Christina Aguilera’s best moment on record came with 2006’s double album, Back to Basics. It’s been all downhill since then.
It’s as if she reached a crossroads at that point and inexplicably turned down the completely wrong path. After recording her best batch of songs and receiving a level of critical acclaim that had eluded her for years, she decided to turn away from the neo-soul revival that fit her like a glove and toward watered down electronic pop.
When a favorite artist has a new album on the way, I go out of my way to not hear anything from it until its release.
Occasionally I’ll get sucked in, because it’s really hard to resist those “Check out the new song from the upcoming Vampire Weekend!” posts that pop up in my Facebook feed. But for the most part I want to go into an anticipated new album with virgin ears.
Pink’s The Truth About Love was one of last year’s best albums, better even than its predecessor Funhouse, another fine pop-rock record.
Pink has quietly (and loudly) become one of the best pop songwriters and performers recording today. She is adept at both pulsating anthems like today’s track and emotional balladry (such as her duet with fun.’s Nate Ruess that is currently all over the place).
Today’s Random Weekend selection is a neat little song from the last proper Barenaked Ladies album, Barenaked Ladies Are Men.
After this record was released, co-songwriter and co-lead singer Steven Page left the band to pursue a solo career (resulting in one excellent album, Page One, so far). The band put out another album but the reviews were so tepid I didn’t even bother listening to it.
From one of the reissues of Elvis Costello’s Goodbye Cruel World comes this live rendition of a standout track from a much better album, Get Happy!
In an uncharacteristically brief mention in the album’s liner notes, Costello explains that today’s track — along with a few others — was recorded during his first-ever solo tour.
Meet Me In Montauk 