Buried Treasures & Opinions on The New Pornographers

Buried Treasures: With more than 100,000 records released every year, it's easy for some gems to fall through the track. This week Jim and Greg unearth some of their favorites.

Buried coin
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Music News

Only five months ago Apple purchased the online music site Lala.com, and now they've announced it's shutting down. While it was never clear that a streaming music model would fit into Apple's iTunes download model, they did spend more than $80 million, so it is a bit of a head-scratcher. As Jim and Greg explain, this move has prompted speculation that Apple will soon be launching its own streaming music site, and just wanted to get rid of its competition. Regardless, it's clear that soon we'll all have our head in the "clouds."

Roger Waters, the bassist, lyricist and some might say "brains" of Pink Floyd, recently announced an upcoming tour marking the 30th anniversary of The Wall. He's now saying that fellow Floyd alum David Gilmour won't be along for the ride because he's "completely uninterested." It's clear now that we shouldn't be holding our breath for a Pink Floyd reunion, and according to Jim, maybe we shouldn't want one. Syd Barrett and Rick Wright are both deceased, and there can be no Pink Floyd without them.

Black Eyed Peas

Just when you thought there would never be another blockbuster music group in the digital age, The Black Eyed Peas have come along with more proof to the contrary. Their song "I Gotta Feeling" just became the biggest selling digital track in history with more than 5.5 million downloads. Their 2009 track "Boom Boom Pow," is also in the top 5. As Rolling Stone asserts, this is the band of the moment, and they are doing it 21st century style-with lots of viral marketing, digital music sales and corporate sponsorships. Another 21st century force to be reckoned with is Lady Gaga. Her own video for "Telephone," has become a sensation, all while spawning a number of video viral copycats. The latest comes out of the 82nd airborne division in Afghanistan. Their version of "Telephone" has been viewed over 2 million times, and for Greg, it trumps the original.

Buried Treasures

Every few months Jim and Greg like to shed the spotlight on some underappreciated bands and albums. This is music that doesn't get a lot of press or mainstream acclaim, but deserves your attention. Enjoy this most recent batch of Buried Treasures:

Jim

  • The Big Pink
  • Titus Andronicus
  • Damon and Naomi
  • Puerto Muerto

Greg

  • Retribution Gospel Choir
  • Dessa
  • The Fall
  • Dum Dum Girls

Together The New Pornographers

Together

The New Pornographers have a new album called Together. But Jim wonders if the title is ironic. The band includes A.C. Newman, Neko Case and Dan Bejar -- all successful solo artists in their own right. And he doesn't get the sense that they really came together for The New Pornographers record. He doesn't hear energy or inspiration, and gives the supergroup a super Trash It rating. Greg, on the contrary, didn't hear anyting patchwork about Together. That's the band's great trick. What does hold them back is Newman's oblique lyrics, which make it difficult to make an emotional connection to the songs. That said, the music is beautiful, exuberant and a Buy It.

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