Monkeys, Stripes, and Nerds

It's been a week, I've had plenty of time to listen to and come to a conclusion about my recent music purchases. I'll start with the two that I bought as more of a whim and then get to the main course.

In particular order of appearance, we begin with the latest disc from The White Stripes. Based on the strength of the first single "Blue Orchid," and on the momentum of their last effort Elephant, I grabbed a copy to check out what Jack and Meg White had up their sleeves.

To say it's a rock album isn't really accurate, Jack White is a versatile musician who can take numerous genres and make them his own. The first track is no indication at all what to expect. It presents a rock element stemming from big hair heights, but is followed by twelve eclectic tracks which can't possibly pigeonhole the record. Honestly, I love the variety. I love the creativity Jack White cooks up here. The addition of piano and mallets adds a texture unrealized by myself on their first albums. Could anyone believe that just a couple of years ago hardly anyone had heard of The White Stripes?

Not now, this album's too great for them to drift off into obscurity. There's a bluegrass hint, a bossa nova gem, and a classic blues and honky tonk drawl that Jack White pastes all over every song. It oozes backyard southern summer rock and I love it.

The new Weezer album, Make Believe is their fifth, and probably their best out of the last three that have been released. Hard to believe that I was in high school when their first record make it's way to the radio, but it's true, and honestly, I get nostalgic when I hear their music. There's an emotional honesty Rivers Cuomo and the band thats been copied so many times in recent years, but it doesn't seem forced in Weezer's music. Tracks like "Hold Me," "Peace," and "Perfect Situation" are prototypical Weezer songs of that frustrated longing most of us have felt at one point in our lives, and identifying with such a theme has to be one of the reasons the band is so popular.

Either that or it's because their music is so darn cool.

Right now, one of the biggest things in Europe, apparently, is Damon Albarn's side project Gorillaz. A concept project with the entire band comprised of animated characters, Albarn's group is a rotating mixture of artists which on the last album included the legendary producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura. This time through, DJ Danger Mouse spins the wheels and pushes the buttons to form a hip-hop, pop, rock, electronic mixture that blends rather well.

The premise itself, maybe based on a failed attempt at a Gorillaz movie, is the group wandering across a post-apocolyptic landscape in outer space. It's gloomy, haunting even, but it's infectious. There's a video-gamey feel to the beats, the clicks and whirrs, all the backup vocals and guest stars don't feel stapled on, but blended seamlessly. It's great, imaginative stuff that I think anyone should check out just to see that there's something else out there besides just straight pop music. Watch for the Dennis Hopper cameo towards the end of the record, mad brilliance for a passage about a volcano.

All great albums, but I have to say that Coldplay's is the best of the latest. Will post that review later once I've complied the rest of my thoughts.