New Musicality

Well, again, a new Tuesday has passed us by. So let's celebrate Wednesday by looking at what I spent my hard earned money on!

First, I was excited to see that Apple iTunes has just released Dangerous Muse's new EP, "Give Me Danger." I raved about their last EP, "The Rejection," and I LOVED (with a capital L!) the "Blazing Lazer Reject Disco Mix," so I was waiting to see what they would release next. Unfortunately, inflatedly high expectations only lead to heartache (see what happened to those Star Wars prequels!). Though the lead song, "Give Me Danger" is a perfectly fine song, it sounds too much like a rehashed A-Ha song with more of a rock beat. It is not as inventive, fresh, and stylized as "The Rejection" (though the subject matter, finding your boyfriend with your female bestfriend, is a little interesting). I probably will warm up to this song eventually, but right now, color me a little underwhelmed. The other songs on the EP ("Break Up," and "In This Town") are also O.K., I actually enjoy "Break Up" better than the main song. It's a cool 80's inspired song where you can't make up your mind whether it's time to move on and break up or to to look for a reason to stay together. It has a better propulsive beat, and doesn't make me think of "Take On Me" every five seconds.

And in brick and mortar purchases, I picked up a trifecta of new hip-hop beats, Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere, Kelis' Kelis Was Here, and Outkast's Idlewild.

I've already talked about the greatness that is the Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy." And true, their album, St. Elsewhere, was released a little while ago, but I just got around to buying it now, due to the strength of their new single, "Smiley Faces." It again plays with convention and genre's that put a smile on my face. It's both retro sounding, yet fresh and new, and I love that interplay (Madonna's "Get Together" and Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" and "Candyman" hits me right in the spot also). I'm now working my way through the rest of their album, and I hope I love it's funkyness just as much as their first two singles. Oh, the video for "Smiley Faces" is a hoot also, done in mock documentary style, with guest appearances by Dean Stockwell and Dennis Hopper. Check it out!



Then there is Kelis' new album, Kelis Was Here. I'm sorry to say that this album is not quite as "Tasty" as the last, and I could see it being a while for me to get into this album. With Tasty, I was immediately hooked by the "Intro/Trick Me," and went along with the glorious trip afterword. On this new album, Kelis inundates us with a darker, grittier sound, and in the process, tries to sound more mainstream, but it just doesn't work. Her first single, "Bossy," tries to capitalize on "Milkshake"s funky coat-tails, but just ends up falling flat on their namesake. Even the worst tracks on Tasty (and there really wasn't any), sounds better than the best songs on here. Maybe she suffers from the Star Trek movie curse, where every other release is alternately very good, then pretty mediocre and quickly forgettable (Kaleidoscope was very promising, Wanderland was underwhelming, Tasty was delicious, and this album will hopefully be a learning experience to what will hopefully be a great fifth album).

And finally, this leads us to Outkast's Idlewild. I believe that is album also works as the soundtrack to a movie that Big Boi and Andre 3000 was working on since their last album won the Grammy. Again, I love their respective lead singles ("Morris Brown" from Big Boi, and "Idlewild Blues" from Andre 3000), but the rest of their album all seems like fillers. This is the way I felt about Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Great first singles, and then...

What I think is the funniest thing is that they still try to pass themselves off as a group. I hope one day they will have the cojones to officially break up and start their respective solo careers. Like Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, all the songs were recorded separate from each other, and the songs in which the boys do appear together, I heard the vocals were recorded separately at different times. The only thing keeping them together is the money invested into the Outkast name. Oh well.

So that's what I'm listening to right now. This should tide me over until tomorrow, when I have comic books to buy, and fashion to pan on "Project Runway." Caio!