neko case

All posts tagged neko case

Good and Bad

Posted by John on March 15, 2009
Posted in: charts, commentary, concerts, new releases, upcoming. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

ting03Good – The Ting Tings appear to be getting that long-promised breakthrough, as “That’s Not My Name” breaks into the pop radio Top 40 (#39 at the moment). “Shut Up and Let Me Go” also made the Top 40, although just barely. Let’s hope “Name” has a little more momentum to make it happen. If all goes well, I will be seeing them live at the beginning of April here in Denver.

Bad – The slow start of The Script breaking in the U.S. How this group has so far been ignored is beyond me. You would think that this was custom-made for American consumption. The physical release of the CD is this Tuesday, but it was released months ago on iTunes. I blame the industry for this (along with anything else that goes wrong).

Good – Neko Case’s “Middle Cyclone” debuts at #3 on the Billboard Top Albums chart. Srsly?

Bad – The Neko Case CD only sold 44,000 units to land at #3. Srsly?

Good – Kelly Clarkson’s CD “All I Ever Wanted” appears ready to debut at #1, with sales around 200,000 units.

Bad – “My December”, which was considered a failure, sold 291,000 units when it debuted.

depeche_mode_soundsGood – I’m looking forward to upcoming new releases from the Pet Shop Boys (just pre-ordered the double disc at CD-Wow), Depeche Mode (released on the same day in the U.S. as PSB), and Lady Sovereign.

–Bad – Sadly, there is also new music on the horizon from Kid Rock and John Rich. (More on John Rich tomorrow)

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That’s My Jam

Posted by John on March 10, 2009
Posted in: singles, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , . 6 Comments

I could talk about the new Kelly Clarkson CD (pretty good), the FINALLY released Chris Cornell CD (maybe later this week), or another new Chris Richardson track from MySpace (not too shabby), but none of that is really inspiring me this morning. So as a warm-up (it’s 28 and snowing here today), here are a few tracks that I’m jamming to at the moment:

Pet Shop Boys “Did You See Me Coming?”

It’s as if the heavens opened up and sent a chorus of Neil Tennant angels down to Earth to serenade us. The song was released on Sunday as part of a PSB hits collection in England (thanks to Paul for the heads up), and I just can’t get enough. For those of you who haven’t checked it out yet, the new CD is available to hear at 7Digital.

Jesse McCartney “How Do You Sleep”

I missed this one on my first trip through the CD, but the reissue of Departure includes a new version with Ludacris that’s blasting up the pop radio charts. I don’t mind the Ludacris rap, but at the heart of the song is a killer hook that I hear at random times during the day.

Neko Case “This Tornado Loves You”

Neko first came into my view when her music was used on “Big Love”, but I didn’t really get it at the time. Trust me, I get it now. “Middle Cyclone” is a brilliant CD, and “Tornado” is a big highlight of the record. (Yes, there’s a bit of a weather theme here) I’ve also found myself listening to the half hour of tree frogs at the end of the CD several times in the last week. Apparently, tree frogs encourage concentration when studying. Go figure!