New Music : August 10, 2010 - August 16, 2010

Mike Posner "31 Minutes to Takeoff" 

   The gravel-throated Posner is referred to by most as Justin Timberlake with a Sigma Nu sweatshirt and a mild case of laryngitis.The 22-year-old Michigan native went partying from dorm-room mixtape star to major-label signee the summer before his senior year at Duke.  Needing more than a 15-minute shot to fame to allot time on his (barely) full-length debut. The frat house boy wonder sets off the album with tracks like ''Déjà Vu'' and ''Bow Chicka Wow Wow''. Though entertaining, theses entries seem to be songs of the new-jack seduction pantheon, all crunked on late-’80s synths and implied pelvis grinds. Another track, ''Do U Wanna'', reaches back further with stax horns and a shuffling - a Donny Hathaway-worthy groove. Posner moves on with the shimmery player’s lament ''Gone in September.'' The album's B-boy, frat house anthems may keep the college kids partying on well past dorm hours.

Original Soundtrack "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"
   Summer movie season is in full swing and with it comes plenty of soundtracks. Filmmaker Edgar Wright ("Shaun of the Dead," "Hot Fuzz") and soundtrack producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Travis, the Divine Comedy) spent almost two years concocting the perfect musical blend for this oddball romantic comedy that tells about a 22 year-old bassist in a not-so-hot garage band. Beck wrote the original songs for actor Micheal Cera's group SEX BOB-OMB, arranging and playing the accompaniments (the actors sing their own parts) for new tunes like the alt-rocker "Summertime" and the grungy "Garbage Truck." He also contributes two versions of "Ramona," a tune about Cera's dream girl. The album will also include unreleased selections by Canadian combos Metric and Broken Social Scene, plus tunes by Beechwood Sparks, Black Lips, T. Rex, the Rolling Stones, and Frank Black's "I Heard Ramona Sing."

Stacy Clark "Connect the Dots" 
  New York-based label Vanguard Records, known for its catalog of folk and blues artists, signed the east coast local Stacy Clark and one year later is delivering her sophomore album. Working mainly with producer Matt Appleton, the end result turned out to be a mature, full-sounding album complete with Clark’s signature sweet vocals and true-life lyrics. She compiles a treasure chest of gems that certainly work well side-by-side with her life experiences with love and relationships. The album opens with “Not Enough,” which comes across as a pep talk to herself after a relationship has crumbled. She gives a similar self-uplifting message in “Hold On,” in which Clark coos dreamingly about wanting more out of her career. The album will give  you a few runs of emotions - from the not-so-subtle warning of “All Time Low” to the somber honesty of “Misery” to eventually a romantic sweetness of “I Do”.  Clark has found increasing popularity with her music that include a nod as best female performer at the 2006 Southern California Music Awards and the same title at the 2007 OC Music Awards, as well as best pop artist at this year’s ceremony. Commercial success has also shined a light into her career having songs from her 2006 EP Unusual and 2007’s full-length Apples and Oranges appear on mainstream TV shows like The CW’s One Tree Hill, MTV’s The Hills, The Buried Life and My Super Sweet 16, Bravo’s The Rachel Zoe Project and VH1’s The Price of Beauty. With her vocal and lyrical quality being so sharp, it definitely looks like more TV airplay is in Clark’s future.

 

Eli "Paperboy" Reed "Come And Get It"
 This up and coming musician is what New Age folks refer to as "an old soul." Terribly immature off-stage, but his are not the pipes or vocal performances of a young pup. Most of his recordings and electrifying live performances are tightly sealed with classic soul from the '60s and early '70s.  Hard to believe, but this Boston native is set to release his third album - a debut for Capitol Records. Streamlined with brass and sweet backing vocals, "Name Calling" rivals the school house pangs of the Jackson 5's "The Love You Save," while the heated "Pick A Number" nails a slow-burning passion one affiliates with artists like Teddy Pendergrass and emulates the days of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Reed gives out authenticity and sheer enthusiasm.

Blake Shelton "All About Tonight"

   Having already own six #1 country singles to his credit, including "Austin," "Home," and last year's raucous duet with Trace Adkins, "Hillbilly Bone", the Oklahoma native is set to release his latest Six Pak EP of a half-dozen songs. The album features a very different but equally rousing pairing, as Shelton and fiancée, Miranda Lambert, tear into the crazy elopement adventure "Draggin' the River." The succinct set also includes the kickass mid-tempo title tune, in which Shelton celebrates life-in-the-moment with some "feel-good pills and red Gatorade," loud music and women who want to dance. On a subtler note, "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking" finds Shelton gently probing the mysteries of a woman of interest as he imagines her day-to-day activities he's never seen, but might like to. 

Original Soundtrack "Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam"

   This Disney Channel original movie isn't set to premiere until Friday, September 3, but clearly the album producers want to give fans plenty of time to learn all the words to its songs for some sing-a-long opportunities. The movie is starring the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. The soundtrack to the sequel to the hugely successful 2008 TV movie features a pair of duets between Demi and Joe Jonas ("You're My Favorite Song," "You're My Favorite Thing"), and has already spun off a slew of Radio Disney summer jams, including "It's On" and "Can't Back Down." Demi and the JoBros will be spending a lot of time together off-screen, too.

The Budos Band "III"
    This Staten Island band's instrumental Afro-beat soul-funk grooves are hugely popular in the television and film music industry. Their jams have turned up in video games and an NFL commercial, but they are not known for composing movie soundtracks or scores. Their third full-length is entitled "The Budos Band III," - hopefully, the music is more inventive than the title, right?  At least the title is easy to remember. Recorded in just 48 hours, this collection simmers with slinky percussion, sinewy organ lines and close-knit horn parts. The shuffling "Black Venom" cries out for inclusion in some groovy '70s spy caper. Highly recommended for fans of Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

Other New Releases Worth Checking Out:
(Have not listened to, but please feel free to post a review) 

• Lost In The Trees "All Alone in an Empty House" 
• Robert David Hall "Things They Don't Teach You in School" 
• Stornoway "Beachcomber's Windowsill"