Soundtrack: "Sex And The City 2"The city slicker girls are back - Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda return and the music that make up their soundtrack, like its 2008 predecessor, is a mixed bag: ethereal, don't-wake-the-baby electro-pop from Dido; a solid duet between Leona Lewis and Jennifer Hudson, a former SATC. Alicia Keys does a rerun of Blondie's "Rapture" which updates the rap with rhymes about, well, shopping. We're a little uneasy about the cast members' rendition of Helen Reddy's of "I Am Woman," but the promise of Liza Minnelli doing "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" is just too audacious to resist.
Soundtrack: "True Blood: Music from the HBO Original Series, Volume 2"
While the Hot Topic set eagerly awaits next month's release of the companion CD to "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse", music from another vampire franchise is out now. This second-go-around includes exclusive tunes and rarities from Beck, Thievery Corporation, Robbie Robertson, Lucinda Williams with Elvis Costello. In addition to oddball oldies like "You're Gonna Miss Me" by the 13th Floor Elevators and psychobilly pioneer Screaming Jay Hawkins' "Frenzy." In keeping with the show's Southern character, the set also adds a pair of great blues tunes: "Howlin' for My Baby" and "Evil".
Karen Elson "The Ghost Who Walks"
This singer/songwriter originally called England home, but these days she's shacking up in Nashville, Tenn. Although best recognized as a fashion model and Mrs. Jack White, Elson's music proves quite compelling on her album. Jack produced the album, and also plays drums, but the spotlight belongs to Elson and her 11 idiosyncratic originals ("Lunasa," a tune written by her band mate Rachelle Garniez, rounds out the program). Haunting accordion adds eerie character to "Stolen Roses," fiddle enlivens the traditional country ditty "Cruel Summer" (not a cover of Bananarama's 1984 top-10 hit), and "100 Years From Now" evokes an old-timey vibe reminiscent of Jolie Holland.
Widespread Panic "Dirty Side Down"
The 11th studio album from the sextet of Athens, Georgia. They promise a dozen songs "that incorporate Panic's unique blend of rock, jazz and blues inspired textures into songs flowing with melody, rhythm and emotion" (translation: they're a jam band). Highlights include the country numbers "Clinic Cynic" and "Shut Up and Drive," Southern rocker "True to My Nature," and album opener "Saint Ex," which works up a pretty mean Led Zeppelin impersonation. The follow-up to 2008's "Free Somehow" also includes an homage to the late Vic Chestnutt, who cut two albums with members of Widespread Panic under the moniker Brute, via a fine rendition of Chestnutt's "This Cruel Thing."
Stone Temple Pilots "Self Titled"
Guitarist Dean DeLeo recently told SPIN.com that the group's current single, "Between the Lines," was cut from the same cloth as Paul Revere & The Raiders, the hard-hitting combo responsible for such hits as "Kicks," "Hungry," and "Good Thing." The self-titled album is the quartet's first new studio album in nearly a decade, following a highly successful reunion tour in 2008. Produced by Dean and his brother, bassist Robert DeLeo (with additional assistance from two-time Grammy Award winner Don Was), STP's sixth studio set features 12 new songs, several of which they premiered for fans during this year's SXSW music conference in Austin, Texas, last March.
Other New Releases Worth Checking Out:
(Have not listened to, but please feel free to post a review)
- Leela James: "My Soul"
- Bettye LaVette: "Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook"
- John Prine: "In Person & On Stage"
- Truth & Salvage Co.: "Truth & Salvage Co."
- Marina & the Diamonds: "The Family Jewels"
- Beth Nielsen Chapman: "Back to Love"
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