Maybe just one more time...

Kelly Clarkson has released the 1st single from her 3rd album My December! Against her label's wishes, Kelly is said to have written a good portion of the record herself describing the songs as "intimate, raw, and rock." If the first single is any indicator, her label has nothing to worry about. Here is Never Again and the remix which was curiously leaked before the single itself. Enjoy.



Never Again

Never Again (Dave Audé Remix)

Ghost Stories

I downloaded a few songs from a random itunes search a few months ago and never really gave it a thorough listen until the past couple of weeks. I do that sometimes and then I kick myself because I could have been listening to great music! I feel like I've cheated myself out of quality time with a good friend.



That good, if not newly acquired friend is Ben Cooper. These days he's going by Radical Face, while before he was the voice behind Electric President. His latest endeavor, Ghost, is a beautiful and emotive record with a rather thought provoking idea "What if houses had memories?" What if the stories of our lives were embedded into the walls, like the grooves of a record, meant to play out again and again. The songs on Ghost unlock these memories, reminding the artist of where he comes from, what's behind him. Whether it be the memories of the current inhabitants or of those who have come home after being away for too long, whether good or bad, the house remembers everything and will remind you if listen well.




From Ghost: Amazon ; itunes

Glory

Welcome Home

Winter is Coming

Bonus***

This guys pretty funny, read his blog entry about Selling Porn

and a short story from his official site.

Musical Penance

After yesterday's complete self indulgence in my own guilty little pleasure, it's time to try and earn back the respect of my peers. Just a quick post of two tracks from two different upcoming albums I and very excited about.

The first is from everyone's favorite Icelandic export, Björk. Her new album, Volta, is set to release May 7th, 2007 and the first single shows great promise. While the last full studio release, Medúlla, was considered a concept album, using only vocal talent to produce the music for the all of the songs, the new record is set to be much more commercially appealing. Björk is even enlisting the talents of hip-hop producer extraordinaire, and everyone's current go to guy for seriously killer beats, Timbaland. Now, don't mistake commercially appealing for bland or think that Tim's influence is going to change our swan dress enthusiast too much, just listen to the first single and I think you'll agree, this is distinctly Björk.




Björk - Earth Intruders

The second artist whom I am very excited to hear from again is the one and only Tori Amos. Except, it's not the one and only Tori Amos who's releasing the new album, American Doll Posse on May 1st, 2007. It seems Miss Amos has taken on a few extra personalities for her latest venture. The American Doll Posse consists of Tori, Isabel, Santa, Clyde and Pip. Full explanations of these personas are available at Wiki or look for more info at her official website. Be sure to check out the various blogs and web pages belonging to these songstresses themselves, proving that although Tori may be crazy-for-days, at least she commits. You can check out a couple of the sample tracks to stream at AOL music. Bouncing off Clouds (voiced by Clyde) is wonderful and if the other tracks are anything like the first single Big Wheel (voiced by Tori herself), the new album is sure to be an instant favorite of mine!


(Santa, Clyde, Isabel, Tori & Pip)

Tori Amos - Big Wheel

Enjoy and make sure you pick these up when they're released!

*** Links Updated. Just Right Click "Save As"

Apparently, I'm a Duff Man!

(Really diggin' the dark air)

I'm certain that as I'm posting this I'm losing serious music credibility with some, but that's the price you pay for being eclectic. And by "eclectic", I mean a 26 year old gay man who can't help but love a good dance track! So here's what I know about miss Duff. I know that she was once the reigning queen of Disney and she was at one time bitter rivals with one Lindsay Lohan. (P.s. I was totally Team Duff, frankly because she's much cuter than that no talent Lohan.) I also know that, though I absolutely despise that Chad Michael Murray prick, I love the shit out of "A Cinderella Story." (Jenn T, I Blame You!!) But until recently I didn't know much of her music. About a week ago I saw the music video for the first single from her new album, Dignity, and it really wasn't bad. Actually, I was humming it all over the place for the next few days, so I decided to check out the rest of the album. When did Hilary Duff start making really good electro-pop!? Now, hear me out before you de-friend me from myspace! Yes, it's pop music, but it's really well crafted pop music! The music is rich with Electro-synth fuzz like on the aforementioned 1st single, With Love, and beats reminiscent of 80's dance tracks like Debbie Deb's When I Hear Music on the slow and steady Burned. The lyrics may not be profound, but they are certainly more grown up than I've heard of her in the past, and with a voice as sweet as pulled taffy, you'll soon forget you're singing along to themes that we all hoped to be past by 19. Let's face it, we're all still angst ridden teens, we just have jobs now. Find comfort in an artist who understands and can help you forget your problems. Dance it out people!

Purchase Album from Amazon ; itunes .

A few of my favorites from Dignity :


(Alternate CD cover)


Download
(Tracks download at full quality, despite the jenky preview player sound)

With Love

Gypsy Woman

I Wish

** Bonus Track

With Love (Richard Vission vs Dave Aude Club Mix)

***

Download all tracks as a ZIP file