The Useless Critic 2.0

Not even that far off from "Chemtrails Over The Country Club" being released this past March, Lana Del Rey dropped three new singles off her upcoming project, "Blue Banisters." They include the title track, "Text Book," and "Wildflower Wildfire." All three songs seem to merge the worlds of "COCC" with "Norman Fucking Rockwell," specifically Lana's mouthful of a track "Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me To Have But I Have It." They also seem uncharacteristically more confessional than most of Lana's catalog to date, specifically "Wildflower Wildfire," which alludes to a conflict with her mother. She even starts the track with "Here's the deal," readying to show more of her backstory than she ever has in her decade-plus-long career. The three songs are gorgeous - especially "Text Book," which has a haunting quality to it (she mentions "Black Lives Matter" i...

Dropping in with some (relatively) new music for you this Saturday. The first comes from a recommendation from one of my work friends. The band is Jadu Heart, and they make magical indie pop - slightly somewhere between folk and synthpop. It's good stuff. Their tracking "The Burning Hour" came out last month, and I meant to post about it, but of course I slept on it. Check out "The Burning Hour" below and if you're not converted like I was, IDK man.  Their album "Hyper Romance" is due out September 25th. And for our second part, my girl Annie has released her latest single off her upcoming album "Dark Hearts." It's called "The Streets Where I Belong," and if you can't sense the synthwave Bruce Springsteen homage from that title alone, WELL.  Seriously though - it's her best single (so far) from the album, and one of the best cuts in her catalog, which says a lot. Annie has a really stellar catalog, very few duds to b...

I still have a crush on him. Is that weird?- BK  The Killers “Battle Born” Review. By Zach Marmolejo (guest writer)  2/5 When The Killers first hit the scene in 2004 with their album “Hot Fuss” I was really excited about them. Here was this band that seemed to have captured the catchiness of 80’s songs and turned them into great pop rock songs that most everyone enjoyed.  Then lead singer Brandon Flowers discovered Bruce Springsteen’s back catalogue and wanted to somehow capture that for today’s audience. That effort turned into 2006’s “Sam’s Town” which left critics divided, but the fans ate it up. They returned to back to their 80’s synthy sound with 2008’s “Day and Age” and critics seemed to welcome them back and the fans once again ate it up. After 4 years of side projects and solo albums they are back, which is unfortunate for listeners. It seems that Flowers is trying to combine the sound of Springsteen’s early 70’s albums with what they were known for ...

I like the Bruce Springsteen version of this song, very much, to be honest. But Natasha injects a very kind of naked soul into it. For some reason, I listened to a lot of Bat For Lashes after I moved home. Peaceful music. When I was couchsurfing with my friend Max, he played her a lot after dinner or when we were just hanging out. Me, Max, Al. nice memories. I listened to BFL mostly, though, in Edinboro computer labs. While I think she's crazy talented, in most regards, this track sticks out for me. a lot (make that a drinking game...how many times do I use it in this entry? well whatever I'M WRITING IN HERE TO TAKE MY MIND OFF THINGS) tomorrow I start work! 

Friday is finished, and Saturday has started and soared toward sublimation. I didn't really mean to write the word sublimation. QATFYG: To be frank and simple, what is the most All-American Song? Is it simply going to be "Born in the USA" by Springsteen? NO. it just can't be. There has to be something less obvious. There must be something out there with more American Pizaaz and the touch of Jazz. Since this is me, and I love solo bass guitarists. I have to give this Stu Hamm arrangement of the Star-Spangled-Banner! Bitches! Perhaps I could switch now to adding in the song "This Land is your Land," and pick the variation by the Kingston Trio. I will not, and I will digress, but the Kingston Trio is a folk group that has been known to start quite a jubilation in my house. Or perhaps, we could all remember back to the song "America...Fu*k Yeah" from Team America World Police. Nope it has to be "American Pie" by Don McClean. It just has to be...