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Song of the Day #2,186: ‘Little Red Wagon’ – Miranda Lambert

miranda_lambert_platinumI can’t call it a surprise when Miranda Lambert puts out an excellent album. This year’s Platinum is her seventh in a row, counting her work with Pistol Annies, and they just keep getting better.

What I love about Lambert is the confidence she has exuded right from the beginning.

It first manifested itself in tough-girl anthems written in defense of the battered women who shared her home when she was growing up. Now it shows up in the laid-back soulful groove of a song like ‘Smokin’ and Drinkin’,’ the sort of thing you’d never expect to hear on country radio.

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Song of the Day #2,185: ‘Air Balloon’ – Lily Allen

lily_allen_sheezusMy only musical real disappointment of the year so far is Sheezus, the long-awaited third album by British star Lily Allen.

Allen’s first two albums were unpredictable delights, brimming with creative arrangements, snarky lyrics and a brash attitude that set her apart from her contemporaries.

Following her second album, she went on hiatus, having a couple of kids and threatening to quit the music business.

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Song of the Day #2,184: ‘No Sir’ – The Both

the_bothFollowing up on yesterday’s Broken Bells post is another release by an indie supergroup. Of course the phrase “supergroup” is a bit of a stretch for either of these bands, given the relatively low profiles of their members.

The Both is a collaboration between Aimee Mann, who I adore, and Ted Leo, who is completely new to me. Leo is a punk-rock songwriter and performer who has been recording with various bands for 23 years. He and Mann have been friends for the past decade and started this professional partnership in 2012.

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Song of the Day #2,183: ‘Control’ – Broken Bells

broken_bells_after_the_discoThis has been a slow year for new music, so far. Or at least for new albums that have crossed my particular radar.

Over on the right-hand side of the page, you’ll see the six albums I’ve bought this year and how I rank them. Two I’ve already written about (Shakira’s Shakira and Beck’s Morning Phase) and the rest I will cover this week.

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Song of the Day #2,182: ‘Same Song & Dance’ – Eminem

relapseEminem couldn’t have picked a more appropriate title for this lazy effort from his 2009 album Relapse.

This track is a sloppy retread of a dozen other, and better, songs about Slim Shady working out his issues through violence against women. What was edgy and disturbing — and a catalyst for discussions of how far art can go — nearly a decade earlier is yawn-inducing here.

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