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I first discovered The Proclaimers when they released a 1990 single entitled "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" to some critical acclaim and Top 40 success (it was the #3 single in 1993).  Since then, I've tried to keep up with them and check out their albums as they're released.  While surfing Spiralfrog.com's library, I ran into the 2007 album "Life With You" and decided to give it a listen.

If you're not familiar with The Proclaimers, they're a Scottish rock band composed of two identical twin brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid.  Unlike some bands, their Scottish accents come through loud and clear in their music, as do their political views.  They support Scottish independence from Britain and are politically active in that regard.

One of the things I really like about The Proclaimers is their ability to turn a phrase.  Where some bands would take the cliched route in a love song and describe a woman in a red dress by comparing her to a rose or some other red object, The Proclaimers describe a pale woman in a red dress as looking like "blood lying on snow" (in the track of the same name).  While I celebrate this as an interesting turn of phrase, I have to wonder how a woman would react to being described as looking like blood on snow.  But this isn't the only unusual choice of words in the song.  Later, they say "It's taken generations of lucky breeding to make you" to the woman they're interested in. I'm not sure how many women would be swept off their feet by such phrases, but they are fun to listen to.

I found "Harness Pain" to be a very strong track.  The listener is told they must harness pain if they want to hold "the flame" and "tell the truth about love".  They're told that "when you try to succeed you mostly fail" but you harness the pain and become stronger.

"The Long Haul", "S-O-R-R-Y", and perhaps certain other tracks seem to take on the Iraq war and its supporters, saying "I miss the days when the threat to our position didn't come from some religion but from godless communism."  We're told "we're not barbarians like we were way back when, we've learned from history, so we get to go around again" and "tell your sons not to bother with football, get a backpack on and crawl, we're in this for the long haul".

In terms of music and performance, this is as good an album as any other from The Proclaimers.  However, in terms of its content, it's a far more politically charged piece than earlier albums like Sunshine on Leith.  

If you like The Proclaimers' unique sound and can stomach their political views (whether you agree with those views or not), you'll find this an enjoyable album and fair amount different from mainstream pop music.

As I've discussed before, I'm a fan of the artist Morrissey from back when he was still the lead vocalist for The Smiths. Although I don't always agree with his politics or his take on life, I do very much appreciate his vocal performances and his songwriting skill. Few artists are able to convincingly discuss the subjects he does with a touch that is poetic in nature.

"Ringleader of the Tormentors"  is Morrissey's newest album, scheduled to be released on April 4th. Because I pre-purchased it through Amazon.com (click here to buy your copy), I was given the ability to listen to the entire album in advance through the Amazon Digital Locker service.

This album seems a little bit of a departure for Morrissey in that there are orchestral bits, backing vocals, and some different instruments in the background that I don't think I've heard in his recordings before. It "updates"  his sound a little, while still keeping that sound very clearly "Morrissey".

I've been listening to They Might Be Giants for quite a few years now (decades, probably).  If you've never heard it, their music is fun, catchy, and kind of quirky.  Above all else, it's good. Lately I started really taking a good long look at listen at They Might Be Giants, and I've reached the conclusion that these guys might well be business geniuses in addition to musical ones.  Allow me to explain.

Many artists who were popular decades ago try to reinvent themselves or incorporate the latest musical fad into their musical arsenal, often unsuccessfully.  This usually winds up making them sound like has-beens trying to recapture their past glory by imitating currently-popular artists.  It alienates their core fan base, and fails to bring in new fans in many cases.  This is not the case with They Might Be Giants.  Their music stays true to itself, and has for about 20 years now.  

But where other artists often fail is bringing in new listeners.  They Might Be Giants is, in effect, growing theirs.  Their music has been made famous by Animaniacs cartoons, which resonate with a younger crowd than their earlier listeners.  They've also released children's albums, which help them introduce their music to a young fan base that will grow up to develop an interest in their grown-up fare.  I'm sure other artists must have done this before, but I can't think of one.

They Might Be Giants also recognizes the value of the Internet in reaching their audience.  Their web site offers free MP3s, Macromedia Flash music videos, concert/tour information, merchandise, and more.  One of their recent releases for kids also sells on Amazon.com with "exclusive Amazon-only content".  It's a very net-savvy approach.

But the web site isn't their only Internet venture.  They also offer "TMBG Clock Radio" which is a small Macromedia Flash application that provides non-stop streaming TMBG music, announcements, and more.  Their radio station plays live concert clips in addition to tracks off their albums.  Again, it's a great way to reach true fans and to introduce their music to others.

Most bands today make a good chunk of their money from live appearances.  That means packing the place with fans and building good relationships with the concert venues so that they're welcome back.  TMBG recognizes this, and recently created a unique song about every venue they played on their international tour.  I'd be willing to bet those venues use the songs in their advertising and on their intercom systems.  That means free advertising for TMBG.  This is another smart move, and one I don't see a lot of artists making.  Their emails to fans probably help pack the venues with people, too.

It's really impressive to see a band with such marketing savvy.  They keep in touch with their fans, provide a web site with lots of interesting content, a podcast, streaming radio station, fare for children and adults, butter up the venues they play in, and offer their own merchandise over the Internet as well as through mass-market retailers like Amazon.  Genius!

As mentioned in my review of "Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse", the background music in the game was one of its most endearing aspects.  The developers and musicians did a great job of fitting the music to the game's environment, which was sort of a mix of 1950's era style combined with what "science fiction" would have looked like to a 1950's era person.  The cars looked like 1950's cars, except they hovered.  Gas stations were still full-service, with robot attendants pumping the gas (and the car).  The music on the soundtrack captures this image well.  It consists of 1950's style songs recorded by modern artists.  Either intentionally or accidentally, the songs also have a sort of twisted sound to them that somehow seems right at home in a zombie movie/game.

The soundtrack album is a great listen even if you aren't interested in the game.  It features a number of songs you'll quickly recognize, by alternative artists like The Raveonettes, Death Cab for Cutie, Cake, and The Dandy Warhols:

• Ben Kweller - Lollipop:  The opening of this song sounds a good bit like the original, but quickly takes on the sort of "twisted 50's" feel of the other tracks. 
  
• The Raveonettes - My Boyfriend's Back:  This track sounds little like the original, but it's a great remake and definitely one of the stand-out tracks on the disc.
  
• Death Cab for Cutie - Earth Angel:  Since I'm a fan of Death Cab for Cutie, I appreciate this track because they're the ones doing it.  It sounds very little like the original, but has kind of an eerie feel to it that goes great with the other tracks here and the game itself.
  
• Rose Hill Drive - Shakin' All Over:  This is probably my least favorite track on the album.  It is somewhat out of place with the others, sounding more grunge-ish than 1950-ish.
  
• Cake - Strangers in the Night:  Cake does a great job with this song, and it's definitely one of the better tracks.  The vocals are perfect for the kind of song this is.
  
• The Walkmen - There Goes My Baby:  This is one of the weaker tracks on the album, though it's not terrible.
  
• Rogue Wave - Everyday:  The first time I heard this song was in an entertaining movie called "Mischief" starring a young Kelly Preston (who spends a decent stretch of time, shall we say, "indecent").  This version is good, above average among the tracks on the disc.
  
• The Dandy Warhols - All I Have To Do Is Dream:  This is a very kitschy version of the song, but it is well suited to the point in the game where it appears, and it's fun to listen to out of the game.
  
• Oranger - Mr. Sandman:  This track starts off sounding a good bit like the original, then kicks into a decidedly alternative sound that fits in well with the rest of the soundtrack.  Overall, it's one of the better tracks on the disc.
  
• The Flaming Lips - If I Only Had a Brain:  This track from The Wizard of Oz has an amusing double meaning when played in the context of a game where you go around eating brains.  It's well-performed here and fits in reasonably well with the other tracks.
  
• Clem Snide - Tears On My Pillow 
  
• Milton Snapes - Lonesome Town
  
• Phantom Planet - The Living Dead
  

Once you've actually beaten the game, the song selections here provide a good tongue-in-cheek reminder of the storyline in the game as they echo it quite well.

I enjoy listening to this album almost as much as playing the game, which is saying something.  I'd give it an 8 out of a possible 10.  Definitely recommended if you secretly like any 1950's era music and/or any of the artists listed above.

Morrissey fans haven't, in my experience, been very easy find.  Aside from the few people I've introduced to Morrissey's music, I've perhaps only met a couple.  Because "The Mozzer's" fans are so few and far-between, it's fun to encounter another one.  I'd never heard of Colin Meloy or The Decemberists prior to seeing this album, but he'll get some of my attention for no other reason than releasing this disc.  It's a pleasure "meeting" another fan.

Listening to this disc, you will not at all be confused as to whether it's Morrissey himself or a cover.  Meloy's vocals are quite a bit higher-pitched and perhaps even a bit strained compared to Morrissey's.  The instrumentals on the album consist solely of Meloy's acoustic guitar.  You won't find any of the trademark Morrissey sampling of obscure sounds, electric guitar riffs, etc.  Just a man, his guitar, and some songs by Morrissey.

Meloy chose some interesting tracks.  Most are B-sides and less commonly played songs, with the exceptions of "I'm a Poet" and "Everyday is Like Sunday".  In some ways, this serves him well.  Since the songs aren't "mainstream" Morrissey pieces, it's less likely you'll mind as much that it's not Morrissey singing them.  One of the more interesting things to me about this album is the fact that Meloy's vocals are much more distinct and easier to understand than Morrissey's (or at least they're not covered by a lot of instrumentals).  This is also a failing of the album, in that when Meloy goofs up a word here or there it becomes incredibly obvious (like when he sings "share some please tea with me" instead of "share some greased tea with me" in "Everyday is Like Sunday").

While I would give Meloy an "A" for effort, an "A" for coolness in choosing to cover Morrissey, and at least a "B-" for picking the right kind of songs to do acoustically, I've got to give him about a "C-" for his vocals.  Having not heard The Decemberists, I am curious now to see how well suited those same vocals are to Meloy's own music, since they really don't fit in with Morrisseys.  His performance almost sounds like it's causing him physical pain at times to reach the notes he tries (but doesn't quite manage) to reach.

Sadly, other than as a nostalgic tribute to Morrissey, this album just doesn't quite succeed.  I enjoyed listening to it the first time, if only to hear another artist's interpretation of Morrissey's work.  But as a work in itself, I'm just not that impressed.  On a 1-10 scale, with 10 being "excellent", "Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey" gets about a 5. 

If you haven't heard Jonathan Coulton's "Baby Got Back" cover, stop reading this review right now.  Go to his site, download it, and play it. If that doesn't convince you that you want to know more about what he's done, I'm probably not going to do much better in this review.

I've heard Coulton's work described as "geek rock". That might be the best description.  It's a soft, melodic, rock sound with great vocals.  The songs on this album are about "geeky" topics like mad scientists and Mandelbrot sets.  While music about these topics might sound like something that will never rise above the level of a "curiosity", Coulton's songwriting, instrumentals, and vocals combine to create a sound that is just plain catchy.  You'll find yourself wanting to sing them not long after you stop listening.  At least, that's what happens to me and at least a couple of other people I know.

Jonathan Coulton's album "Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow" is available online through CDBaby.com for the low, low price of $7.00 plus shipping.  Given that there are 5 songs on the album, that works out to a slightly-worse-than-iTunes price of about $1.40 a track.  The nice thing about CDBaby.com's site is that you can listen to a pretty lengthy clip of each song on the album before you shell out that "buck forty".  The disc you'll get back from CDBaby is real, commercially-pressed disc with silk-screened artwork on it that is shipped inside a full-color cardboard sleeve.  (You expected a jewel case for $7?!  I didn't.)

Since the 1980's, I've been pretty fond of the music of Depeche Mode.  Back then, their music was heavily loaded with synthesizer sounds and became pretty mainstream.  This 2005 release, "Playing the Angel" from Depeche Mode is quite a departure from their earlier sound, though the synthesizer element and vocals remain.

Playing time for the album is about 51 minutes.  Individual tracks range in length from about 1:42 to 6:09.  Most are in the typical 3-4 minute "radio length" range.

For a fan of the 1980's Depeche Mode, today's group takes some getting used to.  Along with the familiar vocals and synthesizer sound, there's a new edge to the lyrics and a screaming guitar sound that is a very sharp contrast to the Depeche Mode of 20 years ago.  I think I still like the older sound better, but I can appreciate that it sounds "eighties" enough that the band would have a very hard time attracting newer listeners to their music without this modern "grunge" element that is popular in a lot of today's alternative and hit music.  If you're not familiar with the band's sound today, this album might be too loud and edgy for your tastes. For me, it's pushing the limit.

A friend mentioned to me recently that the Pandora music service was a great way to listen to music online and learn if there's any similar music you might like.  It's actually a very neat service from the point of view that its creators have analyzed the characteristics ("musical DNA") of various artists' music and categorized them.  If you tell them that you're a big Morrissey fan, they look at the characteristics of Morrissey's music and identify artists whose music is similar.  Then they play music by those artists, giving you a chance to see if you like any of them.  If you do, more of their music will appear in the stream you receive.  If you don't, they stop the song and quit playing that artist. 

Earlier in the year I review The Bloodhound Gang's CD Single "Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo".  It was definitely a good disc.  Thus it was with some enthusiasm that I fired up this album on Rhapsody and gave it a listen.

This recently-released (September 27, 2005) album is the latest from the group.  It contains the title song of the CD Single I mentioned above as well as a number of other tracks.  Overall it pretty effectively mixes techno sounds with rock and the standard Bloodhound Gang lyrical delivery.

The cover of Hefty Fine, as you can see at the right, pictures a very large and apparently naked man inside a cardboard box, along with a warning to parents that the album contains some explicit lyrics (which it does, and which Bloodhound Gang fans expect).

The album runs a bit under 40 minutes, about 3 of which are silence, and that feels pretty short for a modern release to me.  On the other hand, most of the tracks are quality stuff, so better to have a shorter album with decent music than a longer one full of crap...

The album starts with the track "Balls Out" which starts out sounding a little like a dance track, but picks up.  The lyrics are delivered in a rap-like format for the most part, but the instrumentals feature a strong bass beat and some very jamming guitars.  If you thought the "explicit lyrics" sticker was an exaggeration, this song would convince you otherwise before it's over.  I think I heard most of George Carlin's 7 words you can't say on television in here.  On a 1-10 scale, I'd rate this one somewhere in the neighborhood of a 6, mostly due to the strength of its instrumentals.  The lyrics don't impress me that much, probably because I've grown up enough that it takes more than a stream of 4-letter words in a song for me to get a kick out of it.

As I've said before on this blog, I've been a big fan of Cyndi Lauper since her early MTV days.  Back then, I enjoyed her brashness and the silly videos she did.  Over the years that followed, I began to really appreciate her vocal talents and songwriting ability.  When I heard that she put out a new album (thanks to the Rhapsody music service), I had to play it immediately.  It's an entirely acoustic version of many of her most popular songs, such as "Money Changes Everything" and "True Colors".

(This, BTW, is one of the nice things about Rhapsody compared to iTunes and Napster... you can play an entire album from beginning to end without having to buy it first.  If you like it, then you can buy it and burn it to CD or whatever.  If you don't, it was covered in your $9.99 monthly service fee.)

I've been a fan of The Beatles since they were still going into the recording studio.  Granted, I was around 3-4 years old then, but I remember it well and have never lost interest in them.  They're still one of my "go to" bands that I'll sit and listen to for hours on end.  In spite of this, I have never really liked much of Paul McCartney's solo work.  I like a fair amount of George Harrison's, probably 80-90% of John Lennon's (except where Yoko is singing), and perhaps more than 90% of Ringo Starr's.  But with Paul McCartney, my interest in his music has always been something less than 10% of the total.  It might even be less than 5%, I've never really tallied it up.  Keep that in mind as you read my review of Sir Paul's latest work, "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" (which appears below).

Each week, musician Jonathan Coulton releases a single on his web site.  This week's single is a cover of Sir Mix-a-lot's song "Baby Got Back" done in the style of a pop ballad.  

 As Coulton says on his blog: "In the proud tradition of many white Americans who came before me I hereby steal and white-ify this thick and juicy piece of black culture. Watch for my album 'Jonathan Coulton Sings Songs by Black People.'"

I don't think you can help but enjoy this one...

Here's the page:  http://www.jonathancoulton.com/

And the song: http://www.jonathancoulton.com/music/thingaweek/BabyGotBack.mp3

For my taste, Colin Hay's recording career has been something of a rollercoaster.  One album will really impress me, while another will leave me wondering what the heck he was thinking recording it.  Within albums, my reaction is much the same way, and that's unfortunate.  His voice and sense of humor are excellent, and I'd really like to love everything he records, but I don't.  Surprisingly, "Company of Strangers" is one of his best and most consistent albums (at least of those I've heard).  The songwriting is generally great, his vocals are on the mark, and I have at most minor nits with the instrumentals.

I've been a fan of Gwen Stefani's and No Doubt's for some time.  I have a weakness for women whose voices sound sort of sweet and innocent but who are willing to sing strong lyrics with a bit of an edge to them.  Juliana Hatfield (of solo and Blake Babies fame) is another such artist.  Thus, when I saw that "Love.Angel.Music.Baby." had come out, I was immediately interested in it.  After listening to it a few times, I've come to a couple of conclusions about it.

This review has to start with a couple of admissions.  First, I happen to think Cyndi Lauper (especially in her later albums) is an underrated songwriter and performer.  Most people think of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and dismiss her as an 80's pop culture icon (which she was, but she's a lot more than that).  Some of her later ballads are sung with great emotion and are among the best-written songs I've ever heard.  On the other hand, I really HATE remixes, especially when they're done solely to try to make "danceable" a song that was never intended to be dance music.  So I approached this album with a mix of excitement and fear... excitement that the "rarities" would be more of Cyndi's great songwriting and fear that the remixes would suck, as remixes tend to do.