The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady drops Heaven is Whenever next week. "Hurricane J" hits the Minnesota band's sweet spot. Stark the Vinyl Shark jumping with a cold one right now.

Song of the Week

The Tallest Man on Earth (aka Kristian Matsson from Sweden, not Barcelona) just released sophomore album, The Wild Hunt. The troubadour's voice lends himself to comparison's with Bob Dylan and his spare production is a folk-revival of sorts, although his songs are decidedly forward-looking in their ultimate tone. "King of Spain" is an excellent example of Matsson's vibrant finger-picking and vocal agility.

Five Things

Some random observations from the past couple days.

• "Welcome to the Plastic Beach" is Snoop Dogg's best track since his Nineties heyday. One of several great songs from Gorillaz' excellent new album.
• Drive By Trucker's The Big To Do is another solid collection of ragged country-rock stories.
• Cannot get this song out of my head. Been four months.
• Go is very good.
• The D Man is bummed that he missed Record Store Day on Saturday. Good deals on records. Special releases. Cool kids and posers alike hanging out just to be a part of the scene. But someone has to work and earn the cash to keep the record stores alive in the day and age of digital. So is The D Man's contribution.

Song of the Week

One of The D Man's all-time favorite songs from his early years is "Maneater" by Hall & Oates, the baddest white-soul duo since Lewis and Clark. The groovy bass line and mysterious keys and horns were just about the coolest thing from the early Eighties. Rip recently suggested that The D Man give a listen to The Bird and the Bee's interpretation "of the masters." Like he said, any band who wants to pay tribute to Hall & Oates is cool with me. Indeed.

Jónsi

Jónsi gets all prettied up for his "Go Do" video from his first solo album, Go. Can't blame him. Painting your face and embossing your clothes with feathers will do wonders for your singing career. Or at least it will make you look like a cockatiel. The D Man has written plenty about Sigur Ros and the group's supernatural powers. Jónsi flies into bright realms on his solo effort and embellishes "Go Do" with pop accoutrements galore. Sum total? A joyously original track.

Song of the Week

This Spring is turning into a great time of year for music lovers. With new albums coming out from The National, Broken Social Scene, The Hold Steady, LCD Soundsystem, and Band of Horses, there are plenty of good tunes to go around. The D Man is a big fan of Ben Bridwell and his friends--especially their high-pitched harmonies and accessible swirls of indie guitars. Check out "Compliments" from the band's forthcoming third-album, Infinite Arms, which dabbles in some countrified sonic space.