Kelly Clarkson's Ex-Boyfriend Anger Gets "Stronger"

Kelly Clarkson sings my life. I have lost count of how many times I have said that, but it remains true and not the slightest bit glib.

From leaving a small town behind for bigger adventures in "Breakaway" to the tired, broken girl on "Irvine" to the mother-issues-addled child of a broken home on "Because Of You" to vitriol-spitting ex-girlfriend on pretty much every other single, Kelly has been telling the stories that I have lived and the emotions I have felt throughout her post-Idol career.

On her 5th album, Stronger, Kelly tackles her most famous role again - hurt and angry ex-girlfriend with sass and attitude to spare. Like My December with better hooks, Stronger focuses on rock-guitar laced breakup anthems while the occasional foray into ballads and even light R&B. Lead single "Mr. Know It All" would make the album seem like a Bruno Mars inspired R&B/pop affair, but Kelly quickly delves into dancable pop rock on the exemplary title track before veering into what she does best - angry kiss offs like "Honestly" and "You Love Me." A spooky music box intro leads into introspective lyrics where she holds out hope for love that accepts her on her own level on "Dark Side." Other songs showing a more nuanced look at the end of relationships than her breakthrough "Since U Been Gone" are "The War Is Over" and the gorgous ballad "Breaking Your Own Heart"

The album is not without flaws - "Einstein" is well below Kelly's intelligence level with the nonsensical chorus lyric "dumb plus dumb equals you" and the disc should have either jettisoned "Mr. Know It All" or found some more R&B sounds to make it seem less of an oddball track. Even her "flop" dark rock-orientated My December found room for funkier fare like "How I Feel" and "Yeah."

The deluxe edition includes her hit duet with Jason Aldean "Don't You Wanna Stay" and two more rocking breakup jams. But another duet, with former Idol judge and hitmaking songwriter Kara DioGuardi, is a very pretty and hopeful sounding end to a sometimes dark night of the soul.

(PS: can you tell My December is my favorite Kelly Clarkson album?)

Selena Gomez & The Scene Up The Ante On "When The Sun Goes Down"

It's no (longer) a secret that I've been stanning for Selena Gomez over the past year or so. Starting with her glorious first minor radio hit "Naturally" (from the otherwise snoozy Kiss & Tell) through the surprisingly funny and entertaining Wizard Of Waverly Place: The Movie, I grew to really enjoy her output.

Her second album, Year Without Rain, was a marked improvement over her debut but it was still weighed down with way too much filler. This is where Selena and her band The Scene get it right on When The Sun Goes Down. While a few tracks are totally skip-worthy, the bulk of the songs are great jams. The lead single, empowerment anthem "Who Says" is a sunny teen pop sing-along, also appearing in Spanish as "Dices." The bulk of the album is more dance poppy, with the new wave-y second single "Love You Like A Love Song" being a real stand out. Also worth checking out are "Bang Bang Bang" and the Britney Spears-penned "Whiplash" as well as the more laid back "We Own The Night" which was co-written and features British pop singer Pixie Lott.

Even if you're not a teeny bopper fan, club kids of all ages and stripes should find some fun, bouncy summer jams on this album. Bonus: the photos in the booklet are stunning.

Baby, She Was "Born This Way"

I am finally getting around to putting my feelings about Lady Gaga's latest into words. I've been been living with the album for a month now, playing in cars and at home - the true test of an album's quality.

At first I wasn't sold. The industrial vibe that runs through about half the album sounds really harsh compared to the glossiness of the RedOne collabos from The Fame Monster but hearing it up against the more arena rock sounds that also permeate Born This Way it grows on me. While the album on the whole has a dancable sound, it is light years away from Gaga's breakthrough hit "Just Dance."

Gaga borrows from 1980s Queen and Bruce Springsteen as well as previous donors Madonna and Micheal Jackson before adding on the industrial beats. In fact, "Edge Of Glory" not only features the much talked about Clarence Clemons solo but a hook drenched rock chorus that Pat Benatar would die for. And "You & I" is a bluesy rock love ballad that would fit in on Born In The USA any day.

It's not all 80s rehashing, Gaga experiments with "mariachi house" on "Americano," German industrial on the feminist club anthem "Scheiße" and operatic vocal flourishes with "Government Hooker" and "Bloody Mary."

Lyrically, "Bloody Mary", "Judas" and "Born This Way" show a religious bent but even in more carnal moments like "You & I" and "Bad Kids" Gaga shows her true spiritual self. It's a manifesto on loving yourself and your flaws, because "we are not just art for Michelangelo to carve." It's a strangely maternal album, underneath all that craziness.

So, what does everybody else think?

Review: Jennifer Knapp - "Letting Go"

One-time Christian rock singer Jennifer Knapp releases her first album since coming out as a lesbian, and her fourth major-label studio album overall. Letting Go should play well to her old fans, sounding very much like her albums on Christian label Gotee. Lyrically, the music has a spiritual bent but deals with more earthly desires. Heck, it even has swear words!

For those paying attention to Ms. Knapp's music for the first time, this album is a decent gateway. It's emotional folk-pop, a lot of strumming guitars and introspection. If you enjoy Mat Kearney, Matt Nathanson or Sara Bareilles, Letting Go is your cup of tea. I just wish the songs had better hooks, they run into each other and I have a hard time distinguishing between tracks. I would recommend Kansas, Jennifer's Gotee debut, over Letting Go.

Review: V.V. Brown - "Travelling Like The Light"

It's been several months since British fauxtown singer V.V. Brown released her debut album Travelling Like The Light here in the states. I kept hearing the single "Shark In The Water" on DMX 24, and I slowly became obsessed with this new variation on the Winehouse/Duffy sound that so many girls have been trying.

It's got a retro sound, but intermingling with the girl-group harmonies and tambourines are nods to the 80s electronic flourishes and 1970s punk. It has as much to do with the 60s as Grease 2, but that's OK. The songs are sticky bits of pop fluff with a soulful backbone. Nearly every track is a sing-along, and while it lacks the epic heartbreak of Amy Winehouse's modern retro masterpiece Back To Black, there are moments of real beauty.

"Bottles" reimagines "99 Bottles On The Wall" as a love song with a great garage rock sound, "L.O.V.E." covers its romantic sentiments with swing dancing, and "Shark In The Water" is simply genius. I'm afraid America might be too over saturated with retro pop acts, which is a shame because V.V. is worth a spin. Canada on the other hand?

Review: Robyn - "Body Talk" (Part 1 and 2)

Longtime readers of my blog may recall that I was obsessed with Robyn's triumphant return to the international pop scene in 2007 and 2008. While America didn't get on board with the "Show Me Love" singer's off-kilter millennium pop, the rest of the world was grooving to her collaboration with Kleerup and hijacking of Dave Chappelle lines.

Girlfriend is back, with a three album cycle called Body Talk. Part 1 released earlier this year and I dropped the ball with coverage. The 7 song disc (iTunes tacks on two bonus tracks) is fantastic. Some songs are a little schticky - "Dancehall Queen" is a reggae-via-No-Doubt jam, "Don't F******g Tell Me What To Do" is a monotone wonder and "None of Dem" hooks Robyn up with previous collaborator Royksopp for a M.I.A.-style world-meets-techno thing. The girl has a thing for robots, following up Robyn's "Robotboy" and Junior's "The Girl And The Robot" with Body Talk's "Fembot." It's an obsession I can get behind if the tunes stay this good. The real star is lead single, "Dancing On My Own" which finds Robyn returning to the heart-wrenching "sad gay disco songs" template of "Be Mine!" and "With Every Heartbeat." She has a wheelhouse she can embrace. The album closes with an acoustic version of "Hang With Me" - which shows up again on Part 2 in it's pop version.


Body Talk Part 2 is a little more focused. Euro-pop curls up with hip-hop and dance, with lots of 80s influences. The first four songs create a mini-album of dancefloor fillers with heart and soul like "Hang With Me." Meanwhile, "We Dance To The Beat" is the kind of crazy that fans of Bjork and M.I.A. can appreciate. And Snoop Dogg returns the favor after Robyn spiced up a remix of "Sexual Eruption" by trading "Curriculum Vitae"-style brags on "U Should Know Better." It's equal parts awesome and ridiculous - from Robyn claiming to tell the Vatican what's up on race, sexism and celibacy in one line, to mispronouncing French words on purpose. The closing track is an acoustic version of a gorgeous song called "Indestructible" that I have no doubt will be a show stopper on Part 3.

Review: Ke$ha - "Animal"

If Lady Gaga had stayed the party girl with a wicked sense of avaunt guard fashion we thought she was when "Just Dance" was on repeat across the clubs of the USA and Europe, she may have been Ke$ha. The daughter of a punk-rock-singer-turned-country-music-writer was partying with the likes of Paris Hilton when she hooked up with songwriter/producer/pop music kingmakers Dr. Luke and Max Martin.

A massive blend of party jams and slow jams, all of which takes place at a party or bar or party at a bar, Animal is the anti-AA. It's rather clever, not just this mix of emo pop and techno that suggests the love child of Britney and Katy Perry, but the way every song weaves together a perfect story of who Ke$ha is. From the heartbroken party girl on "Hungover" to the still-drunk-the-next-morning party girl of "Party At A Rich Dude's House" to the geezer-rebuffing party girl of "D.I.N.O.S.A.U.R" we get the picture - girlfriend loves her Jack Daniels and parry music but also has emotions and heart underneath it all. Whether she's drunk texting on "Take It Off" or hitting on some other chick's boyf on "Stephen" or hot mess on the dancefloor in "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" we understand she is not just a slutty ho, she's a slutty ho with feelings.

Is Ke$ha the next Britney, or the next Dee-Lite? Only time will tell.

Review: Lady Gaga - "The Fame Monster"

At only eight songs long, The Fame Monster is unconventional for this time period. A bit long to be called an EP, but has only about half the songs that Lady Gaga's first album did. But if all the songs are good, who cares that's it's not stuffed with useless filler tracks. Packaged with the first album or on it's lonesome, The Fame Monster deserves to be looked at as it's own entity.

The album opens with the massive hit "Bad Romance" - a song so inescapably hooky you only need to hear it twice to have at least part of it stuck in your head for months. Sheer pop perfection, "Bad Romance" is what techno music has needed, inventive hooks and a beat that doesn't quit. "Alejandro" is a Argentinian tango influenced Ace Of Base-style mid tempo break up song. The brilliant title song, "Monster" turns the dance floor into a hunting ground with Gaga as the prey. It's an interesting turn from the man-eating lyrics of "Love Game" and "Poker Face" and the beat is on fire. "So Happy I Could Die" and "Dance In The Dark" are less of an "event" than the other tracks, but both are solid dance pop tracks with very cool moments. Beyonce pops up on "Telephone" but she's really unnecessary to make the song an appealing club single. The two tracks that don't fit into the techno-influenced sound are "Speechless," a somewhat indulgent classic-rock style ballad, and "Teeth," a crazy campground gospel jam that is amazing.

Over all, The Fame Monster picks up where The Fame left off. Lady Gaga is a true pop visionary and several of these songs are perfect pop singles.

Review: Adam Lambert - "For Your Entertainment"

On American Idol runner up Adam Lambert's debut CD, a host of big names in pop songwriting make serious contributions. Lady Gaga, Pink, Ryan Tedder, Max Martin, Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, Linda Perry, Kara DioGuardi, Ferras, The Darkness's Justin Hawkins and Dr. Luke all pop up in the credits (as well as some contribution from Lambert himself), but the album is distinctly Adam.

The disc contains a mixture of glam rock, techno pop and emo rolled into a modern blend with Adam's vocals steamrolling over the electronic guitars and danceable beats. The 27-year-old comes across as a more mainstream Scissor Sisters on "Fever" apes the icy strangeness of Patrick Wolf on "Broken Open" and doesn't shy away from the drag implications on "Strut" making this the gayest Idol album since Clay Aiken's debut. But while Adam doesn't pretend to be straight, tender love songs like "Time For Miracles" and "Whataya Want From Me" don't identify his lover's gender. Songs like "Soaked" and "A Loaded Smile" showcase the wild vocals that Idol fans fell in love with, while "If I Had You" and "Sure Fire Winners" are party starting dance jams.

For Your Entertainment, unlike most hyped debuts in the pop world, is a clear and cohesive introduction to Adam Lambert's music.

Review: "New Moon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"

I'm not really a "Twihard", but I've read the first two Twilight books, saw the first film and bought the soundtrack. Also, I drool a little over R.Pattz, but what self-respecting gay man doesn't? I do want to see New Moon, and I thought I should check out the soundtrack.

Looking over the artists who contributed all-new material and mixes, it seems a lot more indie-rock than the more emo-slathered soundtrack from Twilight. Should be totally too cool for school, right? The Killers, Death Cab For Cutie, Lykke Li, St Vincent, Grizzly Bear - all have gotten heavy plays at Pics & Convos headquarters and much love in the year-end lists. I should be kvelling.

But I'm not. I'm guessing the producers were going for atmospheric heartbreak, but the sameness from track to track is sleep-inducing. I had to check the tracklist constantly to see which song I was listening to, unless they featured the distinctive vocals of Lykke Li or The Killers' Brandon Flowers. The slow, plodding pace of the songs don't exactly give me high hopes for the film, making this album fail as a marketing piece as well as a musical statement.

This doesn't mean none of the songs are good. Anya Marina's "Satellite Heart" is very pretty, in fact I kinda love it's simple, folksy beauty. The New Moon Remix of Muse's "I Belong To You" is very cool, very seventies glam rock. And lead single "Meet Me On The Equinox" from indie gods Death Cab For Cutie is a decent pop song with a somewhat catchy chorus. But most of these songs are instantly forgettable, if you even stay awake long enough to hear them. But you should try to keep sleep at bay, the disc ends with a movement from Alexandre Desplat's haunting score. "New Moon (The Meadow)" is starkly piano-driven and simply gorgeous. Perhaps a disc of the just the score would have been a better investment.

Review: Blake Lewis - "Heartbreak On Vinyl"

I gotta feeling (woo hoo) that the back half of 2009 is gonna be good one for electronic music. From the electro-washed singles from The Black Eyed Peas' latest to a revamped The Fame Monster from our Lady of perpetual Gaga and recent singles from Cascade and David Guetta making a dent at radio, this is the year the dancefloor takes over the world. And Blake Lewis's sophomore project on famed dance label Tommy Boy records is primed to add to the frenzy.

Heartbreak On Vinyl continues a fine trend on titling started by Kanye (808s & Heartbreaks) and continued by Brooke White (High Hopes & Heartbreaks) but it's the music that has me excited. The title track opens the disc with a bang, a distinctly '80s throwback ala Pet Shop Boys with a hot beat and keyboard tones. Following that is "Binary Love" a more futuristic robot pop song with a heavy electronic sound. Lead single "Sad Song" sounds a lot like Blake's previous album Audio Day Dream, one of the few songs that have that distinction. This is more grown-up techno, featuring more risque lyrics and more club-ready beats that that prior American Idol-sanctioned release.

From the S&M themed "Love Or Torture (Please Don't Stop)" to the ode to dirty dancing "Freak" this is the Blake that fans knew was hiding behind the 19 Entertainment white wash. And it's not just the lyrics that have matured, the sound is very hip-hop meets techno with a little of the beatboxing that earned him his Idol fanbase. But not all is nasty freaky dancefloor getdowns, "The Point" is a beautifully chilled out ballad with acoustic guitars and a male choir that intermingles with the electronic sounds. And I really enjoyed way Blake incorporates musical talk into a lot of the lyrics. For a muso like me, it's really cool.

If you enjoy fresh techno sounds, this is the second best album of the year.

Review: David Guetta - "One Love"

The press release calls David Guetta's second album "genre-busting" and it's hard to argue with that. You can call it pop music, but in reality it's an amalgam of techno, hip-hop, pop, gospel and rock - which is what makes One Love a perfect pop disc.

Lead single "When Love Takes Over" features Kelly Rowland, acting as a muse of sorts. That song is simply devine, a perfect summery pop confection with diva vocals and a great beat. The Destiny's Child member appears on two other tracks, including a hi-NRG duet with NE-YO called "Choose." Also triple-hitting is Will.I.Am who appears solo, with fellow Black Eyed Pea Apl De Ap and with the whole gang on a remix of the Guetta-produced chart-topper "I Gotta Feeling." "I Wanna Go Crazy" is heavy techno with a spunky hook of "I wanna celebrate life with a Suicide Girl."

The title track, featuring Estelle, is brilliant. A mesmerizing blend of techno and gospel choirs, "One Love" is a true stand-out. Akon guests on "Sexy Bitch" and David Guetta does the impossible - makes his voice palatable. The lyrics are quite funny, also.

In reality, this is fun party album with a lot of great dance music. I really recommend it.

Review: Jordin Sparks - "Battlefield [Deluxe Edition]"

American Idol winner Jordin Sparks returns with her second disc of r&b-flavored pop, titled after lead single "Battlefield" and feature a blend of sure-fire singles and obvious filler. The album opens with the midtempo break-up-move-on ballad "Walking On Snow" and midtempo can't-break-up-can't-move-on title track. You get where this is going? However, there are some really smart pop songs on here, like the slow-burning "Let It Rain" which features a church organ, electric guitars, club beats and divatronics all over the bridge. Sounds messy on paper, but with Jordin's emotional vocal catches it really works. Also repeating the formula of her debut album's hits "Tattoo" and "No Air" is "No Parade" a (you guessed it) break up ballad that sounds beautiful. It's not all slow and sappy songs, "S.O.S. (Let The Music Play)" needs to hit the clubs yesterday, it's one of the bubbliest songs on Battlefield.

Jordin actually co-wrote some of the songs on the album, and high-profile hired guns like Dr Luke, T-Pain and Ryan Tedder handle some of the songwriting and producing chores. But there are some majorly cheesy pop filler songs, like "Watch You Go" and "Emergency (911)" as well as some overproduced songs. "Was I The Only One" starts out beautifully, a simple guitar and some strings accompany Jordin's low vocals on the first verse and chorus. But then a mid-90s beat kicks in and it loses a lot of it's charm. "Have A Little Faith" has me in a bind, it's very "inspirational" in a slightly cheesy way, but it will probably grow on me. The bonus songs on the deluxe edition are hardly worth it, "Papercut" is basically the same as all the other breakup slow jams on the album and "Postcard" sits squarely in Disney-channel land with somewhat juvenile lyrics about following dreams to Hollywood and blah-blah-blah-fishcakes.

Over all, I'd just hit iTunes and download "Battlefield," "S.O.S.," "No Parade" and "Let It Rain" now and wait for the full disc to show up on eBay for ninety-nine cents plus shipping. (However, Jordin looks stunning on that album cover!)

Review: Brooke White - "High Hopes & Heartbreak"

American Idol's seventh season was probably the best, in terms of showcasing artists with a distinct point of view. Love them or hate them, David Cook, Jason Castro, Micheal Johns, Syesha Mercado, David Archuleta, Kristy Lee Cook and fifth placer Brooke White showed artistic wholeness, providing a glimpse into what kind of album they would produce. The show had been shaken up by Blake Lewis the year before and karaoke on Idol was no longer good enough.

Brooke White, the Arizona-born former nanny with the wholesome image, had the Carole King-style singer/songwriter genre sewn up. She accompanied herself on piano or guitar frequently, making fine work of another female singer/songwriter classic, Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" on seventies night. As soon as I heard Brooke was releasing an album on iTunes I knew exactly what to expect.

High Hopes & Heartbreak is pure seventies-style sun-soaked Cali guitar pop with a slight country twang, drawing from Brooke's influences like Fleetwood Mac and Carole King. It's beautiful classic soul-pop and White manages to hit high notes in various tempos. Standouts include the upbeat title track, as well as slower songs like "Out Of The Ashes" and "Sometimes Love" - a really pretty piano ballad about real love and fleeting infatuation. She tugs on my musophile heartstrings with her constant referencing of bands, songs and musical moments, like on "California Song," "Phoenix" and "Radio Radio" as well as a Nashville-inspired cover of Kings Of Leon's "Use Somebody" that shines. Plus, Brooke co-wrote all of the rest of the tracks as well as playing piano. Y'all should know how much I love that!

It's a very mature second album, and at a reduced price on iTunes it's worth it for fans of adult pop and singer/songwriters like King, Simon or Joni Mitchell.

Spin Douses Teh Internets With "Purplish Rain"

My sister got a subscription to Spin for Christmas a few years ago. After she moved out a few months ago, she never got the address changed and she never picks up the issues when she stops by. Which is great for me, because Blender closed it's physical publishing doors about the same time and they didn't send me a replacement magazine to fill in the remainder of my subscription.

This month's issue features a cover story on the 25th anniversary of Prince's seminal 1980s soundtrack album, Purple Rain. We didn't listen to pop music like Prince when I was a child, so my familiarity with the soundtrack is limited to the hits, "When Doves Cry", "I Would Die 4 U", "Let's Go Crazy" and the title song. In addition to the article, Spin's website features a download of an all new covers collection of all the songs on the album entitled Purplish Rain.

You have to have an email address and a copy of the magazine to download the collection, but if you just wikipedia a certain member of The Time you'll be able to answer the question and get the zip file. Just a tip, from me to you...

Anyway, a few of these songs are unfamiliar to me so I can't really say how they stack up in comparison to Prince's originals. But The Twilight Singers' version of "When Doves Cry" is actually quite magical, the arrangement creates a moody and tense slow-building reading that I think Prince would approve of. Of course, Apollonia provides guest vocals so Prince would have to approve! Riverboat Gamblers' "Let's Go Crazy" is useless, the genre switch does nothing to improve the song and they don't try anything new with the melody. But Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings tackle "Take Me With U" and really work the song into their retro-pop sound. I don't want a purple boot smashed into my face, but they may have improve the song. Of Montreal provide an instrumental take on "Computer Blue" and it's a valiant effort. While I don't know that the world needed an Mariachi version of "I Would Die 4 U", Mariachi El Bronx give it all they got and it's a bit of fluffy fun. I would totally play it at a summer picnic, it's bright and summery. Of course, "Purple Rain" is almost untouchable. But Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark just kills the vocals, and the 80s inspired synths are a great touch. A real beautiful tribute to the source material.

Basically, if it wasn't free I'd only purchase Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and The Twilight Singers variations on a purple theme. But since it is free, give it a spin. Download here.

Review: Regina Spektor - "Far"

Regina Spektor is a distinctively New York City kind of artist, and like fellow NYC documentors Dorothy Parker or O. Henry she takes her tales of the Big Apple and refracts them through an emotional light to make the tales of lost Blockbuster cards and cathedrals giving out "Human Of The Year" seem universal.

While four producers tackled Regina's wordy piano pop songs, Far remains a cohesive story of a slightly off-kilter young lady who thinks blue is the most human color and is laughing with God. And Regina does bring the off-kilter full force, starting "Folding Chair" with a ragtime piano before taking it into light ska and adding dolphin noises. Yet, there is a beauty and a grace to what could be a mess of quirkiness. A story unfolds on "Genius Next Year" over a rolling classical piano and angelic synths - a story of drunken teens and secretive busboys taking dips in thick water. The plot may not make sense, but the emotion is almost heartbreaking. "Eet" also proves that Regina's quirky vocal tics make perfect sense and the melody is lovely enough to carry the esoteric lyrics to hymn-like status.

Compared to Spektor's previous major label discs, Far doesn't have a "Samson" like her last effort did, but it does marry the more experimental side of Soviet Kitsch with Begin To Hope's poppier polish. And songs like "Machine" are the kind of thing only Regina could record, making Far a distinctively Regina Spektor kind of album.

Review: Lily Allen - "REMIXED"

Lily Allen's recent It's Not Me, It's You found the British pop star in a softly electro-hued state. Even more techno-flavored was the offer of the tracks as song stems for remixing when you bought the physical CD. It only makes sense that a remix album would follow. Instead of the fan-uploaded remixes, Fritz von Runte and Mister Master Five have remixed every track from the disc, with varying results.

The best remix is the "fearchestral mix" of "The Fear" which surrounds the confessional lyrics with a lush string section. I'm still trying to decide if the slow-down "Back to The Start [this is just a remix]" is insanely good or just insane. The vocals are slowed down to a masculine tone, and the spare beat is accentuated with what sounds like porn samples. It's interesting at the least, and a better use of the effect than on "Who'd Have Known [moss side mix]" I also enjoy the new beat on "Him [riot hymn mix]" and club sound of "I Could Say [function mix]" but some others, like "Fuck You [fossa nova mix]" and "He Wasn't There [welsh mix]" are less successful.

REMIXED is a mixed bag, some stellar moments and some just strange. But the best part? It's a free download at Lily Allen's website. (I know: way to bury the lead, Paul!) I found it easiest to download the album track-by-track. And if you hate every song, at least you paid less for it then you did for In Rainbows. Right?

REVIEW: Bat For Lashes - “Two Suns”

The first, most obvious evolution from Bat For Lashes’ debut album to this lush sounds cape is evident on the opening line of the opening track. “Glass” begins with a quote from the Song Of Solomon, and Natasha Khan’s voice soars in a striking falsetto without backing music. Her vocals were sometimes a bit staid and almost boring on that first album, now they are alive and going places I didn’t expect. “I will rise now and go about the city, in the streets and broadways I seek him who my soul obeys” she sings as the drums join her eerie chorus. That’s one good thing Bat For Lashes has retained from the uneven Fur & Gold, an uncanny feel for unusual percussion, often sounding like beats lifted from the ritual dances of native peoples and warped into this futuristic blend of beauty and pain.

The drums play an important role in the synth-heavy stand out (and lead single) “Daniel” which sounds like a lost track from the Labyrinth soundtrack. The synths and drums underscore another emotional and lovely vocal and brilliant viola solo. The lyrics seem like they were also lifted from ancient sources, lines like “Khia took me to the darkest place she knew and set fire to my heart” seem tribal and raw. “Two Planets” also plays with this Twilight Zone concept of the future meets the ancient.

“Pearl’s Dream” is a new-wave kind of slow dance number and the first obvious indication of the theme and characters of this concept album. Apparently Pearl is the Sasha Fierce to Natasha’s Beyonce, but I wouldn’t worry my pretty little head about this story line. It doesn’t play into the music much, just enjoy it for what it is, a blend of ancient sea shanties (most notable on “Sleep Alone” ), futuristic synths and spooky vocals and drums.

Closing the album is the best, most haunting song on this musical journey. “The Big Sleep” doesn’t explore new lyrical territory, the metaphors of curtain call as death and sleep as death have been done again and again. But an icy piano is the only background to a spiraling duet between Natasha’s lilting soprano and Scott Walker’s quavering, almost Dracula-esque tenor and the two create magic in three minutes.

Going Gaga: Lots of Lady Gaga News & Reviews

I didn't really have much reason to post any of these Gaga-related tidbits, but new stuff from the new Lady of pop keeps popping up. So I thought I'd just throw it all in one post and get the Lady out of my system...

First, a new song from Kid Cudi feat Kanye West and Common samples the acoustic version of "Poker Face" on the super dirty "I Poke Her Face." It's amusing, but not really a hit or anything. Kanye has some amusing double entendres, and Cudi drops some NSFW lines. I really hate the use of the "n" word in rap music (or at all, really), and this is one I might look for a censored version before downloading. Listen and download at OMG Blog.



Speaking of acoustic mixes, I picked up Lady Gaga's recent EP The Cherrytree Sessions. It features two live stripped down mixes of "Poker Face" and "Just Dance" from the Cherrytree House and a electric piano & human beatbox mix of "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" The vampy, burlesque take on "Poker Face" is fun, not so much an improvement as a brand extension. The "Just Dance" retake just sounds like a poor quality mix of the number one single. However, "Eh Eh" is greatly improved. The beatbox gives it a new, bolder flavor where the original was kind of a limply mid tempo Ace Of Base knock off. The Cherrytree Sessions is available now at online retailers and in physical CDs exclusively through Borders.

Finally, the Gaga tackled Coldplay's number one single "Viva La Vida" for BBC Radio's live lounge last week, and she does wearing a completely ridiculous outfit. Like you expected anything different. Especially with the muffed lyrics, it doesn't sound better than the original in any way, but it is a fun bit of fluff to waste a few minutes with.

Album Review: Marianne Faithfull - "Easy Come, Easy Go: 12 Songs For Music Lovers"

Marianne Faithfull has taken a long and hard road to where she's at today. Drug use/abuse, romantic tragedies and extreme laryngitis have taken their toll on the British pop singer and Rolling Stones cohort.

That toll is evident in her raspy vocals, which sound like they belong to someone who smokes eight packs a day and downs a gallon of whiskey for breakfast. That vocal quirk is both a charm and a hindrance on this collection of covers. For the sweeping Espers song "Children Of Stone" her rasp tangles around Rufus Wainwright's more gentle harmony and creates a transcendent experience. She pours buckets of emotion (as well as some organs and electric guitars) into Morrisey's "Dear God Please Help Me" and cuts me right through the heart. And songs like "Hold On, Hold On" and "Sing Me Back Home" were almost made to be sung with the passionate grittiness she brings.

But on the woodwind-heavy title cut, the heavy vocals become almost unbearable, same goes for "Solitude." Whenever Marianne attempts melodic singing, it goes very wrong. "Ooh Baby Baby" is only saved by guest vocalist Antony Hegerty; it goes on forever, too. Which is not to say Easy Come, Easy Go is a bad album. It's just a flawed album, containing more gems than disasters. Most importantly, it is a cohesive artistic statement - a rarity with a covers disc. Indeed, if you dropped the three songs I just mentioned, it becomes a stunning album on a par with Johnny Cash's American series.