Bradley's Buzz

Random CDs

After a little break from our random CDs of the week, we are finally back. Today's step into Bradley's stereo finds yet another classic 70's CD from my fav of late Ex-Mrs. James Taylor - Carly Simon, plus a new release from an old 80's new wave fav, a classic 90's punk album, a 90's release by an 80's super fun gal, and a brand new release from the man who didn't need to bring sexy back cuz he never let it go...

Kim Wilde - Never Say Never (EMI; 2006)
This album is a most welcome come back from Kim Wilde. To the US market she's only responsible for two 80's hits, the #1 dancy pop version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" from 1986 and of course the fierce new wavey "Kids In America" in 1982. But Kim in her home country became quite an icon, in fact she was up until the days of Kylie, the most succesful of the UK female singers. After releasing three pretty new wave classics in the early 80's she switched to more dance pop fare and continued to score big. But a bit of a sabbitcal left others to claim her throne, but here finally Kim decided to hit the studio again and this time she did it with an interesting concept - some new songs and some newly recorded and rearranged versions of her older classics but all in the new wavey rock vein rather than her dance mode. That is why Never Say Never had to be a part of my CD collection. Containing new rocking versions of "Kids In America", "View From A Bridge", "You Keep Me Hangin' On" (with Nena returning a favor as Kim appeared on a chart topping Nena song a few years ago), "You Came" and "Four Letter Word" the new songs are just as good including the opener "Perfect Girl" which would have fit on any of Kim's early albums and the very rocking "Game Over." Kim is full of sass and crass through these songs and my favorite is the ode to the planet "Forgive Me" which takes a new wave beat to the lyrics of at least one person feeling horrible for destroying our Earth.

Carly Simon - Hotcakes (Elektra; 1974)
Until I get all the 70's Carly CD's I've been looking for she's going to pop up on this list quite a bit. Hotcakes was recorded while Carly was pregnant with her first baby, the follow up to her highly successful No Secrets ("You're So Vain") album, this followed along those same lines though I have to say the songs are a tad more peppy and in a happier mode than her previous records. I'm sure this had something to do with the glow of her marriage and pregnancy. Opening with the hilarious yet poignant "Safe & Sound" Carly describes how the world is going crazy, Hong Kong's divorce rate is high, the Mexican touradors "have all gone gay, the Roman whores have quit to seek a better way" and motorcycle gangs are driving around naked down Hollywood Boulevard but as long as Carly and her man can stick together through all the madness they'll be safe from all of it. "I Think I'm Having A Baby" is pretty straight forward though her chorus of "they're making too many phonograph records" leaves you wondering what's going on in her mind. But in a clever little line she lets us know she "won't be naughty for the sake of naught/or different just to differ." The excellant "Grown Up" is typical Carly reflections remembering how she viewed the grown ups at her parent's cocktail parties and now she's one of those people, quite excellant in delivery and lyrical; "I've just gotten older/ I've just gotten taller" and the crazed little jazz fest that is the title track is something you wouldn't expect to hear. The lyrics are just insanity about making pancakes, which perhaps is a child's nursery rhyme I'm not familar with, no matter what the intent it's a little dose of fun. are quite clever. The two singles released "Haven't Got Time For The Pain" and the romping duet with husband James Taylor in "Mockingbird" are nice little additions that don't necessarily take away from the rest of the album. Next to 1975's Playing Possum, this is probably my favorite of the Carly Simon albums in my collection thus far.

Robbie Williams - Rudebox (Chrysalis; 2006)
Oh my hottie has finally done it; he made a record that I will play just as much as Sing When You're Winning. Not that Robbie's last two CDs were bad it's just that they were familiar, they were just extensions of what he has done before, but with Rudebox it seems he's headed to a newer dimension, a starkly dark yet thrilling disco where you can both shake your rudebox and do the rudebox all at the same time. The opening title cut is just plain dance fun silliness though so is most of the album, yet it's all together quite catchy - "Viva Life On Mars" with it's 'uh huhs' reminds me of a ten different songs all great, and the Lily Allen pseudo duet "Bongo Bong and Je Ne T'aime Plus" is just fun as hell. I'm a tad confused over "She's Madonna" no matter how many times I hear it, I can't tell if he's telling his girl he has to leave cause Madonna wants him or it's just some strange fantasy, Madonna makes another appearance in "The Actor" which breaks down in the middle to list a ton of actors working a la Miss M's "Vogue", "We're The Pet Shop Boys" with the actual Pet Shop Boys is all very well Pet Shop Boys and his two autobiographical takes "The 80's" and "The 90's" are better than I expected. All in all, Rudebox is a much welcome addition to Robbie's post Guy Chambers albums and I think he's finally having some fun.

Tegan & Sara - So Jealous (Vapor/Sanctuary; 2004)
I love these girls and apparantly I'm not the only one as their songs keep popping up on TV shows and commercials. That's not to say that Tegan & Sara are selling out, I just think today's television producers are a tad more hipper than they used to be. So Jealous actually came out a few years ago but it's taken me this long to decide I had to have it. The album isn't as consistently enjoyable as If It Was You, their last effort but where So Jealous is good, it's very good. The opening "You Wouldn't Like Me" with its chugging guitar and the self loathing lyrics are typical T&S. So Jealous takes all of the greatness that is the sisters and keeps the momentum going. The ambiguous misery of the lyrics is so catchy and enjoyable you can't help but sing and strut along. "Take Me Anywhere" , "Where Does The Good Go" and the single "Walking With A Ghost" are just as good as anything on If It Was You. The grinding guitars, hip drum beats and the awesome harmonies and vocals are a nice distraction from anyone's own problems. Let's hope Tegan & Sara get back to the studio very soon. And if you haven't yet discovered these girls get yourself to a CD store now!

Cyndi Lauper - Sisters Of Avalon (Epic; 1996)
I love Cyndi and her 1990's out put is just as good as anything she did in her hey day okay maybe it's even better than 1989's A Night To Remember. Her only two albums of the 90's were Hat Full Of Stars (1993) and this one. Both of which found Cyndi taking more control of her music and throwing in every single element of music making sound including what I swear is the kitchen sink in some songs. Sisters Of Avalon is a call to arms for empowerment, through out the album Cyndi sings the praises of every walk of life, from the construction worker by day who turns to drag queen at night in "Ballad Of Cleo & Joe" to her own gender in the title track, everyone has something to learn about acceptance. Though Cyndi turns fairly acidic on some songs where the protagantist isn't so welcome - "Love To Hate" is a rock song in every sense of the word and Cyndi slices through the guitar with her vocals, my favorite song on the album and the first single "You Don't Know" pokes at the hypocritical of the world; "Revisions of history fair well in some company/ but push that bullshit down my throat/ you don't know where you belong/ you should be more careful / as you follow blindly along/ you just need to belong somehow/ you just need to belong somehow." Sisters Of Avalon also contains some of Cyndi's best ballads including "Hot Gets A Little Cold" and "Fearless" ( a song she recently re-recorded for her acoustic album). Not as fun as the debut album but not as adult contemporary as True Colors, Cyndi is a talent that is overlooked by many but when she gets serious like she does on Sisters Of Avalon, it's hard to ignore her.

The Muffs - Blonder & Blonder (Reprise; 1995)
I love Kim Shattuck and her boys of the Muffs; I first discoverd them on a compilation from Huh! Magazine that used to come out in the 90's. It was the first single from this album that was included, the slightly poppier punk of "Sad Tommorrow" and with Kim's slightly twisted bitter lyrics and her crazed delivery I knew I had to buy the album. I found out later that Blonder & Blonder (named after a comment by Courtney Love to Kim) was actually The Muffs second album, and though I've followed the band since - I saw them perform at Amoeba a few years ago - this will always be my favorite album. If not for only the fact it reminds me of my best pal Lisa. Anytime we were pissed off or depressed over the horrible fate that finds you when you're in your 20's and dating, the Muffs would come out. "Red Eyed Troll" is still one of our all time favorite songs and just Kim's shouting " Cause I don't like you /Why can't you see /You piece of shit, now /You fucking jerk /You really bore me /You stupid jerk" makes me feel better even when I'm not particularly down. Full of two minute punk rock Blonder & Blonder begins with Kim crying out in "Agony" and it doesn't stop til the last moments of the slighty mellow (compared to the rest) "Just A Game" plays. In between those two songs is 12 other classic tastes in the late 90's punk rock that revolutionalized the alternative rock scene til those poppier boys came around to make their version of "pop/punk." All of the songs on here are catchy as hell but there's no doubt the Muffs were not playing to the masses. There is no sense of commercialism here, just plain old fun and bitterness. Just like Lisa and I.

Goldfrapp - Supernature (Mute; 2005)
I wanted to love this album I really did. After all, Goldfrapp's last album Black Cherry is so good I can't help but drag it out of the CD case at least once every couple of months but instead of taking the brilliance of that last album and moving forward but instead it's like they just stopped progressing or even worse regressed a little. "Ooh La La" opens the album in a fairly promising way but after that it all becomes a bit samey; the highlight to me is the raunchy-ish sounding (in title and music) "Ride The White Horse" but the lyrics aren't exactly what I thought they'd be. The problem with Supernature isn't that it isn't a good album, because it is, but it's not anywhere near as good as the last album. Where "Strict Machine", "Train" and "Twist" from Black Cherry are practically this millenium's dance anthems, everything off of Supernature just falls flat compared. If you are looking for some Goldfrapp my advice is to avoid this and get your sweaty dancy hands on Black Cherry because that album doesn't disappoint in the way Supernature does.

posted by swivek @ 10:51 AM