na: blonde redhead, oh no

A great day for new additions to eMusic, including Blonde Redhead, Oh No, Jens Lekman and other assorted goodies.

Blonde Redhead, 23: So it’s here three months late. Better than not at all, right? I was seriously disappointed by this record, and still am. Not nearly as organic or immediate as Misery as a Butterfly, which has slowly but surely become my favorite Blonde Redhead record, barely edging out Melody for Certain Damaged Lemons. “Publisher” is my favorite track on 23, and really the only one that I can full-bore get behind. The biggest bummer is that their best new song, “(We Are a Real Team) Harry and I,” got relegated to a UK-only B-side on the “Silently” single. Still, if you haven’t grabbed this one yet and you are a fan, have at it.

Oh No, Dr. No’s Oxperiment: At 28 tracks totaling 40 minutes, this is not the most economical album in the eMusic catalogue. It is, however, extraordinarily good. Oh No makes a string of psychedelic hip-hop soul instrumental vignettes that are stirring and divine. Highly recommended.

Jens Lekman, Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo: New single, a precursor to his new album, due in October, from the little Swedish singer/songwriter bumblebee. Light and breezy, very likeable.

Various Artists, Rekids One CD1: Todd, Mr. Electronic, will be covering this in more depth later this week, but the samples grabbed me fast and true, so I wanted to make some mention of it here. Based on what I’ve heard so far, this is some throwback house stuff, with the lead track, “Next Stop Chicago,” being really, really hypnotic. Will be listening to this at the gym today, for sure.

Department of Eagles, The Cold Nose: The full length. For more on them, go here.

Bipolar Bear, Man Mountain: Hey, I like Jesus Lizard, too! (I’m less enamored with the idea of sharing my band’s name with a Stone Temple Pilots song though; what, was “Dead and Bloated” taken?)(PS: I have a very soft spot for STP.)

The 1990s, Cookies: Lots of attention around this record, which I must admit I really do not like, despite the involvement of members of Yummy Fur, one of my favorite lesser-known bands ever. The 1990s are today’s Daily Download, so if you dig that, by all means go nuts. For the rest of you, though, do everything you can to hear this one classic Yummy Fur song called “The Canadian Flag.” Totally nuts.

Dave Davies, Fractured Mindz: New album from the looniest Kink.

Dizzee Rascal, Pussyole (Old Skool): Track digitally nixed from Maths + English at the last second due to an uncleared James Brown sample. Haven’t listened to this yet to see if they recut it or what the deal exactly is.

Soulive, No Place Like Soul: New Stax signing. Sounds like a decent R&B bar band.