5 recent album purchases that you should actually buy too

Beck -
Guero

When Beck is on, he is ON. This is essentially a 1930's river blues album made with a Powerbook instead of a washboard. A little digital sounding in places, but even that is tweaked into 80's video game bliss. A fun album, and a throwback to Beck's earlier work.

The New Amsterdams - Worse for the Wear

When Matthew Pryor isn't frontman for the Get Up Kids, he makes more excellent music - though it's taken a while to tune his stripped down style. 2000's Never You Mind was forgettable. What a difference a few years make. There isn't a song on Worse for the Wear I don't love. A great album to listen to all the way through. Such sincerity in Pryor's voice, makes you wonder why Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carabba gets all the angsty singer/songwriter attention.

New Order - Waiting for the Sirens' Call

When Substance landed in my hands in 1987 it became a soundtrack for my life. New Order released a few solid albums in between now and then, but this album is a perfect bookend to Substance. Krafty is an ode to the Kraftwerk sound that New Order began playing with back when they were Joy Division, but with that trademark electric sheen and airy vocals. It's a must album have even though the first half of the album outshines the last half.

Kanye West - The College Dropout

Every once in a while a hip hop album comes along that flashes suburban white folks like me a glimpse into a world I don't experience on a daily basis AND sounds amazing while doing so. I think it was planted in my car stereo for a month. Plus Talib Kweli and Jay-Z guest on the album.

Handsome Boy Modeling School - White People

This one is a bit eclectic. It's really the Boys with a stream of guests including Jack Johnson, Fr. Guido Sarduchi, Pharell and many more. Not satisfied? How about a lyric-free version of this album so you can drop your own rhymes over those Handsome beats. Not for the faint of heart.

Whew! I haven't written so much about music since the days when Musicrag was up for a Bloggie. Have a groovy weekend.

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