Wednesday, December 1, 2010

New CD releases for December 7th

Finally a week of new releases with no country music. I had to dig out 2 soundtrack CD's and revive a cold dead crooner, but no country. Yeehaw!

Remember, these are just one person's opinions and are slightly biased against anything that isn't Duran Duran or Culture Club - [Ian C]




Tron LegacyDaft Punk – Tron Legacy
Tron was a Disney movie circa 1982 which boasted groundbreaking visual effects known as SYNTHAVISION mixed with cutting edge computer generated sequences. Tron Legacy is the 2010 sequel with better effects, but equally poor acting.
The music is more electronic sounding than that of the first movie (take note Journey!) Unobtrusive, layered trance which seamlessly blends with the movie, enhancing the overall multimedia experience that is Tron Legacy. As a standalone CD it's fairly dull except for uptempo track 21 which accompanies the end credits.
Spoiler Alert: Track 20 is titled Flynn Lives so I guess Flynn doesn't die at the end of the movie

EndlesslyDuffy – Endlessly
Has Hilary Duff created an imaginatively named persona with which to shed the pre-teen following that she has amassed over her career? Nope!
It turns out that Duffy is a 26 year old girl from Wales and like all Welsh people this chick can sing. There is however a glimmer of immaturity in the soulful sound of Duffy which is slightly annoying. It's like buying a Bonnie Tyler CD and finding that Miley Cyrus is singing half of the songs.

Just CharlieCharlie Wilson – Just Charlie
Charles 'Charlie' Wilson was the lead singer of The Gap Band and recorded commercials and in-store music for the popular cut rate clothing store. Now he has a solo career and is in with the modern hip hop crowd like Snoop Dogg, Kanye West and R. Kelly. Snoop Dogg even calls him Uncle Charlie.
I wonder if Snoop is going to make it a White Christmas with Charlie this year.

Strip MeNatasha Bedingfield – Strip Me
Yes please ! ! Oh that's the name of your new CD. The beautiful Miss B. wrote 50 something songs and with the help of various musical maestros whittled the list down to the 13 tracks that appear on this CD. So what happens to the 37 or so songs you didn't use? Do they get Unwritten?
Wonders of the YoungerPlain White T's – Wonders of the Younger
Acoustic and quirky enough to feature in an Amazon Kindle commercial. Some of the songs are slow, some of the songs are a bit faster, and none of them would wake you from a light sleep or make a noticeable cellphone ring-tone.
Tom Higgenson of the PWT's said, "We definitely tried to get out of our comfort zone.” Mission accomplished. We are all uncomfortable now.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn TreaderDavid Arnold – The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The second soundtrack on our list this week. David Arnold is responsible for the music from numerous hit movies including Independence Day and Casino Royale as well as Zoolander and 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Clothes don't make the man, and soundtracks don't make the movie, unless it's a Quentin Tarantino movie.

4x4=12Deadmau5 – 4x4=12
I have to admit, I would have skipped this new release if I wasn't so intrigued by the Douglas Adamsesque title and the interesting artwork. It's a shame that I let my curiosity win because this is not the 21st century answer to 'Life, The Universe and Everything.' In fact it is not entirely unlike a flat shiny silver 120mm diameter turd.

No MercyT.I. – No Mercy
T.I. shows No Mercy by continuing to subject us to his hip hop drivel. He is currently incarcerated and unable to personally promote his CD release on the TV. Bummer. At least he has taught us a moral lesson that we shouldn't play with drugs and guns.

All American NightmareHinder – All American Nightmare
First find a large mixing bowl and add some Guns n Roses and Bon Jovi. Then sprinkle with Aerosmith and add a pinch of AC/DC. Mix thoroughly using modern studio equipment and the latest guitar FX and bake until it's done. Presto, the perfect 'by the numbers' hard rock CD. It actually sounds like a grown up version of Nickelback.

The Complete Christmas CollectionPerry Como – The Complete Christmas Collection
The late, great Perry Como is more likely to promote his new CD on the Jay Leno this year than T.I.
These 51 tracks are spread chronologically across two discs. They are remastered versions of 4 previous Christmas Como releases between 1946 and 1968. The best thing about these discs is they are shiny and look good as tree ornaments. Order now!



2 comments :

Anonymous said...

Dude, please tell me that youre heading to create more. I notice you havent written another blog for a while (Im just catching up myself). Your blog is just too important to become missed. Youve received so much to say, such knowledge about this subject it would be a shame to see this blog disappear. The internet needs you, man!

Brad - MTN said...

Thanks. I do appreciate the words of encouragement. The New Release section is challenging and very time consuming, having to audition each album and then write about it. Especially considering the low quality of many new releases recently.
Also, I am not a full time writer, I have a real job, and real bills to pay and I am still able to prioritize.
The New Release section will return, watch this space. (Don't watch this space, this space is taken, but find a vacant adjacent space and watch that one)

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