The iTune In 08.08.08: Connor Oberst, Monte Negro, Jack’s Mannequin, Person L &… Fred Astaire???

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 08.08.2008

Yes, THAT Fred Astaire is available now on iTunes. Aside from that, plenty more great music to be found this week including new tracks from Mr. Bright Eyes, Pop Latino’s possible next big thing, Something Corporate’s front man and the band The Starting Line has been hyping up. All that and more in this week’s column!




Top Eight & Featured: You can't get more disparate choices than a compilation album in support of Tibet and a new Jonas Brothers single, but there we are with the first two selections on the iTunes featured window. Veteran Randy Newman has a new album out called "Harps and Angels", meanwhile 00's alt rock group Seether is the focus of this week's iTunes live exclusive set. Nashville Star's 2008 winner Melissa Lawson is featured with her single "What If It All Goes Right?" Connor Oberst, who has previously released music under the name Bright Eyes, releases a solo album under his own name. Country singer Jamey Johnson's new album is featured and he is also iTunes' free song of the week selection, so we'll get back to him later. Last to be featured on the top eight is The Faint's new album "Fascination".

Connor Oberst had my attention with some of the material he did with Bright Eyes, including the rockin song "The Calendar Hung Itself" and his cover of Feist's "Mushaboom". This eponymous album comes out with a great combination of acoustic folk rock and harder rock n' roll licks later in the album. It starts out with a slow tempo track but picks up quickly with "Get Well Cards". "NYC-Gone Gone" is only about a minute or so but is a terrific anthem style song that is catchy and gets the spirits up. I could see it catching on for any of his live shows in the way that "Ole!" has served for Bouncing Souls. Other highlights on the album include "Souled Out!!!" and "Moab."

The Faint are alternative-dance fronted by a male singer. The first two tracks "Get Seduced" and "The Geeks Were Right" provide a great one-two start on the end, but unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't support the opening tracks. Alt electronic group Brazlian Girls have the same problem with their new album "New York". The first track's whistle-reinforced "St. Petersburg" was the highlight for me. "Good Time" also has that similar danceable but more peaceful beat that I like. Many of the rest of these tracks are not easy on the ears. Maybe it's because dance / electronic is not the strongest part of my music wheelhouse, but I'm willing to give everything a chance these days and only a few tracks appealed to me.

Brooke Fraser, who I've discussed over a few of these editions of the iTune In, has a live EP release of a show she did in New Zealand. Its an eight song set focusing equally on her two albums, but surprisingly without some of what I think are the best tracks from her newest album.

Monte Negro is featured in the Latino free song selection of the week as simultaneously their album Ciatrix is available for download. These guys may be one of the best finds of the summer, mixing in Spanish and English vocals, Reggae and modern rock to come up with a unique amalgamation of sounds. "Give Me No Love (No Llores)" is the free track and the sample is mostly in English so that it's accessible to those who are skeptical about Latino rock. The rest of the album switches back and forth, sometimes in the same track, but the quality of music is always what's first and foremost in my mind. At eight dollars for fourteen tracks it just might be worth the curiosity purchase.

Darker My Love's "2" is good alternative rock with lots of distortion and shinny guitar and choral harmonies. They wear their influences on their sleeves but it's actually for the better. "Northern Soul" and "Two Ways Out" are the standouts from what I listened to (about half the album).

Meiko's album (apparently a re-release) stood out to me for her unique name. She's folk rock. The most popular song is called "Boys With Girlfriends" and has a nice pop sound to it that wouldn't be misplaced on radio. The rest of the album seems to be more standard folk, with slow but beautiful acoustic accompanied by an evocative vocal track. Fans of the genre I believe would like this album, which is eleven main tracks and five live performances.

Trapt's new album "Only Through the Pain" is out this week as well. I know many people who were just sick and tired of hearing "Headstrong" over and over and over again back in 2002-2003 but that album as a whole was pretty decent and from the sound of things they have improved their sound even more on this, their third album. Very strong guitar hooks and tight drums create for a very first half. The album does get a bit more soft and ballad heavy by the middle, but that's sort of the way it goes these days. It's the pleasant surprise of the week as to how good their music is on this new album. "Wasteland", "Whose Going Home With You Tonight", "Contagious", "Black Rose" and "Curiosity Kills" are the checkout songs.

iTunes' Free Song of the Week: is Jamey Johnson's "In Color". Johnson's vocals are pure modern country, which depending on how you feel about it could go either way. He has strong vocal power but I don't necessarily hear enough in the thirty seconds to want to download the entire song. Then again, country isn't my strongest musical taste either so I'd say to any country fans sample yourselves and make a decision.


The Rest of New Releases:

The 4th Floor-Mirage: good electronic dance music that you can either dance to or with which you can tune out the world. This is a selection of mixes for one song, the original version is track four and the Elektro Progressive Remix is worth sample listens.

Alina Simone—Everyone is Crying Out To Me Beware: interesting instrumentation takes a style of vocalist I've heard before and makes it refreshing. Great use of slow and sexy sax (alliteration peoples!) on "Half My Kingdom". "My" Sadness is Luminous" is only about a minute forty-four but is also worth a listen. "Sold" is a fun guitar track with I believe vocals sung in Russian.

Ari Shine—Acoustic EP: I can't help but to sample artists who share the awesome first name of Ari. Good acoustic folk rock on "Everybody Wants Me (but I Want You)". And some good humor on "Bad Girls Need To Be Held". Solid, strong stuff here.

Around Her Neck—Zombie Hip Hop EP: Good for a laugh just to see the picture on iTunes. Music is a miss though.

Correcto—Correcto: Cool cover. Music is fast and frenetic, so that's going to put off some people, but I kind of like it. "No One Under 3)" and "Downs" were the best of what I sampled.

Drama For The Masses: Sink or Swim EP: Generic for the times.

Fred Astaire—Fred Astaire :Can't Sing, Can't Dance. Balding. Can Dance A Little: Yes, that Fred Astaire, has a "New" album released this week. Okay, it's a compilation of his music, but still, that was quite a trip to come across.
Jack's Mannequin—The Ghost Overground EP: I was a huge fan of Something Corporate and while I haven't followed along closely to the follow up band in Jack's Mannequin< I did listen to this. I can say I'm really excited for the full length based on what I heard here. "The Resolution" is awesome piano rock and "Bloodshot" isn't that far behind. These tracks rock out loud and are effectively passionate in emotion without seeming whiny.

Jason Allen—The Twilight Zone: Awesome for the cover which apes the logo of the TV series, but then this blows my mind with a COUNTRY cover version of Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You"…and it works!

Jenny Bliss—All About Me (Maxi Single): Well, the picture directs you directly to some cleavage, but it's actually a decent dance track with a nice beat, so that makes two for the week.

Jerry Ropero—The Storm (Remixes): And that makes three. Good beats and dubs on this track as well.

No Bragging Rights—The Anatomy of a Martyr EP: Screamo. No Good. Next.

Oxford Collapse—Bits: Too Euro. Next.

Person L—Initial: I didn't really dig most of this when I sampled it until I got to "Storms" and really got into the guitar track. It all kind of clicked for me at that point and when I went back and listened again to some of the other tracks they were somehow better for it.

Rookie of the Year—Sweet Attention: I don't just dismiss "emo" out of hand…some of it can be really, really good. Like The Rocket Summer and this album from Rookie of the Year. There are guitar hooks that pop out at you all over the place and the vocal arraignments are appealing to the ears as well. "What is Love" is not the Haddaway song, but it is some really addictive guitar rock. Other quick highlights include "Falling from the Sky" and "My Ocean".

Suicide Note—Empty Rooms: Not the best vocals, but definitely some of the better harder edge rock music that I've heard as of late.

The Weight—Are Men: "Had it Made" is catchy as hell bar rock. Good mix of rock, honky tonk and balladeering.


The Final Tally:

iDOWNLOADEd:
Person L: "Storms "
Rookie of the Year: "What is Love" , "Falling From the Sky"
The Weight: "Had it Made"
Alina Simone: "Every Drop", "My Sadness is Luminous"
Jack's Mannequin "The Resolution"

Possible Downloads:
Connor Oberst – Connor Oberst
Monte Negro – Ciatrix
Meiko – "Boys With Girlfriends"
Brazilian Girls – "St. Petersburg"
The 4th Floor- "Mirage"
Ari Shine—Acoustic EP
Jason Allen- "I Just Called to Say I Love You"
Jerry Ropero—"The Storm"

Pass On:
Around Her Neck
Drama For The Masses
No Bragging Rights
Oxford Collapse


You Tube Tune In

Person L: "Storms"


Feist with Connor Oberst: "Mushaboom"




The Best of Last Week:

Zach Gill "Bettina"
Catchy and poppy piano instrumentation with a whimsical vocal track. The story told within the song is pretty entertaining as well.


Top iTunes Songs on 8/05/08: 1. Disturbia—Rhianna 2. Paper Planes—M.I.A. 3. I Kissed A Girl- Katy Perry 4. Burnin Up- Jonas Brothers 5. Just A Little Longer—Jonas Brothers

Lots of great music this week, in fact, there's so much stuff this week that I could go back to and sample again. Escaping the summer doldrums with good music, can't ask for much more than that. We've got two more weeks of The ITune In, so tune in next week to see what else I catch in my iPod net. Later!

NO SLEEP TILL… BROOKLYN!
--Ari--