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Dirty Projectors: "Stillness is the Move"

"Stillness is the Move" is the first single from this year's Bitte Orca, and I love it. And for a limited time, it's available for free in MP3 format from Domino.

I'm so excited about this album! See live footage of Dirty Projectors at SXSW at Stereogum.

Morrissey: Years of Refusal

Morrissey's Years Of Refusal is my favorite album of his for a long time; and, I love this, from Fluxblog:

Morrissey seems extremely comfortable in his skin these days, often coming across on stage and in the excellent covers of his three most recent albums as though he has waited his entire life to be exactly as old as he is right now. He wears his age very well, and it provides him with a bit of gravitas that serves him well, particularly when he sings his most petulant lyrics. His sex appeal now is actually quite similar to that of 30 Rock-era Alec Baldwin. Both men have a handsome, bearish quality, with substantial yet lean bodies capable of surprising grace. They both have very strong presences, and when you look at them, it’s hard not to picture a younger, softer version of their face buried just beneath the heavy masculinity of their adult visage.

This being the most obvious evidence of his being pleased with self, of course:

The-Dream: "Rockin' that thang"

I'm loving The-Dream's new album Love Vs Money : it's clever, funny, charming, and just really solid all round. Highly recommended!

Scissor Sisters: "Do the Strand"

I was getting fully prepared to dislike the Scissor Sisters' cover of "Do the Strand", from the latest War Child compilation: while I loved Scissor Sisters' first album, I was somewhat disappointed by their second.

But then, two things happened: one, I remembered how pleased I was hearing Scissor Sisters' cover of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" a number of years ago, and that what pleased me most, at first, was thinking of apoplectic Pink Floyd fans hearing the song for the first time, and ranting and raving about the song being absolutely destroyed for them; and, two, that when I actually listened to it, Scissor Sisters' take on "Do the Strand" sounded exactly like you'd imagine a SS take on "Do the Strand" to sound like, and that that was really quite okay, and if I'm being honest, very enjoyable.

Angel Deradoorian: "High Road"

I'm eagerly anticipating a new Dirty Projectors album this year, but Angel Deradoorian's The Mind Raft EP should help me to be patient (Deradoorian has been the bassist in the DP traveling band since the release of Rise Above in 2007).

You can hear "High Road" on Stereogum.

Vistoso Bosses: "Delirious"

I've been listening to this obsessively the past couple of weeks, and it may be my favorite new song of 2009, so far! It's so charming & lovely. Buy it from Amazon.

Plastic

It's a new year for pop music, and I'm both catching up on a couple of albums that didn't quite make it to my year-end favorites list--Ne-Yo, Ida Maria, and Alphabeat, specifically--and excitedly awaiting some of the albums coming out soon, like Lily Allen's It's Not Me, It's You, including "The Fear", which I'm loving.

Will Oldham and R. Kelly

I almost skipped the profile of Will Oldham in last week's New Yorker, mostly because I kept confusing him with Todd Oldham (I know, I'm dumb).

But so anyway, what got me interested was when I saw this while scanning the article:

And he played a police officer in "Trapped in the Closet," the multipart comic opera by the R. & B. singer R. Kelly, who is one of Oldham's favorites. [1]

And so, of course, I ended up reading the whole article. I'm easy: I might even read a New Yorker theatre review if it mentioned R. Kelly.

[1] The episode in question, by the way, was number 15, from the second series of episodes (also known as the episodes that really disappointed me).

Stone Roses: "I am the Resurrection"

A couple of years ago, this was one of the first songs I listened to in the new year. Today, by coincidence, it came on my iPod, now at the beginning of 2009. Well done, shuffle!

Here's a brilliant (though sadly shortened) live performance from 1989. (But wait, really: this was 20 years ago? Oh, dear.)

Britta Persson: "Cliffhanger"

I've been thinking about my favorite things in 2008, and while I'm not 100% there yet, I think Britta Persson's Kill Hollywood Me may be my favorite album of 2008. And "Cliffhanger," the first track, is fantastic seventies pop-rock.

(I also love the title track.)