New Music to Check Out

Even when I am ultra-busy, I still have to find time to listen to music, even if it is mellow background music while I'm reading. So here's what I've been listening to lately...

Memphis - A Little Place in the Wilderness. I am a huge fan of Stars and Metric, and now these two bands are putting out a series of solo and collboration albums, which is great as a fan, but not so great for my pocket book. Amy Millan of Stars put out an excellent country-tinged solo album a few months ago and now Torq Campbell has teamed up with Metric guitarist Chris Dumont, alling themselves Memphis. This album doesn't leap out at you at first, but it has grown into one of my fave albums of the year. Very atmospheric and dream-like.

Emily Haines - Knives Don't Have Your Back. Emily Haines is the singer from Metric and this album is a big departure from Metric's blend of New Wave synths and crunching guitars. Here, Haines' voice and piano are front and centre, with various other instruments and electronic textures in the background. This album just gets better and better every time I hear it.

Bob Dylan - Modern Times. Zubazz has said his dad would rather hear the toilet flush than listen to Bob Dylan and I must admit that his voice can be an acquired taste. I remember my first impressions of Bob Dylan were when I watched David Spade and Dana Carvey parodying Tom Petty and Bob Dylan on Saturday Night Live. However, over the years I got to appreciate what a great songwriter, and yes... singer that Dylan is. People like Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith, etc aren't techically great singers per se, but it's the way they can't sing. Their voices are unique. There are lots of R' n 'B divas who have stunning voices... but when you hear their voices on the radio, can you actually differentiate them? I don't think so. But anyways, Dylan's new album continues his decade long career revitalization following Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft. On this album, his band is front and centre, featuring mostly rollicking blues numbers. Plus he name-checks Alicia Keyes, which isn't quite as weird as that sounds.