Recommended Training

If you have some time before self-serving a-hole finds another camera to get in front of, it's all about the pre-season...

Lykke Li - Youth Novels

After listening to some tracks on Lykke Li Zachrisson's MySpace page, I decided to take a chance and get Youth Novels.

I typically don't go for synth/pop but from a brief listen I could tell Swede Lykke Li was doing something really different. So different, she released her debut on her own label (LL Recordings). Maybe this is what it what it takes to be interesting in a musically bland world? That's another post...

The product is great album that's almost a little too complex to be considered pop. Hopefully, Lykke Li will get some attention here in the States instead of being ignored like other great Swedish talent has been in the past.

Favorite track: Little Bit
Least Favorite: This Trumpet in My Head (I can't get this song out of my head)

Starflyer 59 - Fell in Love at 22 [EP]

This morning my iPod, on shuffle, was kind enough to serve up a track from Starflyer 59's 1998 EP Fell in Love at 22. A classic.

The really cool thing about having enough storage, which has become common and cheap, to take my entire music library with me is getting to hear some of the little gems that I've forgotten about.

The EP contains extra session material from The Fashion Focus also released in '98 with two tracks not available anywhere else; We Want It Bad and E.P. Nights.

The Notwist - The Devil, You, and Me

Imagine a German version of a less edgy Kid A era Radiohead and you get Notwist's The Devil, You, and Me.

Just the right mix of rhythm, guitar, and synth. Favorite track so far is Gravity. This is the kind of album you put on, listen to every track, and feel empty when it's over.

This is my first Notwist album and I think I'm hooked. I tend to work backwards when I make these discoveries so I'll have to check out their prior work.

Avril Lavigne is The Best Damn Thing

I’m a closet Avril fan and actually enjoy a lot of “chick rock” or pop. If there were a 12-step program I’d do it. Nothing really explains the shame of looking at yourself in the mirror everyday knowing you have Hilary Duff, Kelly Clarkson, and Jennifer Love Hewitt (big, big mistake) in your iTunes library.

Avril’s new release, The Best Damn Thing, is more pop and a noticeable departure from the angry chick-rock anthems from Let Go and Under My Skin. This is a more refined and grown-up Avril (image search “Avril Blender” on Google for details). At any rate, many fans feel betrayed--I find that sentiment intriguing as her first exposure was the single Complicated (sounds like pop to me).

I was prepared to give The Best Damn Thing a fair appraisal after ordering the unedited version (with the DVD) from Amazon. I still don’t understand why I had to but the DVD version to hear a four letter word every once in a while—I hope this doesn’t become a trend.

After hearing about Avril’s experiences; getting married to that Sum 41 guy (we’ll call him Mr. Avril) and having two major releases solidifying success, I was ready to hear some grown-up lyrics. Imagine my surprise to hear this on the title track…

“I'm the best damn thing that your eyes have ever seen

Give me an A, always give me what I want
Give me a V, be very very good to me
R, are you gonna treat me right
I, I can put up a fight
Give me an L, let me hear you scream loud”

Full lyrics

Yes, I understand we have reached the pinnacle of selfishness in society. Yes, I understand that certain artists have been singing about how great they are for some time now. Yes, I know the images of the self-absorbed dominate media (count the times you see or hear about Paris Hilton in a given day).

Are we at a point where pop/rock has explored every viable topic and we’re now reduced self-centered ego rants? I hope it doesn’t go this way, it’s the last thing an already spoiled generation needs to hear.

The music gets an overall thumbs up, but some of those lyrics, I just don’t know…