Friday is a free day!!!

Wow, this might be my first Friday blog in a while. I tend to blog early in the week for soem crazy reason. But not this week. Nope. Well… OK, then, I really have nothing else to add. Just keep rockin’ folks!

The Shazam – Meteor – **** – You literally can’t go wrong with The Shazam. This is at least their best produced record to date, and sounds awesome. But top that with great, cool songs, and you’ve got perfection. Their return was worth the wait, and this will give me hours of enjoyment.

Wilco – Wilco (The Album) – *** – A good addition to the Wilco library. This one takes a step towards the more poppy, happier side of Wilco, and that’s nice. I think they were headed this way on Sky Blue Sky, but were too verbose on that release, and this takes them back to basics.

Regina Spektor – Far – ***1/2 – You really can’t go wrong with Regina Spektor. She makes songs that are all at once melodic, weird, arty, engaging, and cool. This album keeps up that pattern and keeps things hoppin’!

God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl – *** – This CD was great. It is a cool, soulful record for the most part, but it throws some curveballs at you from time to time, making it a lot of fun. So, while a tad inconsistent, it does have it’s charms. Oh, and Belle and Sebastian related stuff pretty much gets a free ride from me anyways.

Eugene McGuinness – Eugene McGuinness – *** – A solid, good album from Eugene, who I think only had an EP before this… Not sure on that, but it is a fine album of great pop music, a bit a britpop, a bit twee, a bit of everything.

Time For More

Welp, another couple weeks, another blog. This week, we have a fun, international lineup of cool bands, top names, and indie wunderkinds. Take this opportunity to take in these musical mavens as they show you how to make music right! Oh yeah!

Sarah Blasko – As Day Follows Night – ***1/2 – A great album from this Australian songstress. Very cool, open, atmospheric sounding record. It pulls you in and wraps you up in this engaging album. And the songs are great, interesting and melodic.

International Pop Overthrow Vol. 12 – *** – Always a great collection, and this is no exception. It’s great to see so many bands, and really this opens up a wide berth, and they all don’t sound the same. So it’s great!

Pete Yorn – Back and Fourth – *** – While not as striking as his first two records, it still has the same energy and feel that he does so well. Though he veered a bit too far off the road on his third album, this one brings it back on the happy path, at least for me.

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs – Under the Covers Vol. 2 – *** – Pretty cool covers record from these two, playing the 70’s this time. I’ve never been too much of a fan of most 70’s music, so I wasn’t as familiar with all these songs, but they appear to be pretty good, albeit close to the original, versions. An enjoyable listen overall.

Joe Pernice – It Feels So Good When You Stop – *** – A cool record, the companion to his novel, it features covers of songs mentioned in the book, and a few originals. YEt, it stands alone perfectly, and is a super enjoyable record from Mr. can-do-no-wrong himself.