Tuesday Stroll
The Elite Five
1. Smashing Pumpkins: Zeitgeist
This album is pretty high on the ostrich factor, ie. you need to have you head in the sand to not know of it. What may not be as common knowledge is that this is really one half of the Pumpkins. Iha and D'arcy (or if you prefer, Auf Du Mar) are not a part of this album. If you thought you were all cool last December because you downloaded the leaked demos, you're not. Those were hoaxes and you wont find them on here. Seeing as the trend of reunion is pretty abysmal, I won't expect much from this, although it will surely sell well.
2. Interpol: Our Love To Admire
Damn, you better break out all your black clothes this Tuesday despite the July weather. If the Pumpkins weren't enough, Interpol will add some more doom to your week! I've been listening to this album for a few weeks now and although I am not much of an Interpol fan, it is a pretty competent album, much better than Antics as it was. Gloom on kids!
3. Various Artists: Healing the Divide
Though I'm not one of those cats who are nuts about Anti-, I have to admit, they do things right. Their roster of musicians is pretty sweet and although being related to Epitaph, Anti- seems like a pretty respectable label. This album is a benefit disc for Richard Gere's Healing The Divide Foundation. It features a lot of hard-to-pronounce names, and also some dudes named Tom Waits and Phillip Glass, maybe you've heard of them? It's a compilation of a concert held in New York and the proceeds are going to different projects that support the people to Tibet. Get your tunes on while feeling good about it.
4. Caribou: Melody Day
Sure it's an EP but Dan Snaith's music is really good (both as Manitoba and Caribou) and hell, this is just a little taste for the upcoming album Andorra that is due in August. Also, it has a Four Tet remix so of course you are buying this otherwise, why are you even on this website?
5. Gogol Bordello: Super Taranta!
Maybe this should go under the "Not my bag" header, but a lot of people I've been talking to have high expectations for this one. The Alt-Weeklys love this band and they even got a cover on Exclaim! so they must be doing something right. This is kind of like the Hidden Camera's of punk, at least thats how I think of it, and that sure as hell helps me sleep at night.
Remember Me?
6. No Use For a Name: All the Best Songs
I remember in High School, tons of punk kids thought that this band was sooooooo cred. They used to think that, pretty much, this was the be all end all of punk rock. But this is a Greatest Hits albums... doesn't that defeat the ideal of punk rock?
7. Bad Religion: New Mars of Hell
See above, except that this isn't a greatest hits package. This was leaked two months ago (not much of a surprise any more), but their last album didn't seem to do so well. Most of their fans seems to be either older cats who were into Bad Religion back in like the 80's, or young teens who are just starting to get into punk. Joe Barresi (Melvins, Jesus Lizard, QOTSA) produced this album.