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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All original content on MoreThings.com copyright 2008 Albert Barger or the respective authors
January 20, 2009
New CD Album Releases, 1-20-2007: Animal Collective, A.C. Newman, Mariah Carey So it looks like President Obama is going to close Gitmo. Speculation is that this will make the detention center there available for the underground White Stripes Nation militia to use as an Imaginationland re-education camp, reportedly to be named.Camp Mimi This will be considered a substantial upgrade to current officially unacknowledged facilities in Iraq at Abu Ghraib. Camp Mimi can address various forms of opposition to the iron-fisted rule of Jack White, but most especially Mariah Carey fans are sometimes sent out for re-education - or actually a first education.
This week Sony Legacy puts out The Ballads of Mariah Carey. This is the first half of her career, then. It's hard to explain how much exactly the same every Mariah Carey song ever from then till now sounds. I am at a loss to understand how people tell them apart. I remember the titles from the track listing enough to know that many of these songs were big #1 singles at the time, back in the 80s. But even listening to the samples at Amazon now to refresh my memory, it's just formless corporate goo spread over endless identical generic drum machines.
This album should be considered reasonable evidence to convince anyone with any sense of geometry and theology as to why a Camp Mimi is necessary. Tens of millions of people have bought these Mariah Carey records, showing their distressing disconnect from music - and most especially their disconnect from soul music of any description. Like Obama with Gitmo, you might be squeamish about the means and methods - but these people HAVE to be Dealt With in some way. You got a better idea?
There are a couple of actual new releases this week that have gotten some interest, though I'm agnostic on both upon at least an initial listen. Animal Collective has Merriweather Post Pavilion. This is their ninth album, and is currently as high as #8 in Amazon sales. That's pretty good for a band I don't remember ever having a hit single.
Listening to it, I'm not bowled over. It sorta sounds OK, and is acceptable background noise for writing because it has no discernible hooks to catch your attention and distract you from work. It sounds kinda dreamscapy and nice in a wallpaper sort of way, but I'm not hearing anything striking.
I'd give a little more point of interest to the A.C. Newman album Get Guilty. I'm not entirely knocked out, but I'm hearing a little bit more at least marginally distinctive compositions. Plus, it's somewhat more aggressive in sound. This might be called Beatle-y, just in the broad range. If you just ache with a jones for anything of a Beatles aesthetic, you could definitely do worse than this record. If you're looking for a little sample, you might start with tracking down "Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer."
Here's the complete list of this weeks major new CD album releases:
Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion Domino Experimental Rock, Indie Rock
Antony and the Johnsons The Crying Light Secretly Canadian Chamber Pop, Alternative Pop/Rock
Andrew Bird Noble Beast Fat Possum Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
A.C. Newman Get Guilty Matador Indie Pop, Indie Rock
Abba The Albums Polydor Swedish Pop/Rock, Pop/Rock, Euro-Pop, AM Pop
Air Supply From the Heart Arista/Legacy Soft Rock, Adult Contemporary
Babyface From the Heart Epic Contemporary R&B, Adult Contemporary, Urban, Quiet Storm
Beausoleil Alligator Purse Yep Roc Traditional Cajun, Zydeco
Andrew Bird Noble Beast/Useless Creatures Fat Possum Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Bon Iver Blood Bank Jagjaguwar Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Indie Rock
Anthony Braxton Quartet (Moscow) 2008 Leo Experimental Big Band, Avant-Garde Jazz, Free Jazz, Avant-Garde, Structured Improvisation, Creative Orchestra
