The Lonely Goatherd Blog And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:32
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Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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June 26, 2007
New Album Releases, 6-26-2007: Sinead O'Connor, Nick Lowe, Beastie Boys, Kelly Clarkson It is a holy and glorious day, for we have a new Sinead O'Connor album, Theology. It's a two CD set, though it has mostly the same songs on both discs. The "Dublin Sessions" are more minimal, acoustic and intimate. The "London Sessions" on the other hand are fuller orchestrations, with harps and horns and strings and such. Note that there's a special edition for Best Buy with five bonus live recordings.
Listening to both discs, the more fully orchestrated London recordings are mostly way superior, making the Dublin recordings sound like mere demos. The orchestrations are not heavy handed, and Sinead can command an orchestra with that mighty and majestic voice better than almost anyone else going. Going from Dublin to London here, she loses nothing in intimacy but gains quite a bit in groove and dynamics. Heck, she even sells "I Don't Know How to Love Him."
I particularly like "Watcher of Men," one of her more anguished compositions. starting with "Why did I not die at birth?" It also has the virtue of brevity, at just over two and a half minutes in the Dublin (disc 1) version, which is maybe the one song where the Irish version is better than the English recording. Probably the best song here though is "If You Had a Vineyard," a beautiful dramatic Gods-eye lament for the Israelis and Palestinians. The live Best Buy version is particularly nice.
Elder statesman and godfather of punk and new wave Nick Lowe has a new album called At My Age, which would be 58. Generally speaking, Lowe's work has become more emotionally affecting with age. He keeps the wit of his youth, as evidenced by new song titles like "I Trained Her To Love Me." But his work has gradually gained more depth of experience, particularly a world weariness that he could have used when writing stuff like "So It Goes." This now gets his music frequently described as "blue eyed soul," which would not have been an obvious description of Jesus of Cool.
The Beastie Boys are back with their first original all-instrumental album, The Mix Up, which is all Beastie organic jamming - no samples. A dozen years ago, I'd have told you that the Beasties rule. But the bottom totally dropped out with their last album, the 2004 To The 5 Boroughs was absolutely worthless, one of the worst artistic meltdowns from a major artist ever. Thus, I wouldn't expect much from them now. Still, these are the guys who wrote "Sabotage" and "Egg Man," so perhaps pleasant surprises await. Plus, this Zappa looking montage may be their coolest album cover, so they get at least a point or two for that.
Then there's the Kelly Clarkson story for her new album My December. See, she's an artiste now, expanding her creative wings even at the expense of a very public showdown with the legendary record mogul Clive Davis. In this narrative, Davis cheerfully plays the role of moustache-twirling corporate villain who doesn't understand or care about her Art. Not to put to fine a point on it, but I can only laugh at any contrived American Idol carrying on about their supposed art. This widely circulated story of her hardships with the record company sounds to me like a put-up job to gin up publicity and some faux credibility for the usual corporate swill. Perhaps I'm too cynical.
Here's the complete list of this week's major new releases, courtesy AMG:
Ryan Adams Easy Tiger Lost Highway Alternative Country, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Marc Almond Stardom Road Sanctuary Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Vocal Pop, Pop/Rock, Euro-Pop, Torch Songs
Kelly Clarkson My December RCA Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Nick Lowe At My Age Yep Roc Singer/Songwriter, Americana, Country-Rock
Automatic Automatic Not Accepted Anywhere B-Unique/Columbia Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock
Bad Brains Build a Nation Megaforce/Oscilloscope American Underground, American Punk, Hardcore Punk
Beastie Boys The Mix Up Capitol Alternative Rap, Hip-Hop, Soul-Jazz, Instrumental Rock, Funk
Tab Benoit Power of the Pontchartrain Telarc Swamp Blues, Modern Electric Blues, Modern Electric Texas Blues
Elvin Bishop Booty Bumpin': Recorded Live Blind Pig Modern Electric Blues, Blues-Rock, Southern Rock
Frank Black Best of Frank Black '93-'03 Cooking Vinyl Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Charlie Byrd Travellin' Man/The Touch of Gold Collectables Standards, Bossa Nova
The Click Five Modern Minds and Pastimes Lava/Atlantic Teen Pop, Punk-Pop, Alternative Pop/Rock
Carl Cox Global [Koch] Koch Techno, Club/Dance
dc Talk Greatest Hits Forefront Alternative CCM, Hip-Hop, CCM, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Christian Rap
Tinsley Ellis Moment of Truth Alligator Modern Electric Blues, Blues-Rock
Emerson, Lake & Palmer Pictures at an Exhibition Victor Prog-Rock/Art Rock, Album Rock
Emerson, Lake & Palmer Trilogy Atlantic Prog-Rock/Art Rock, Album Rock
Bryan Ferry Dylanesque Virgin Album Rock, Pop/Rock
Steve Forbert Strange Names and New Sensations 429 Singer/Songwriter, Folk-Rock
Adam Franklin Bolts of Melody Hi-Speed Soul Indie Rock, Shoegaze, Alternative Pop/Rock
Gore Gore Girls Get the Gore Bloodshot Garage Punk, Garage Rock Revival, Indie Rock
Grateful Dead Three from the Vault Rhino Jam Bands, Folk-Rock, Psychedelic, Country-Rock, Album Rock
Juliana Hatfield The White Broken Line: Live Recordings Ye Olde Alternative Pop/Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock
Keith Hudson and the Soul Syndicate Nuh Skin Up Pressure Sounds Roots Reggae, Dub, Rocksteady, Political Reggae, DJ
Wayne Jarrett Chip In Greensleeves Roots Reggae, Dub
David Johansen Here Comes the Night Razor & Tie New York Punk, Hard Rock, Rock & Roll
Tommy McCook & the Agrovators King Tubby Meets the Agrovators at Dub Station Trojan Dub, Roots Reggae
King Wilkie Low Country Suite Zoe Contemporary Bluegrass
Philip Langridge Songs from the Pleasure Garden Signum UK Classical Vocal Music
Jerry Lee Lewis Live from Austin, TX New West Honky Tonk, Traditional Country, Rock & Roll
Rose Maddox This Is Rose Maddox Arhoolie Honky Tonk, Bluegrass, Traditional Country, Traditional Bluegrass
Mie Miki Butterflies and Illusions: Grieg's Lyric Pieces Bis Post-Romantic Piano Music Arranged for Accordion
Mushroom/Eddie Gale Joint Happening Hyena Avant-Prog, Jazz-Rock, Fusion
Sinead O'Connor Theology Koch Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Stewart Robertson Hartke: The Greater Good Naxos Contemporary Opera
Richard Rosenberg Gottschalk: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2; Escenas Campestres Cubanas; Celebre Tarantelle Naxos Romantic Orchestral Music
Wiener Glasharmonika Duo Glas & Steine K&K Verlagsanstalt Arrangements for Glass Harmonica and Verrophone
Jaco Pastorius The Essential Jaco Pastorius Epic/Legacy Post-Bop, Fusion, Pop/Rock, Progressive Big Band
Pearl Jam Live at the Gorge 05/06 Monkey Wrench Alternative Pop/Rock, Hard Rock
Pepe Deluxe Spare Time Machine Catskills Club/Dance, Electronica, Trip-Hop
Rasputina Oh Perilous World Filthy Bonnet Alternative Pop/Rock, Goth Rock, Alternative Dance
The Sharp Things A Moveable Feast Bar None Indie Pop, Chamber Pop
Paul Simon The Essential Paul Simon [2-CD/1-DVD] Warner Bros. Pop/Rock, Folk-Rock, Soft Rock, Worldbeat, Adult Contemporary, Singer/Songwriter, Album Rock
Social Distortion Greatest Hits Time Bomb American Underground, College Rock, L.A. Punk, American Punk, Punk, Alternative Pop/Rock, Hard Rock, Roots Rock
Steve Vai Sound Theories I and II Epic/Red Ink Guitar Virtuoso
Various Artists Crescent City Bounce JSP New Orleans R&B, Piano Blues, R&B
Kelly Willis Translated from Love Rykodisc Contemporary Country
Pegi Young Pegi Young Warner Bros. Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Folk-Rock
Elder statesman and godfather of punk and new wave Nick Lowe has a new album called At My Age, which would be 58. Generally speaking, Lowe's work has become more emotionally affecting with age. He keeps the wit of his youth, as evidenced by new song titles like "I Trained Her To Love Me." But his work has gradually gained more depth of experience, particularly a world weariness that he could have used when writing stuff like "So It Goes." This now gets his music frequently described as "blue eyed soul," which would not have been an obvious description of Jesus of Cool.
The Beastie Boys are back with their first original all-instrumental album, The Mix Up, which is all Beastie organic jamming - no samples. A dozen years ago, I'd have told you that the Beasties rule. But the bottom totally dropped out with their last album, the 2004 
