If you’re a Keane fan – their new album is very, very, VERY listen-worthy. It is distinctively them, but it is them good.

If you’re a Nelly Furtado fan – her new album is very confusing to me. But note that sell-out is not my choice of word, as others are saying.

If you’re a Gomez fan – then you know more than I do as this is my first Gomez purchase. A purchase that I am quite enjoying. And by quite enjoying I mean I almost can’t breathe during a couple of the songs.

So two thumbs way way up and one thumb that can’t figure out which way is up and which way is down. But more on that one later.

My top summer CDs right now are 1) Gnarls Barkley, 2) Daniel Powter and 3) Pink.

They are not the deepest most soul searching albums around (Powter seems to be getting slammed in reviews. Hello there is nothing wrong with just being FUN!!!! stupid idiots) but they are making me happy, bouncy and almost unable to keep from at least twitching if not outright dancing.

I can go elsewhere for life lessons; this is SUMMER, yo.

The latest albums (with my quickie impressions from one or two listens) from: Snow Patrol (like it but very much just “regular” rock, no innovations from 1st record); Pearl Jam (rocking OUT); Fiona Apple (jazzy); Dixie Chicks (haven’t sampled yet); and Paste Sampler 22 (not yet).

The mixmastered Grey Album was magnificent. Much better than the Black Album (Jay-Z). (Altho, of course, not QUITE as good as the White Album (do I need to tell you whose album the White Album is? If so, this may not be the blog for you…).)

I am in the midst of my first listen to the latest DangerMouse work: Gnarls Barkley “St Elsewhere”…and I love it. So much fun!!

After listening to the KEXP podcast of the Editors at SXSW, I completely changed my fickle little mind and decided to buy the album. I haven’t paid that much close attention to the lyrics YET, but after a few superficial listens, it is definitely exactly the kind of bitter, angry, plodding, yet mellow, kind of music I wanted to be listening to right now. It’s turgid…in a good way. Sweet.

And thus I am LOVING this pseudo-country album I bought in Australia:

The Audreys “Between Last Night and Us.”

I bought it purely for its cool cover with no idea what kind of music it contained or
whether I would like it.

Damn damn damn do I ever.

I am listening to Aussie Hip Hop right now and QUITE enjoying myself.

How is it that I had to just be messing around in iTunes to find out about this. I LOVE IT. It is making me very very very happy right now. Or the happiest I can be right now given the underlying I’m not happy.

Super fun, bouncy. BUY IT.

That is my advice for you this Friday, the 17th of March. That is all.

Normally I am all about the melancholy boys. But yesterday I got the new Beth Orton “Comfort of Strangers” and the finally-released-in-the-states KT Tunstall “Eye to the Telescope.” Add those to Cat Power and Jenny Lewis and it’s a very girlie month here in February, that it is.