It might just be my cynical nature, but there’s a part of me that believes the whole Lil Wayne OD/death stories that popped up in the media a week or so ago were just part of a huge publicity stunt to raise awareness of his new I Am Not a Human Being 2. I’ll probably go to hell for thinking that (I was headed in that direction anyway) but, I’m saying. This album doesn’t seem to have the typical Weezy buzz, although I guess that at this point, I’m pretty removed from Wayne’s fanbase. At any rate, I have no idea what songs are on this album, I have no idea who is on this album in terms of guest appearances (although I’d have to assume Drake and Nicki Minaj are somewhere in the mix,) and I’m never going to listen to it because I find him repugnant. So, moving on…
It’s lucky #13 for Depeche Mode. Is it me, or does it seem like they have more than 13 albums? I guess…they’ve been around for 32 years. That’s an album every 2 1/2 years or so. Seems normal. At any rate, I’ve been a pretty hardcore DM fan since high school (which coincided nicely with the peak of their popularity in the early Nineties) and I’ll give their new album Delta Machine at least a cursory listen. Their last album, Sounds of the Universe, was surprisingly good (at least I thought so,) and although I’m not really feeling the new album’s first single, “Heaven,” it won’t be the first time I’ve dug a Depeche Mode album with a shitty first single (hello, “Barrel of a Gun!”) Look forward to an album review and potentially a Note for Note column on the alpha synth-rock band of our time.
A decade or so ago (a little more than that, actually,) The Strokes were the future of rock ‘n roll-lumped in with all of the “the” bands-The Vines, The Hives, The White Stripes-to take rock back from the boy bands, girly pop singers, and hip-hop. Well, boy bands came, went and came again, the girly pop singers became women pop singers, and hip-hop never left. The Vines split up, The Hives returned to the marginalia, and Jack White became a megastar. The Strokes? They’ve been putting along-not releasing anything as groundbreaking (or commercially successful) as Is This It, but hanging around the periphery. Their fifth album, scheduled for release today, is called Comedown Machine, and it’s gotten some good advance notice. Will it restore them to the glory? Probably not-but seems like The Strokes are pretty happy to be something of a cult band, and they still pack ’em in on tour.
Other artists releasing albums this week include:
-David Archuleta
-Crystal Bowersox
-Dido
-Raine Maida (I’m taking this one)
-OneRepublic
-A Rocket To The Moon
-Senses Fail
-Sevendust
-Blake Shelton
-Suicidal Tendencies
-Wire
Make sure you check out Pause and Play for a full list of this week’s (and all upcoming) releases.