There’s not too many things I like more than damaged people. I guess people who are damaged but try to act like they aren’t kinda piss me off, but people who revel in their damaged-ness? That’s my kinda party.
I won’t go into detail about Shelby Lynne and her troubles on this page. I will say that I’m madly in love with her, and that love was reinforced when I met her backstage after a concert a few years ago and she was not only sweet as pie, but she had a Southern accent so thick you could pour it over pancakes. She released a tribute album to Dusty Springfield a couple years ago called “Just a Little Lovin'”, and it was one of 2008’s best albums. Some of the renditions of Dusty’s classic tracks were absolutely haunting. Her new album, “Tears, Lies & Alibis” supposedly goes in a more country direction (Shelby is quite the musical chameleon), but she’s one of those artists that could make an album consisting of her singing while a frog chirps in the background and I’d pay twelve bucks for it.
On the other side of the pond, we have Kate Nash. She came out during the whole nutty British girl movement with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. She has more in common with Allen’s brattiness than with Winehouse’s brashness. Like, if Lily Allen could actually carry a tune (not that I hold that against her), her debut album would have sounded a lot like Kate Nash’s “Made of Bricks”. “My Best Friend is You” is the name of her new album, and it’s produced by Bernard Butler. That name may sound familiar to you if you’re either into Britpop or were really into alternative rock in the early Nineties, as he was a member of the band Suede. Either way, it’s definitely worth checking out.
Also in stores today (or…almost yesterday, as I type this): the “Iron Man 2” soundtrack, which might be the closest thing you get to a single-disc AC/DC best of in the near future, a new one from Rufus Wainwright (dedicated to his mum), the return of Cypress Hill (on…heh, heh…4/20), a new album from Willie Nelson (also on 4/20…heh, heh…), a new album from Ratt (!), and reissues of two albums that celebrate their 25th anniversaries this year: Mr. Mister’s cheese-pop fantasia “Welcome to the Real World” and the Duran Duran splinter project Arcadia’s “So Red the Rose”. The Arcadia reissue comes with a DVD video collection that’s been out of print for God knows how long! I’m still waiting for them to bring back the Duran Duran board game (which I owned!)
As usual, make sure you stop by Pause & Play to get all of your up to date music news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylHuMPXyrLE