Tally Ho!

Since I don’t have much to say about last night’s People’s Choice Awards (suffice to say that I felt sorry for the “Glee” cast having to shill frozen pizza), let’s get the O/CD Tally rolling, with the past two day’s worth of acquisitions.

And since Letterman has Rachel Maddow and Nick Jonas as guests tonight, I can take my time to write ‘em up.

Digital downloads:
PR contacts at EMI have kindly sent some new music via zip file:
CORINNE BAILEY RAY – The Sea
First response: mellow and melodic; need time to see if anything sticks.
2010 GRAMMY NOMINEES CD - Various Artists
20 tracks to catch me up with some of the bigger hits of last year that slipped by.
Release date: January 19, so if you need a cram course before the big awards night (usually a much better show that the PCA), it’s there for you, too. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the CD benefit the MusiCares® Foundation and the GRAMMY Foundation® (non-paid commercial announcement).

Freebie Alert!
DOCTOR ROSEN ROSEN – 2009 Remixes
Last year, I did a story for examiner.com about this remixer’s freebie reinterpretation of Lily Allen’s “It’s Not Me, It’s You” album. Now the good Doctor is it again, offering a compilation of 10 remixes he did in 2009, including Phoenix, Weezer, Eminem, Lady Gaga (a take on “Poker Face,” the original of which is in the Grammy collection), In the year to come, the DR2 promises some new official remixes like Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce (did you hear it here first?) so it appears his star is on the rise. If you want your own set of tunes, click here. You’re welcome.
ITUNES NEW MUSIC SAMPLER - Various Artists
I've already forgotten how I heard about this (Senior moment?), but iTunes is offering a free 20-track sampler to anyone who signs up as a fan on Facebook. A lot of it is unfamiliar (kinda the point, I'd say) but there are cool tracks from Metric, Moby and Sting to add star power and the price, as they say, is right. And, since I just went to FB to look at the page and got a second free download code, here it is: XP4FENTTXKH4
One time only use. So let's see who's getting CPF on the RSS!

PEP (Puffy Envelope Promo) Squad:
NUKE THE SOUP - Make Waves Not War
The first official physical promo disc of 2010 is a little-known (by me, at least) Maryland-based band led by a dude named Mark Davidson, formerly of an outfit called Cubic Feet. The album was produced by Pete Solley, who’s done the deed for Oingo Boingo and the Romantics. Given the band’s name and the accompanying sticker (tiny swag is better than none) of a mushroom cloud emerging from the titular (snicker) snack bowl, I was expecting a pop-punk sound suitable for a Warped tour slot. But it’s actually more of a DMB-via surf club vibe, the type of sound they could easily make fun of on SNL’s “The Mellow Show with Jack Johnson.” And – I am not making this up – there’s a song whose title is explained thusly: “apparently, male dolphins excite easily and are known to offer a certain body part to swimmers as a ‘Finger of Friendship.’”
Not the most auspicious beginning.

Thrift Store Finds:
Always fun to trade off a few bags of unwanted clothing and housewares if it gives me a chance to browse the $1.50 CDs and today was no exception, especially since I got the holiday albums at 75% off!
ELECTRO LOUNGE – 3-track sampler
Whoa! I just looked up this disc on amazon.com to see a date (1999) and see that it’s discontinued, with the price for a used copy starting at $24 bucks. I actually hesitated in buying it ‘cause it was just three songs, but I was intrigued by the combination of Dean Martin and Julie London on a remix of the title track remix (there’s also Martin’s original and a James Brown theme). Guess what’s gonna ripped to hard drive and put up for sale?
BELLY – King (Sire/Reprise)
On the other hand, I bought this, even though I already have a copy (signed by the band at a radio show) ‘cause it was sealed and I thought it might have resale value. No such luck, says amazon; there are scores on sale for less than a buck. So, it’s off to swaptree.com, where I can trade it for something on my wanted list for the cost of postage.
WINTER WONDERLAND – Various Artists (Varese Saradande)
Always on the lookout for new additions to the Cool Yule collection, even if it means buying in advance. This collection has a lot of vintage stuff – “Button Up Your Overcoat” by Dick Haymes, for example – and there’s a lot of stuff here that is winter-themed, but not Christmas specific. So it may get some play before it goes into the bin.
THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL – original soundtrack (Jim Henson Records/BMG)
But this, ah, this was the big score. Grad Girl adores this movie, a regular feature of our family’s December celebrations. She was able to get a few of the songs from a friend who did some Internet magic, but asked me to keep an eye open for the full album. And it wasn’t even in the CD bins; it was left on a shelf in the toy section and just happened to catch my eye as I was waiting to check out. It was fate, I tell you!
And it’s the inordinate joy I get from finding a CD like that in a thrift store – and giving it to my daughter - that makes me, now and forever, a true music geek.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in this new year of 2010, CPF presents the
O/CD Tally: 9