I’m vulnerable to the cool new thing.
When a movie or album or performer is lavished with praise in all the “right” magazines and websites, I get a little antsy until I’m in the know. And more often than not, I agree with the chattering class.
In my defense, the critics are usually right, especially when there is near unanimous consent.
Today’s Random Weekend selection is the fifth cut from Adele’s blockbuster 2011 album, 21, to make the blog. And the six I haven’t featured are just as good.
This album was such an unexpected masterpiece. Adele’s first album (19) was a bore. I liked ‘Chasing Pavements’ well enough but I could barely make it through the rest. What happened in the intervening two years that prepared Adele to write and record such a stunning record?
The other surprise I found when perusing this week’s top ten charts was that Eminem has already released another hit single.
I featured ‘Berzerk‘ a couple of weeks back and found it a nifty little Beastie Boys homage. I hoped the rest of the album would go darker and deeper, though.
I’m way behind on blog posts, and out of town on business to boot, so I decided to fill out the rest of this week with a couple of current chart-toppers.
Now, given my complete lack of familiarity with modern radio hits (or however it is the kids get their music these days), that meant I had to do a little research.
If Elvis Costello didn’t have such a wide-ranging, eclectic career, his teaming up with The Roots might come as a left-field surprise.
While I can’t say that I would have predicted this match-up, it certainly doesn’t fall outside the range of things Costello might do. If his next release includes a duet with Alison Gold of ‘Chinese Food’ fame, I’ll nod and think “yeah, that makes some sense.”
