My wife came home from work the other day and asked “Have you ever heard of a band called Daft Punk?”
I had, though I wasn’t able to offer any information about them. I knew the name but nothing else. Apparently her students were going on and on about the band’s new album and were incredulous that she was blissfully unaware.
Rolling Stone is one of my favorite magazines, not just for its music coverage but for its smart, well-written articles on politics, crime, the environment, television and sports.
But it is primarily a music magazine, and on that front it rarely disappoints. Sure, the editors have their favorites, as well as artists they like to bash for no apparent reason, but as a summary of mainstream and just-outside-the-mainstream popular music, it’s invaluable.
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.
Today’s track isn’t from an album I own (yet) but one I’m definitely intrigued by.
Natalie Maines, lead singer of the on-hiatus Dixie Chicks, has released her first solo album — an album of mostly cover songs titled Mother. The title track (presented here as a live performance) is the Pink Floyd classic from The Wall — definitely an interesting choice.
