New Music

So, some stuff has come up in my personal life that I won't really go into on here, but I wanted to comment a bit on two new CDs that come highly recommended.

1. Release the Stars by Rufus Wainwright

His first album since 2004's Want Two was supposed to usher in a different, more understated sound for Rufus, but instead of playing down his grand operatic qualities, he came back with this lovely, overstated album. It's my favorite of his so far, in keeping with the level of introspection (some may call it self-indulgence) of his past releases. Besides for the album-stopping "Between My Legs," the other two standouts are "Not Ready To Love" and "Slideshow," the former quiet and lovely, leading seamlessly into the bombast of the latter. The first single, "Going to A Town" is a thoughtful and challenging love letter to the United States. Rufus is a master at integrating his operatic sensibilities into his own uniquely intelligent brand of pop.

2. The Reminder by Feist

Unlike Rufus, with whom I've been familiar for several years by now, I wasn't aware of Feist (whose full non-stage name is Leslie Feist -- she's also the lead singer for Broken Social Scene, a band I'm not familiar with) before buying this album. Apparently, she made a splash amongst indie aficionados with her second album, Let It Die. I'm not familiar with that album, but I was alerted to her newest, The Reminder, by several close sources, and I haven't been disappointed. I had a hard time getting used to her unconventionally raspy voice at first, but the album as a whole grows on me with each new listen. Feist's songwriting skills are on vivid display here with this varied and impressive album. As with Release the Stars, my favorite sequence on this album is a segue from a subdued song into an upbeat one, more specifically the songs "Limit to Your Love" and "1 2 3 4," which also has a fun music video! This, along with Rufus's Release the Stars, is definitely one of those must-hear albums.