I Think I'll Fall To Pieces If I Don't Find Something Else To Do

Yes, the "Soldier Of Love" album was kinda a snoozefest, but I am loving this new track from Sade's forthcoming "The Ultimate Collection." We are promised four new songs, which is exciting, except from the fact that I'm guessing the Jay-Z "remix" of "The Moon And The Sky" is one of them. At no point in this world did I ever need those two to meet, let alone in a recording booth dammit. ANYWAYS, Sade has dug up a Thin Lizzy song from 1983 and covered the hell out of it. I sure as shit don't know Thin Lizzy and listening to their version of the song I don't need to, judge for yourself tho.

(Yes, i know they did "The Boys Are Back In Town" but I certainly don't care all that much.)
Ms. Adu et al have gone ahead and certainly made it their own. It's like a hybrid, "By Your Side" "Love Is Stronger Than Pride." This is some great, sad Sade.

And now for something LESS great..............

As I Recall You Gave Me Nothing At All

LAAAAAAAATE on this one. Apologies. My song of the week, for the week ending on April 3rd, is Erik Hassle's "Sometimes When It Rains." As far as I am concerned, this man can do no wrong. At first, I was weary, for his latest mini-album "The Mariefred Sessions" left me less than impressed on first listen, but now, 2 weeks on, I'm finding it hard to play anything else. Borrowing from the Robyn school of having a depressing song with an amazingly dancey beat, we have "Sometimes When It Rains." In fact, this sounds EXACTLY like a Robyn song. How can you not love a lyric like "You said that you would give me it all, as i recall you gave me nothing at all."?

Plus, here's an awesome acoustic version of the song coupled with another Song Of The Week from this year in acoutic form, "Are You Leaving"

These things can quite endear you

Coming out of left field this week, the Human League crashes the top of my chart with “Never Let Me Go,” off Credo, the band’s first album in 10 years. This one has been a slow-burner; sometimes you have to hear a song tens of times before it worms its way into your mind.

Don’t get me wrong, being a child glued to early-'80s MTV, I have long loved the Human League. “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” and “Mirror Man” are two of my favorite songs of all time, and even their least-successful albums have amazing tracks.

Human League songs are mainly Philip Oakey affairs with Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall handling the incidentals. However, Susan (the blonde) takes the lead here. Apart from her iconic verse in “Don’t You Want Me” and her fantastic solo “One Man in My Heart” (from 1994’s Octopus), the girls don’t headline. Not that that’s a bad thing: When I saw them in 1998 at Radio City Music Hall, Joanne was so off-key during her brief bit in “Fascination” that people around me winced and stopped dancing. Perhaps that’s why she was given the spoken aside in “Human.”

As for “Never Let Me Go,” it’s a welcome return, current yet delightfully retro. And the crazy kaleidoscope video should endear the band to the current generation of electropop fans. My one complaint would be, why such heavy use of Autotune? Leave that crap to Britney.

This love is getting the best of me

I’m a few days late but I’m finally getting around to posting this week. Truth is, it’s been another difficult choice. I knew it would be something off the Sounds new album, Something to Die For. But I didn’t know what—there’s too many good songs to choose from (not that that’s a bad thing).
How could I not love the Sounds, a blond female-fronted New Wave indie rock band? (It could only get better if she played the tambourine!) I loved their first album, Living in America. And the second, Dying to Say This to You, was almost as good. I saw them live at Irving Plaza and they were energetic and amazing.
However, their last album, Crossing the Rubicon, was a bit of a disappointment. I couldn’t get into it, and it got lost in the shuffle. I never even bought it…I just “acquired” it online, which says a lot. So with trepidation I listened to Something to Die For, but it instantly clicked. It mixes the right amount of fuzzy guitars, pop hooks and a surprising dance influence on the first half of the album.
Which leads me to “The Best of Me.” The Duran Duran-style bassline caught my attention first, and the pleading lyrics (“Our hearts are still warm but they are getting colder”) are right up my alley. But I kept listening because I couldn’t figure of what else it reminded me, until one day walking to work it hit me: It sounds like a Coldplay ballad, sped up. I can picture Chris Martin playing this at the piano, and it makes me love it even more. There’s no video, as it’s just an album track, but here’s a link.

Uht Uh That's Not A Plane That's Me

I didn't wanna like it. I hid him on Facebook (instead of deleting him which makes no sense but whatever). But I scrambled to download it. A new Owl City song...WITH A RAP? Sure this Shawn Christopher fellow isn't hardcore, but nevertheless, rap isn't really my thing. That being said, I think the rap is maybe the best part of the song. I love it. Definitely reminds me of the remix of Pet Shop Boys "Liberation" ("Yeah, I though love was kinda dumb, now I know I gots to get me some"). And here we have my Song Of The Week, from the forthcoming album, "All Things Bright And Beautiful" (where I also have a great downtempo track called "Lonely Lullaby") Owl City featuring Shawn Christopher "Alligator Sky."

And for good measure, here's 12 minute version of the PSB track Liberation with that rap I do so well in my car.

Feed The Hungry WIth A Fish

Unlike Robb, this week was an easy one for me. I guessed it the minute I heard it, which does happen alot, only to have me find a ANOTHER song that I like EVEN MORE. Yet, this one made it thru. I discovered it Tues AM as I was trolling thru itunes JUST RELEASED section for the week. And there it was....a new Robyn tune. Well, new for her at least. The song itself isn't THAT new, Featured on the Teddybears' last album "Devil's Music", the song "Cardiac Arrest" was recorded with some rapper chick named Mapei. Not Much has changed from one track to the next except that instead of sounding like some butchy Brooklynite is singing, Robyn has fucking made this one another of her own. It's quirky. It makes no damn sense. It's great. It's really like 90's era Fatboy Slim's big beat style, and I love it - Jason

Teddybears 'Cardiac Arrest' feat Robyn [Audio]