New Music

Okay...there's a lot of great music out right now, and I'm going to write about it. It's been a long, long time since I wrote about music. There's a picture of me---> in something like 1989 when I worked at KDMG. Note the "rose-colored glasses" I was wearing and hair pulled back into a poneytail...things were much easier in life when I was 21. But suffice it to say that I know music, I've got fair comment writing about it, and at one time people actually wanted to know and cared what I had to say about it.

Anyhow, Ozzy Osbourne has a new single out and it will be appearing on his box set of solo works, "Prince of Darkness". The song is a cover of "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain from 1970, and it sounds a lot like back 1969-1970 when John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne was first performing with a little band known as Black Sabbath. Well, Leslie West of Mountain plays on this tune, and he was noted to say recently that his band, Mountain, likes Ozzy's new version of "Mississippi Queen" better than their own and they've started performing it that way! Ozzy's new box set will be available March 22, 2005. It's also worth noting that "Mississippi Queen" is one of the hallmark classic rock songs featuring the COWBELL.

And continuing this discussion of classic rock, Robert Plant has a new single out called "Shine It All Around", and it's a pretty decent song, if not a predictable Plant offering. It's really catchy, though, and it's sure to be a hit. It will be on a new album available in the U.S. on May 10, 2005. The album will be called "Mighty Rearranger".

And on to the cool new tunes I've heard. The first is destined to be a classic for American Hi-Fi, a tune entitled "The Geeks Get The Girls". I like this band anyhow, and their last album "The Art of Losing" is a great piece of power-pop-neo-punk. The band is led by Stacy Jones, the former drummer of Veruca Salt. Perhaps there's a early `90's Chicago sound in this band, and that's what attracts me. Anyhow, American Hi-Fi's new album "Hearts on Parade" will be out in one month on April 12, 2005.

Okay...here's a band that's really tripping my trigger right now: Ted Leo + Pharmacists. I've been listening to this track called "Loyal To My Sorrowful Country", and it's just what I like--power pop with the occasional screaming guitars. The album will be called "Sharkbite Sessions", and it will be biggy. These guys have been around since the late `80's, but this will be the year that many first hear about them.

For those who appreciate neo-punk, there's a great new tune out called "I Predict a Riot" from Kaiser Chiefs. Right now there's just an EP called "I Predict a Riot" in the U.S., but the album "Employment" has already been released in the UK. It's very infectious, and it's not like Green Day--it's much more like The Clash, and that's a really GOOD thing. It's so great to hear good rock and roll amid all of the Jessica Simpson-type schmaltz that hits the charts these days. BBC One is saying Kaiser Chefs are going to be one of the biggest bands of 2005.

Here's a simply awesome tune, "Goodnight Goodnight" by Hot Hot Heat. I really thought I was listening to new Elvis Costello at first when this song started. I was listening to a new mix disc, and I didn't know who this way, I only knew that I LIKED IT A LOT. This is power-pop at its absolute finest, and I will be terribly surprised if I don't see this band on "Saturday Night" Live or a similar show in a few weeks. Hot Hot Heat are punks from Canada, and their third album will be called "Elevator"...it's due out April 5, 2005.

Another band from the Great White North (actually from Calgary, Alberta) that's sounding good to me these days is Tegan and Sara. They're releasing their fourth album, "So Jealous", and the song making the rounds these days is "Walking With A Ghost". I really like how the song starts out with acoustic guitars and starts rocking with a great bass line. This isn't your rocker girl-group sound like Veruca Salt or The Muffs, it's a really sweet sound you get from two sisters (twins, in fact).

I'll have more new music choices next month.