Idolator
Welcome to On The Shelf, Idolator's weekly look at the records hitting store shelves every Tuesday. After a brief hiatus occasioned by holidays and woeful new-release rosters, we're back; after the jump, we look at new releases from America, Stacie Orrico, Diana Ross, and Stars of Track and Field.
America, Here & Now
The artist: "Horse With No Name" troubadours who've hitched themselves to a cart filled with the likes of Ryan Adams and Adam Schlesinger.
The sound: Amped-up Americana.
The first in line: '70s revivalists, Fountains Of Wayne completists.
Stacie Orrico, Beautiful Awakening
The artist: Squeaky-clean pop singer who lists her influences as Jesus, Lauryn Hill, Ella Fitzgerald, and Whitney Houston.
The sound: Spunky, R & B-tinged Radio Disney fodder.
The first in line: Kids whose mothers think the Hyde-lurking JoJo is too wild of an influence.
Diana Ross, I Love You
The artist: The original Dreamgirl heads down the Rod Stewart cover-album path.
The sound: Soupy reworkings of "Always And Forever," "Take My Breath Away," and "You Are So Beautiful."
The first in line: Michael Jackson.
Stars Of Track And Field, Centuries Before Love And War
The artist: Blogger buzz band that got snapped up by Wind-Up.
The sound: A product of its Pacific Northwest surroundings: the electro beats of the Postal Service mixed with the massive guitars of Built To Spill.
The first in line: Bloggers who forgot that they downloaded this album last spring.
On The CD Front [Pause & Play]
Comments
America should have stayed true to their last successful bandwagon jump (namely the last-gasp yacht rock of "You Can Do Magic").
Speaking of which -- thank you, YouTube.
why, oh why has my employer blocked YouTube?!?!
"...when you hypnotize with your eyes, a heart of stone can turn to clay..."
semi-related, but mostly off-topic question:
does "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller count as yacht rock? a friend and i disagree on this. i say yes.
New wave yacht rock, but yes, yacht rock. And once again YouTube, though I hate to torment you further with your employer-blocked situation.
Although arguably the greatest/weirdest single-and-video Miller ever did was for "Bongo Bongo". I can't believe this actually made top 40.
"America" rehabilitated? Please, Dear God, don't let the hipsters attempt to rescue Seals and Croft...
I played a show with Stars Of Track And Field as openers. The guys were nice but seemed like rich pretty boy wusses. The crowd was into our band more than theirs for some reason. They are a trio with backing tracks. Not great but not terrible either.
"Stars of Track and Field" ha.
Very ironic after all this talk of Perfectly Legitimate Artists who shall Remain Nameless getting called "middling indie."
Because then we get these guys, presented without sarcastic comment, and I go and listen to them, and its some kind of cross between Coldplay-lite and a Postal Service cash-in two years too late. Oh and the top line of their "about me" is a gushing blurb from....
VH1.com!
also
Uzi">http://www.myspace.com/benshepard">Uzi and Ari are far-superior Postal Service ripoff-artists, if you're into that.
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