Jimmy Fallon, was able to snag a very high profile guest for his show this past Tuesday with President Obama joining him on his Late Night show. Before sitting down for an interview, Obama dazzles the crowd by joining Jimmy for a round of Slow Jam the News. I may not be a huge fan of his policies, but I really enjoy his personality and the way he interacts with the public. He just seems like a good man, that loves his family and loves his country. Thanks to Jimmy’s creativity, Obama’s stone cold presence, and the Roots sweet jams, it is a pretty fun clip.
My most anticipated album of the year is the new album one from the Beach Boys, set to be released on June 5th by Capitol/EMI. Tuesday night they kicked off their marathon 50th Anniversary Tour in Tucson and played 42 songs, including the title track off the upcoming record, “That’s Why God Made the Radio.” The new single, the first in over 20 years (unless you wanna count the Brian Wilson-less “Summer in Paradise”), was released yesterday and you can listen to it right here. These old guys still got it and are here to remind us that nobody harmonizes like The Beach Boys.
Each month the Amazon MP3 Store will put 100 albums on sale for $5 a piece for the entire month. Amazingly each month there are tons of great albums to choose from, from both mainstream artists and lesser known indie groups. There’s a lot of great deals each month and for most people it’s hard to know which albums to go with. So I have decided to give you my top 5 choices out of the bunch each month. (I decided to disqualify Greatest Hits albums from making the list.) I obviously haven’t heard every single album on sale here, so if there is another album you would like to recommend please share it in the comments. Hope you enjoy some new cheap music.
This is the debut album from The Shins, the band made famous by Zach Braff and Natalie Portman in the soundtrack of ’04 indie cult film, Garden State. If you’ve only heard the two songs from this album that were included on the Garden State OST, then you are missing out.
This is the indie-electronica outfit’s 5th studio album, but the first record of theirs that really hooked me and made me a fan. I think this is an absolutely perfect album for an autumn drive. So get it while it’s cheap here in the Spring and you’ll thank me come October.
Radiohead – OK Computer
Many people consider this the greatest album of the 90′s. Depending on the day, this is my favorite Radiohead album. I am pretty partial to The Bends, as it was the first album of theirs that I fell in love with. But it is hard to ignore the brilliance of this record. If you don’t own it, you need to snatch up this deal right away.
There are a lot of albums that have come out over the past couple of years that were labelled as surf-rock and among those albums, I thought that the debut from Best Coast was by far the best. They are kind of like a garage band version of the Beach Boys without the harmonies and a female vocalist. I am a fan and think you should be too.
These guys are indie rock. This is a subtle rock album. It took some time for me, not quite as catchy as their previous releases, but it is great album, that I think is worth a listen.
I was recently turned onto this stellar cover of a gorgeous, but slightly creepy, Morrissey tune off of his ’94 album Voxhaul and I. The more I listen to this girl, the more I am hooked. So far, Sharon can do no wrong in my ears.
