RIYL6
My RIYLmusic Top 30 list for the week beginning May 22, 2006 [Where I get to pretend I'm a program director at my very own hip radio station (full story here)].
So, no Dixie Chicks, but still some great music added this week:
Snow Patrol Eyes Open Their first hit on this side of the Atlantic, last year's “Run,” seemed to have been hijacked by every teen drama on the WB (or, uh, so I was told) – but it doesn’t change the fact that it was one of better singles of 2005. The new single, “Hands Open,” picks up right where “Run” left off. Plus it name-drops Sufjan Stevens, and we all know that makes you instantly hip. The band’s streaming some new songs on their website.
Various Artist Big Star Small World ohmygodohmygodohmygod – a Big Star tribute full of artists who don’t suck (once you get past the Gin Blossoms). Matthew Sweet, who seems to be on a covers kick lately, doesn’t bring the same level of downbeat determination that Alex Chilton did on “The Ballad of El Goodo,” but he still does a pretty respectable job. Letting Teenage Fanclub take on “Jesus Christ” was pure genius – they get the mood perfect while adding their own little touches. And Wilco’s a great choice for the no-one-understands-us teenage longings of “Thirteen”. Lots and lots of people who’ve been off the radar lately show up, too – Kelly Willis, Julianna Hatfield, Whiskeytown, the Posies. I might have to plunk down some cash for this one. Streamed at MSN’s new-release page.
Big Star In Space How ‘bout we actually put Big Star up here, too? Released last fall, In Space features the same lineup that surprised the kids at Missouri U by accepting their invitation to reunite for a campus concert back in 1993 – founder and musical genius Alex Chilton, original drummer Jody Stevens, and the Posies’ Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. It’s tempting to compare the new record's sound to Matthew Sweet, but Big Star owned the sound way before Sweet came along. Not their best stuff, but still good stuff nonetheless. Streaming at their website.
The Heavy Blinkers The Night And I Are Still So Young Sixties pop coming out of Halifax that sounds like a long-lost reel from Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds sessions. Beach Boyish music coming out of Nova Scotia doesn't seem possible, but they've got Wilson falsetto down pat, and I swear that's Mike Love singing backup. The whole album is streaming at the MSN site, and 3hive still has a couple mp3s for downloading – including the catchy “Try Telling That to My Baby.”
New additions are in GREEN.
- VARIOUS ARTISTS Big Star Small World
- PAUL SIMON Surprise
- NEKO CASE Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
- BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
- FLAMING LIPS At War With The Mystics
- WORLD PARTY Dumbing Up
- MASON JENNINGS Boneclouds
- BIG STAR In Space
- THE SILVER JEWS Tanglewood Numbers
- THE HEAVY BLINKERS The Night and I Are Still So Young
- THE RACONTEURS Broken Boy Soldiers
- SNOW PATROL Eyes Open
- FIELD MUSIC Field Music
- JIM & JENNIE AND THE PINETOPS Little Birdy
- JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS Rabbit Fur Coat
- NEIL YOUNG Living With War
- MATES OF STATE Bring It Back
- RHETT MILLER The Believer
- MARAH If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry
- MASON JENNINGS Use Your Voice
- LOOSE FUR Born Again In The USA
- STEVE WYNN & THE MIRACLE 3 ...Tick...Tick...Tick
- THE A-SIDES Hello, Hello
- DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS A Blessing And A Curse
- THE GO TEAM Thunder, Lightning, Strike
- SONDRE LERCHE Faces Down
- CAT POWER The Greatest
- MATTHEW SWEET AND SUSANNA HOFFS Under The Covers Volume 1
- EMMYLOU HARRIS & MARK KNOPFLER All The Roadrunning
- GNARLS BARKLEY St. Elsewhere
Dropping off the list this week:
- WILCO Summerteeth
- JOSH ROUSE Subtitulo
- BETH ORTON Comfort Of Strangers
- BELLE AND SEBASTIAN The Life Pursuit
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