I love it when a plan comes together, especially when it's a plan that usually fails.  Side-projects, holiday albums, new LPs from long-running bands - these are a few of my most-dreaded things, but this week finds these things coming up aces one after another.  There's even a musical score that doesn't make me gag with pretentiousness and over-singing!  Don't just take my word for it, read on:


ABBA - live in Japan DVD
The Almost
Amerie
Bee Gees
Andrea Bocelli Christmas
Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For the Young - much of the material on this first solo outing from the voice of The Strokes (*swoon*...) shouldn't surprise any fans who have been paying attention since their second album.  There's some neon dance-beats and some electro rhythms, generally more divergent sounds than their early lo-fi garage revival.  However, Casablancas' lyrics here are some of his best yet, and about halfway through this 8-song LP he starts changing it up with a softer, more colorful musical side and some really experimental textures.  The only thing that grated on me is the vocals - he would've sounded much better if he'd ditched the trademark flat, dry, and doubled vocal track for something that matched the lush, 3-dimensional atmosphere he has constructed here.  It's only a small detraction, though, and beyond that the album is probably my favorite of all the Strokes side-projects I've heard (which is saying something, since Albert Hammond Jr's first album was one of my favorites of '06/'07)
CFCF
Steven Curtis Chapman
Cold Cave - Love Comes Close - I'm almost positive this is the band Ian Curtis would have formed if he started making music in the middle 00's, and Joy Division has its shadow all over these keyboard-born electronic indie grooves.  Features Xiu Xiu expatriate Caralee McElroy, whose interplay with doom-baritone Wes Eisold reminds me of some of Canadian band Stars' more electronic moments
Kate Earl - Kate Earl - her debut (Fate is the Hunter) was probably my favorite music I heard during all of 2005, but being on a tiny label and having little exposure in the overcrowded Los Angeles landscape (in conjunction with some personal issues) quickly stalled what little momentum her early work had achieved.  This sophomore album re-launch has some bold additions, for both better and worse.  In the plus category, she's now signed to Universal Republic Records, who gave her some major-label push with a few industry showcases, a free iTunes single of the week, and now a huge opening tour slot for label-mates Maroon 5 (coming soon to a town near you!), so exposure shouldn't be a problem this time around.  On the minus side, however, the sound she's sporting now has pretty much lost all of her first album's intimacy and charm, replacing it with big-beat studio sheen, which plays against her strength as a highly personal singer/songwriter whose voice is vulnerable and soulful, not bright and punchy like this by-the-numbers, sugar-filled mainstream production.  I know that Lauryn Hill was a big influence on her writing process on this album, and some of that comes through pretty well (especially on decent single "Melody", which sounds much better if you can catch her singing it with only her piano backing her up).  Bottom line is that I still love this artist, and her voice sounds absolutely wonderful here, but this music is really not that good, and she would've done better to pursue (or preserve) a style which suited her voice better.  I hope she learns this and comes back strong next time around...
John Fogerty
Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits, with a couple new (and kind of enh) tracks for good measure
Gift of Gab
Glee Cast - Glee: The Music, Vol. 1 - while I am an electric guitarist by trade, the voice is my favorite instrument, and both the revivals of these tunes and some of their inventive arrangements are a no-brainer for a good time (my favorite is the swing-cat revamp of Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself" - smooth!).  See our Hype section for a full review
Mike Gordon
Guided By Voices
Halford
Taylor Hollingsworth
Joy Electric
The King Khan & BBQ Show - Invisible Girl - King Khan's work with The Shrines was some of the best, rawest retro throwback to 60's horn-adorned adreno-psychedelia I've ever heard.  On this album (or "show", rather) with BBQ, the psychedelic is still here, and the 60's are firmly in place - really the only things that have changed are less horns and more updated production.  Still crude as ever, but a better, sweatier, kitschier dance party you won't find
Ryan Leslie
Little Dragon - Machine Dreams - surprisingly lush and atmospheric 2nd album from the Swedish equivalent of Cibo Matto or Asobi Seksu, taking deft electro rhythms and synth layers onto the indie dance floor.  Less soul and hip hop leanings this time around (for better or worse, depending on what you liked about their debut), but just the same this intelligent music will get you moving, and singer Yukimi Nagano's soft, reverb-laden lilt covers the tracks with pristine poise
Malachi
The Mary Onettes - Islands - new new wave out of Sweden with soaring synths towing these dance-worthy tunes through the magical night sky, even if it's a night sky from 1986.  Check out "Puzzles" for a catchy, even prom-worthy chorus that will stick in your head like Aqua-Net
Michael McDonald
Melt-Banana
Morrissey - Swords (B-sides)
Nirvana - Live at Reading, Bleach Deluxe - If you haven't seen or heard their headlining set from the '92 Reading Festival, you're missing one of the best live rock and roll moments in all of history, seriously.  They absolutely KILLED on stage that night.
OST - Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas - if you know the show, you know this won't be your grandma's holiday album (unless your grandma is an Adult Swim franchise fan).  With song titles like "Hark the Herald Angels Rap", "Jingle Bells Deep" (!), and "I Sure Hope I Don't Have to Beat Your Ass This Christmas", you get the sense that Santa's in mortal danger, and those wise men better show up packin' heat...
OST - Fantastic Mr. Fox - did you know Wes Anderson made a kids' movie?  Neither did I...
OST - NCIS
OST - The Sound of Music 50th Anniversary Edition
Plumb - hits
Rolling Stones
Serena Ryder - Is It OK - stellar Canadian starlet whose versatile vocals hit me like Alanis Morissette filtered through country legends Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris.  Muscular lyrics of love and loss catch a wistful fire over uncluttered, acoustic-based tracks which frame her powerful voice like a shimmering white horse in moonlight.  She's already won over our neighbors to the north, and anyone looking for a solid, well-versed singer/songwriter with the pipes to knock over the competition by sheer vocal force, this is your new favorite artist
Say Anything
Shane & Shane
Shwayze
Frank Sinatra
Slayer
Straight No Chaser - Christmas Cheers - I'm not one for most Christmas albums, but these a capella fellas are aces on everything I've heard them do thus far, and they shine bright (Star of Wonder!) on this collection.  From soul-ifying "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" to jazzing up the classic "Let It Snow" in grande fashion, the boys roll sans instruments with incredible panache.  It would be hard enough to adapt "We Three Kings" to fit over the Mission: Impossible theme with a full orchestra, and they pull it off in style with only voices and the occasional finger-snap.  This is a holiday album that should please just about everyone, teenagers, grandparents, and aging hipsters alike
Themselves
Carrie Underwood
VA - Now 32 - is anybody paying attention to these anymore?  Oh, sorry Wal-Mart shoppers, didn't see you back there
Vitalic
Weezer - Raditude - most bands get stale after singing about the same stuff album after album.  Luckily for Rivers Cuomo, his various neuroses and turbulent romantic escapades only get more entertaining, especially filtered through his wry-but-sincere lyrics and apparently-conquered mid-life crisis . To top that, this band's musical composition is strong as ever, and only getting stronger with the chances they're taking on this LP.  Kicking off with the catchy-as-hell sock-hop stomp of "If You're Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)", Cuomo & Co. keep their guitars big and crunchy (and sometimes synthesized!) and their sound classic Weezer, but I enjoyed finding the following surprises:  drummer Patrick Wilson's contribution "In the Mall" being one of my favorite tracks (with bonus Rush-tribute guitar solo!), dancefloor-ready anthem "I Can't Stop Partyin'" complete with synth'd-out guitars and Lil' Wayne verse (a nice to sequel to "Beverly Hills"), full-on authentic Indian instrumentation and vocalization on "Love is the Answer", and a completely unexpected, heart-rending, and bulletproof ballad in proper album closer "I Don't Want to Let You Go" (seriously you guys, I was *floored*).  For anyone looking to get the whole album, you'd be well-served to get the Deluxe Edition, as 3 the 4 extra songs are fully worthy of inclusion, especially if you're fans of their metal resurgence from the Green-album era.   I see, hear, and read plenty of Weezer fans hating on their post-Pinkerton output, but if you'll open your ears and remove your snark, this album easily bests all albums they've released in the 00's and has loads of absolutely awesome songwriting, some of the best of their career.  And if that doesn't get you, check the rad album cover - flyin' doggie attack!!1!


If that don't fill you like half a pumpkin pie, I don't know what will.  If I weren't so satisfied with the new Weezer LP, I'd probably be gushing more about a few other releases.  These are some of the last big names of the year, but there are some stunners still ahead, so stay tuned to this site for all the best of what's to come.  See you when I read you...


Meow (a(a)


p.s. as if reading about them wasn't enough, you can enjoy a playlist featuring most of these fine artists on my MySpace Page.  Ennjoy