In other releases: Costello, the Eels, Ryan Bingham & DMB
So, I was on CNN.com/live this morning talking about new music and acting like I wear a nice jacket every day. In case you missed it, here’s what we talked about. (You can also watch it here.)
“Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” by Dave Mathews Band
First off, how would you like to pronounce that album title on a live feed? Yeah, it kind of flustered me, and I ended up saying the album was “great.” Oops. My bad. The interesting thing about this album is that it’s DMB’s first since Leroi Moore died in a 4-wheeler accident, and the album’s named in honor of and dedicated to him. It’s kind of hard to criticize a record dedicated to a saxophone player who died in an ATV accident… so, umm… let’s just say if you went to prep school in the mid to late ’90s, today’s a big day for you. Basically, if you are interested in this album, you probably pre-ordered it months ago. I didn’t.
“Secret, Profane & Sugarcane” Elvis Costello
Love it. This is Elvis’ return to working with T-bone Burnett, and it’s got all sorts of banjos, fiddles, and standup bass. I’m calling it “the thinking man’s BBQ album.” You can stream samples of the songs on Elvis’ MySpace page. (BTW, f@ck you for streaming 30 second clips).
“Hombre Lobo” The Eels
Best new album of the week. Mark Oliver Everett wrote this album from the POV of a character in his 2001 song “Dog Faced Boy.” A kid who was once a lonely, isolated and shunned dog-faced boy has now grown up and become “Hombre Lobo,” a werewolf. The album’s raw, visceral, guttural, and even emotional. Plus, E howls a lot. Just listen to it, and you’ll totally get that this is a werewolf album. Hopefully it will launch a new genre of Were-Rock, which will hunt down and kill the entire cast of “Twilight.” You can stream the whole album on E’s MySpace page, but you should just go buy it now.
“Roadhouse Sun” Ryan Bingham
I didn’t get to cover this one on CNN, but I love it. I’m a big alt-country fan, which shows my bias. That means I usually deplore anyone who sings in a cowboy hat (except Willie), but Ryan is the exception. He’s from West Texas, so I guess he can wear whatever the hell he wants. You can stream the entire album on Ryan’s MySpace page before you buy it.
Here’s a clip of Ryan playing “Tell my Mother I Miss Her So” off his new album.
