Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Send More Bubble Wrap!

Most of the music that's come into my home lately as been mailed in cardboard packages. I am suffering from bubble wrap withdrawal. This is fine by my husband, who can hear the pop, pop, pop, from two floors away (we're in a townhouse) as I methodically squeeze the air out of the torn sheets of plastic wrap. But it's not just a good cigarette substitute - if I can't recycle all these puffy bags, I can at least make them a teeny bit smaller before they go into the landfill.
It's all good - so give me the damn bubble wrap and no one gets hurt!

Wednesday, March 30
1. ANOINTED - Now is the Time (Sony Urban Music/Columbia)
Fresh-faced black couple on the cover, titles like "Gonna Lift Your Name," "Eternal Life" and "Jesus is Lord," the latter featuring a guest appearance by Andrae Crouch. It's Jesus Music, the good kind (I hope) as compared to John Ashcroft and the Religious Right(eous) singing "Let the Eagle Soar."
2. A STATIC LULLABY Faso Latido (Columbia)
Musical whiplash from its companion, above, in the Columbia press package. Knowing absolutely nothing about the band, I threw this one in the player while I ate lunch. Within moments I knew I was back in Angry White Boy Hell, where screaming about the unfair world to the sound of loud guitars is the rule. I was too lazy to get up and change it and when Grace, who likes My Chemical Romance and Unwritten Law and other AWBH music came in, she asked "who is this?" in a way that indicated she wanted to know so that she could avoid them in future. Faso Latido = fast into the latrine.

Tuesday, March 29
3. ELVIS COSTELLO - Artist's Choice (HEAR/Universal)
If Starbucks sold their compilation CDs for less than $10 each, I would snap them up in an instant as a quick and easy investment in hearing new sounds, or well-packaged reissues. But the $13 and $15 they charge for what are basically promotional tools is a rip-off.
Still, Terry was gonna put this one in my Easter basket, hesitating only because, knowing my great love for EC, he was afraid I might already have it. So he says he owed it to me, damn the price. And it *is* a great collection, which starts with another idol of mine, Louis Armstrong, and ends with an anti-war song from the 70s which is, sadly, as relevant as ever.

4. DE NOVO DAHL - Cats & Kittens (Theory 8)
Gotta love the record label's motto: "Theory 8 records - we don't know who you are either."
And spiffy packaging! I'm a sucker for letterpress printing, and this one is a double CD, with 32 tracks and many goofy titles ("Wanna Beer Man?" "Little Conquest on the Prairie," "I Broke a Plate," "Doody-ball Upside Down") and six players, all of whom write songs (it says here) and one of whom is a woman, so I'm hopeful the funny stuff isn't just frat-boy funny. Will let you know.

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