital 45" they are promoting for the upcoming album. The "A-side", "1492", is a triumphant return to the band's roots, featuring a aggressive, crunchy guitar sound we haven't heard since 1996's Recovering The Satellites. The tune itself is nothing spectacular but proves that the band hasn't gone completely soft from their last few strings of LiteFM-worthy singles. This is hardly the case with the "B-side", "When I Dream of Michaelangelo". The song, whose title is taken directly from the lyrics of their own song, "Angels of the Silences", is straight-up "classic" Crows. An acoustic effort (clearly taken from the "Sunday Mornings" bin), the song bears much resemblance to the band's 2003 rendition of the Dead classic "Friend of The Devil", and is clearly inspired by some of the material they released a decade ago on their first live album (Across A Wire). If Duritz and gang wanted to give us all a "cliffs-notes" version of what their upcoming album is going to sound like, these two tracks are definitely a solid indication.

Putting the music aside for a second, I really appreciate what the Crows have done by giving these songs away. In an era where albums are continually leaked months before their respective release dates, the Counting Crows aren't naively resisting the trend. In fact, because I now have a sample of what Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings is going to sound like, fuck, I just might buy the album. Maybe one day the major record labels (and Lars Ulrich, for that matter) will one day wake up and understand that the more you give, the more you get.

I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.

After reading some mixed reviews of Kate Nash's U.S. debut, Made of Bricks, I decided to give it a shot. I was perusing through the aisles of the horribly organized 86th Street Best Buy a couple of weeks ago and saw that this "new release" (actually released last August in the U.K.) was a steal priced at 8 bucks. And yes, I do still actually buy music. So anyway, I've been giving the record some spins, and gotta say I've really gotten into it. The storytelling style of her music is stylistically anti-folk, slightly reminiscent of American equivalent Regina Spektor. Nash, a 20-year old London-based singer-songwriter, is remarkably precocious given the explicit subject matter of some of her songs (heartbreak, failed relationships), and she has that pop charm and spunk that has made fellow songstress Lily Allen the apple of many media outlets' eye.

Which got me thinking...this is some damn good pop music! I've been a fan of the aforementioned Allen and self-destructive (yet ridiculously talented) Amy Winehouse for quite a while, and now we Americans are given Kate Nash -- another young and talented singer chalked-up to a seemingly ever-growing list of British female voices. Is music just better across the pond? The fact that I have been sucked into the pop music world by Kate, Lily, and Amy leads me to believe that this certainly the case. Granted, I've been the hugest Oasis fan since I can remember, but I never thought my favorite band's "cockney" swagger could be repackaged a decade later in the form of three female pop stars.

And just to clarify things, I am by no means trying to collectively categorize all American music as bad. We have our talents, as does any other country -- but the fact remains (and will always remain) that most people will never discover this talent because we leave it up to the conglomerated radio stations to decide what we should be hearing. Consequently, we continually contribute the staleness of Colbie Caillat and Fergie, whereas England is kind enough to give us the creativity of Kate Nash and Amy Winehouse. And if pop music is an indicator of talent (and it is, unfortunately, to the general population), we should be saluting the limeys.

So Nice, So Smart

"Up, down, up, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start. Just because we use cheats doesn't mean we're not smart."



Ok, so I cannot get enough of the Juno soundtrack -- and I am not saying this because the film is my hands down choice for movie of the year. This is legitimately the first time in a LONG time that all of the songs on a compilation have fit so perfectly together to produce what can be considered a complete "album". Many of critics have agreed that this is the best soundtrack since Garden State, but I disagree. Zach Braff's mixtape pales in comparison to this little gem.

Composed largely of Kimya Dawson's playful little ditties, the soundtrack is evidently a mood album -- one that invites its listeners to sing-along and join in on the fun. It's quirkiness is what makes this album so delightful -- from The Moldy Peaches' seemingly improvised love song containing an "MP3, DVD, rumble pack guitar", to the Belle & Sebastian dated favorite "Piazza, New York Catcher". The highlight of the soundtrack, however, is Cat Power's sultry rendition of Phil Philips' classic "Sea of Love" -- which is made more apparent after seeing the film.

Movie soundtracks have clearly lost their luster since the dawn of the MP3 generation, but Juno begs to differ, showing that there is still a good excuse to release a solid compilation these days.

Dazed & Confused

According to Billboard, rumors of an inevitable upcoming LedZep summer tour/reunion have been greatly exaggerated. Recent band activity, including the now legendary December 10th one-off performance in London and the release of a career-spanning two-disc compilation (Mothership), has led to speculation that the band would finally come out of hibernation. Not so fast, according to Jimmy Page, who yesterday denied rumors of an upcoming tour. Keeping things ambiguous as usual, Page mentioned that band chemistry was present, but that singer Robert Plant has other priorities in the pipeline -- including a world tour to support his recent critically-acclaimed Allison Krauss project, Raising Sand. Taking this bit of information into account, sources believe that if a full-fledged reunion is to happen, fans will have to wait until September for any possibility.

I still don't know what to think of a LedZep world tour. Every time I pop in the live album of the '99 Jimmy Page/Black Crowes tour, I think of how incredible it would be to have formerly-gangly frontman Robert Plant at the helm instead of a presently-gangly Chris Robinson. Seeing clips of the December reunion show have only fueled these sentiments. But the more I think of it, the more I can't shake how much it bothers me to have a once-legendary band tour without original key band members. Sure, the music might be there, but it is also there when I hear tribute bands play very good renditions of Zeppelin tunes. Bottom line, to me Led Zeppelin is NOT Led Zeppelin without Jason Bonham. The Who was not The Who after Keith Moon died, and they CERTAINLY weren't The Who after John Entwhistle pathetically died of an overdose on tour a few years back. Hell, I've even lost sleep over the constant Oasis shakeups. And DON'T get me started with the Smashing Pumpkins...

But then again, it would be kinda cool to hear "Heartbreaker" live.


Sure, you can see Robert Plant at the Garden -- the catch is that he'll be sitting courtside at Knicks games.