Hawks;Doves;Right;Left;Sarah;Bama;What to do??? Sing the Blues!!!

Sandor's Music Club Ruminations:

B.B. King: Singin' The Blues
This album is an absolute classic! It's B.B. proving that in 1956 he is already in a league of his own. Talk about having the blues--- "Nobody loves me but my mama, and she could be jivin' me too." Gotta give it a 4.5

Coldplay: Viva la Vida
Call it what you want. British Art Rock; Brit-Pop; Anthemic Rock- whatever. I like it and I think Coldplay (for me anyway) holds an almost permanent residence at the top of the heap. The cd comes to life with a stylish instrumental opener- although I keep wishing it would break into a full-blown track with brilliant lyrics and all the trimmings. Lost is one of my favorite songs of the year- that tribal drum beat does it for me. Then comes 42- bittersweet if ever a song was. Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love is another great tune, even if it is a little U2-esque. Ok, I'll stop. Viva la Vida gets a solid 4.

Pink Floyd: A Saucerful of Secrets
This trippy cd took me right back to the 60's. And for Pink Floyd it was the "shape of things to come". This is music that is definitely better after a couple of hits off the bong- just like celtic music is better after a few Guinness'. Let There Be More Light; Remember a Day;Jugband Blues; and See-Saw are my fav's on this one. I give it a solid 3. Thanks for the memories.

TV On The Radio: Dear Science
I keep going back and forth on this one. Once in a while I find it annoying and other times I really like it. It's definitely different. Take the song Halfway Home; elements of which I find very cool, very ambitious, and even a little complex. Yet if I listen to it too often- it starts to annoy me. Overall however, the hits well outweigh the misses. Love the funk and Prince-ness of Golden Age. Family Tree could almost be played on WCCC. Red Dress could replace You Can Leave Your Hat On in the movie 9 1/2 weeks. Love Dog and Shout Me Out are brilliant. This cd is as cool as the names Tunde and Kyp. TV gets a 3.5

G'Hits: Dramarama
Never heard a Dramarama song until now. On first blush I thought this compilation was pretty boring- a couple of ok tunes but nothing special. Repeated listenings however have opened a new appreciation for me. Why haven't I heard of these guys before? Allmusic says it best "hard rock wallop, alternative rock smarts, power pop songcraft, and punk rock urgency". What's not to like???