Logan’s March Album Preview

by Logan

As I’ve been surfing the web, reading my favorite music sources, and listening to the radio, I’ve been struck by how much great music is coming out in March.  I thought I’d share the ones to which I’m most looking forward.  Feel free to heckle, praise, or mention others you’re excited about.  My top five, in the order they’ll be released, are:

Jack Johnson, In Between Dreams, March 1 (Universal):  Jack Johnson has never been the most popular or best-reviewed artist, but there’s just something about his ultra-laid back style that won me over the first time I heard "Flake."  The only review I’ve been able to find so far is this one by Rolling Stone, which is less than enthusiastic.  Still, I’m excited to hear it when it comes out.  You can watch his latest music video here.

Bloc Party, Silent Alarm, March 22 (Vise):  The hype says that Bloc Party will be this year’s Franz Ferdinand, at least in terms of taking the world by storm.  Both Pitchfork Media and NME gave the album strong reviews, and their first single, "Banquet" sounds very promising to me (watch the video here).

Queens of the Stone Age, Lullabies to Paralyze, March 22 (Interscope):  I must admit that I’ve only relatively recently discoverd QOTSA.  But I love how they bring a healthy dose of credibility and "badass" flava to their heavy rock that just isn’t found in a lot of the current crop of bands like My Chemical Romance, Three Days Grace, The Used, and so on.  I haven’t seen any reviews of their coming album, and what buzz I’ve heard has been somewhat mixed, but the strength of their last two albums, R and Songs for the Deaf, is enough to get me excited about Lullabies.  MTV.com has a video for "Little Angels".

Beck, Guero, March 29 (Geffen):  According to NME, Beck’s new album will be more aggressive and return to the "‘classic’, funk-based Beck sound after the acoustic leanings of its predecessor."  Some of the collaborators include Jack White and Dizzee Rascal.  If you’d like to hear the E-Pro EP, click here.

The Bravery, Bravery, March 29 (Island):  The Village Voice calls the Bravery New York’s "official Next Big Thing".  To my ear, the videos I’ve watched on their website are promising, but I’m still reserving judgment on putting them in the same category as The Strokes and Scissor Sisters.  But with Fuse and Rolling Stone jumping on the bandwagon, The Bravery seem worth keeping an eye on.

15 Comments

  1. Cool. I like Jack Johnson, but part of that might just be because he was a pro surfer. :) I’ve never heard of Bloc Party or the Bravery.

    But I actually have a copy of the new Queens. It got leaked on the Internet. Their last two releases were always pretty varied, because they had three singers/songwriters–Mark Lanegan (of the Screaming Trees), Nick Oliveri (of Kyuss and the Dwarves) and the main guy, Josh Homme (of Kyuss). Mark split to do his own thing (when they’d tour, he’d only come out for a couple songs of their set). Josh kicked Nick out of the band for being too wild. So this album is all Josh. To me it sounds more like their first album than anything (probably because that was all Josh singing too). It’s not as experimental/druggy as that first release, though. I really like it, but then I love Josh’s style.

    There are some other upcoming releases I’d mention if I could only remember what they were.

    Comment by Susan Malmrose — February 26, 2005 @ 12:40 pm

  2. -Doves “Some Cities” March 1.
    -Decemberists “Picaresque” Marc 22
    -Mars Volta “Frances the Mutes” March 1

    Just came out that I really like:
    -Andrew Bird “The Mysterious Production of Eggs” (chamber pop - think Rufus Wainwright)
    -M. Ward “Transistor Radio” (alt-country - think really, really old sounding blues/country)

    Susan - I’ll send you some mp3z to post from M. Ward and Andrew Bird when I get the chance

    Comment by Dallin I — February 26, 2005 @ 1:16 pm

  3. Oh yeah. Soundtrack of Our Lives has an album coming out in March! They never fail to deliver, so I’m sure it’ll be awesome.

    http://www.thesoundtrackofourlives.net/index_flash.html

    Comment by Susan Malmrose — February 26, 2005 @ 1:23 pm

  4. Dallin, I have some M Ward and Andrew Bird. Any particular songs?

    I’ve heard Frances the Mute and it’s really good. Not sure if I like it more than De-Loused, though.

    Comment by Susan Malmrose — February 26, 2005 @ 1:56 pm

  5. Oh, sorry I didn’t catch that you meant their latest albums–I only have older stuff. Send whatever you want me to post.

    Comment by Susan Malmrose — February 26, 2005 @ 2:01 pm

  6. I liked Jack Johnson’s song “Flake” as well. I haven’t heard much else of his stuff except for the song/video you’ve linked to.

    Comment by danithew — February 26, 2005 @ 4:31 pm

  7. Hey, thanks for the other mentions, everyone.

    Thanks, Susan, for the extra info on QOTSA. Like I said, I’ve only recently discovered them, but I love Songs for the Deaf. I’m glad to hear more background info. I wish I knew their first album for a better reference point. I checked out some The Soundtrack of Our Lives, too, and it sounds great. Thanks for the link.

    Good picks, Dallin, especially the Mars Volta. I should have caught that one. I’ve also heard some great stuff about Andrew Bird.

    Danithew, most of Jack Johnson’s stuff seems to sound fairly similar, but I really like that style and feel.

    Comment by Logan — February 27, 2005 @ 3:42 pm

  8. Oh, and does anyone have any thoughts on whether Iron & Wine’s new EP is worth getting? I’ts received pretty good reviews, and I’m a I&W fan anyway, but are the songs from Woman King going to be on his next full length album? If so, maybe I should just wait for that, having a somewhat limited CD budget. Anyone know anything about that?

    Comment by Logan — February 27, 2005 @ 3:46 pm

  9. Logan–

    I just bought the Iron and Wine. It’s really good. I’ll send you an mp3. It has a full band sound as opposed to his first two lps. I’ll send out the mp3s later this week.

    BTW I highly recommend the Andrew Bird album. It has been stuck in my head all week.

    Comment by Dallin I — February 28, 2005 @ 10:31 pm

  10. The “Woman King” mp3 is available here: http://www.subpop.com/scripts/main/download.php?url=/downloads/free/Woman_King291.mp3
    I love the sound of “The Creek Drank the Cradle” and “The Sea and the Rhythm,” but it’s fun to see what he can do with a budget.

    Comment by Greg — February 28, 2005 @ 10:37 pm

  11. Hey, Logan, where’s the countdown?

    Comment by Bryce I — February 28, 2005 @ 10:53 pm

  12. More Iron and Wine news: Iron and Wine has also teamed with Calexico for a fall release EP. I’d prefer a full length from Calexico (it’s been 2 years since Feast of Wire), but I guess this’ll have to do. No doubt it’ll have a tasty dry sound given the pairing.

    Comment by Dallin I — February 28, 2005 @ 11:20 pm

  13. Hey, thanks for the Iron & Wine info everyone. I’d love to get some of those mp3’s, Dallin. And Greg, thanks for the link — I’m excited to hear more.

    Well, Bryce, I was hoping no one would bring that up. ;) It’s just something that I don’t have time to do on such a long-term, consistent, every day basis. But I’ve been thinking about some shorter-term (like maybe a week at a time) features that are similar. Stay tuned. . .

    Comment by Logan — March 1, 2005 @ 11:22 am

  14. Yeah man, we’re still awaiting the countdown! Anything, man.

    Comment by Steve Evans — March 1, 2005 @ 11:44 am

  15. Is no one looking forward to 50 Cent’s new album? I mean, the guy got shot like 900 thousand times. He’s got to be a good if he got shot…

    Comment by Pris — March 1, 2005 @ 1:38 pm