Album You Should Own By Now - The Virgins

The Virgins - The Virgins

The Black Kids + The Strokes = The Virgins

I first heard of The Virgins on Jimmy Fallon. They performed a while back and really impressed me. I decided to cop the album. It was definitely a good idea. The album is full of catchy, poppy and infectious tracks.

When I first started listening to the album I immediately thought they sounded like The Strokes, if the Strokes performed in the '80's. This album is perfect to blast at full volume with all your windows down crusiging down the highway....or just on your ipod. Either way, good.

Let the Virgins give you a soundtrack to your upcoming Summer. I know I will.

Enjoy.

"Rich Girls"


"One Week Of Danger"

The Virgins Site

Album You Should Own By Now - Rilo Kiley

Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight

I first reviewed this album on my old site, HERE. Notice how pretentious it was. "The layers were a treat to hear...", ass.

Under The Blacklight has silently slipped into the category of "album I can listen to at any time". There are albums I love but I really have to be in the mood to listen to, like 2gether, but this album I find myself listening to often. I can't really get sick of it.

Jenny Lewis is aa awesome singer & actress. The CD is full of great songs and you can put it on and listen to the whole thing without skipping. Plus, the songs are all about crazy topics..."15" is about a dude bangin a 15 year old chick, and"The Money Maker" is about strippers, so dudes, don't worry about listening to a band with a female lead singer. She's bad ass. This CD truly is amazing. Please check it out.

Plus the guitar player is "Joey The Rat" from Boy Meets World.

Proof:

"The Money Maker", click HERE. (Kinda NSFW)

Rilo Kiley |MTV Music

"Silver Lining"

Myspace

Enjoy.

Album You Should Own By Now - Black Kids

Black Kids - Partie Traumatic

You may or may not have heard of the Black Kids, but if you have its mostly how Pitchfork threw them under the bus. Pitchfork hyped the crap out of the Black Kids for months and months before their debut album came out, Partie Traumatic. Then once the album came out Pitchfork gave the album a 3.3/10 and the review consisted of no words. It was just a picture of two sad looking dogs with the words "Sorry :-/" written on top of the pix. You can see the "review" HERE.

I heard about the Pitchfork review and decided to check out the album. How bad could it be? Honestly? It's pretty awesome. The Black Kids have a very unique/retro '80's sound. If you want a fun album to rock out to this summer, try Partie Traumatic.

The album only has one or two weak tracks but the rest are all great. Here are two of my favorites:

I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance with You



Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)

Black Kids Website

Album You Should Own By Now - Adele

Adele - 19

(Amy Winehouse - Drugs) + Kate Nash = Adele

[Pronounced: A Dell. As in, I Want to get a new computer maybe A DELL]

When random artists win Grammys it never really makes me take notice. However, when Adele won "Best New Artist" I went out and got her album. No real reason. I was just looking to get some new music so I figured I'd give Adele a try. This may have been the best thing I've done all year. I got the album a couple weeks ago and I haven't stopped listening. Believe me when I tell you this, every song on 19 is amazing. Granted, some guys who have problems with their masculinity may not be man enough to listen to this album. Screw 'em, their loss.

Adele mixes great singing and great pop songs into a monster album. A lot of times when you listen to a female singer the songs are boring and are just a way to show off singing ability. Adele shows off her voice but leaves you with catchy songs that won't leave your head. If you've heard any Adele song it's probably her first single "Chasing Pavements". That song gives you a good feel for the rest of the album. If you like that song than definitely get this album. If you don't like that song than check yourself for a pulse.

"Chasing Pavements" [Sorry for the asian subtitles. Only version I could find to embed]


"Cold Shoulder"


*Bonus Adele video coming tomorrow*

Album You Should Own By Now - Kate Nash

Kate Nash - "Made Of Bricks"

(Jenny Lewis + British accent) x (Snarky lyrics / Lily Allen) = Kate Nash

I randomly posted one of Kate Nash's songs, "Mouthwash", as a "Video Of The Day" last week, and it made me remember how much I enjoyed her album. Kate Nash became famous due to the strength of her first single "Foundations", which really is the strongest song on the album. She also became well known for her popularity on MySpace, which helped her land a music deal.

Her songs are mellow but poppy and have wonderful stream of consciousness type lyrics. The majority of the album is very tight with only one or two skippable songs. Enjoy.

Two of my favorites:

"Foundations"


"Pumpkin Soup"

Kate Nash MySpace

Album You Should Own By Now - Q-Tip

Q-Tip - "The Renaissance"

(A Tribe Called Quest - superfluous material)^2 x (Critical Acclaim + 9 Year Hiatus) = The Renaissance

Chances are you were unaware this album was released, but chances are you will love it. In a time of ringtone rap songs and rappers not being able to actually rap, Q-Tip has released a masterpiece. Its rare anytime an artist releases a "whole album". Most likely there are 2 or 3, or 4 if you're lucky, good songs. The Renaissance probably has only 1 or 2 bad songs. Bad being relative to the rest fo the album.

I posted ManWomanboogie as a Video Of The Day a week ago so i'll post a different song here, but ManWomanboogie is one of the best tracks on the album.

Two more tracks to groove to:

"Gettin' Up"


"Move"

Enjoy

Album You Should Own By Now - Viva La Hova

Jay-Z Vs. Coldplay [Mash-up] - Viva La Hova

(The Grey Album - The Beatles) + Coldplay = Viva La Hova

If you like Jay-Z and Coldplay then there is no way you won't like this mash-up disc. I couldn't find a bad track on the whole album. The main concept behind a mash-up is taking the music of one artist and the vocal track of another artist and creating a totally new track. This disc has some of the best mash-ups you will ever hear.

Here are three of my favorite tracks:

"Life Of Clocks"

"Take The Hill"

"Miss Trouble"

Oh yeah, It's free. Enjoy.

VivaLaHova.com

Download Viva La Hova

Album You Should Own By Now - The Knux

The Knux - "Remind Me In 3 Days..."

[(Outkast - Atlanta) + New Orleans] x The Roots ÷ Liam & Noel Gallagher = The Knux

My two favorite tracks -

"Bang Bang"

"Cappuccino"

-Thank Me Later

The Knux Website

The Knux Myspace

Album You Should Own By Now - Colin Munroe

Colin Munroe - Colin Munroe Is The Unsung Hero

Who?....Colin Munroe, that's who.

His album kinda sounds like JT [Future Sexx/Love Sounds] (minus) wanting to take E and go to a rave (plus) "Pop-y" beats (plus) the satisfaction of telling all your friends you heard him first and he is "so last week"

Colin Munroe started getting some buzz for his amazing remix of Kanye Wests' song "Flashing Lights"

My two favorite tracks from this album are -


"Piano Lessons" (Feat. Joell Ortiz)


"Will I Stay" (Feat. Wale & Dallas Austin)

The best part of this album is that it's free. Not in that all albums are free *wink wink* kinda way, it's actually 100% free

You can download it HERE

Colin Munroe Myspace

Album You Should Own By Now - Girl Talk

Girl Talk - "Feed The Animals"



I forget how I came across Girl Talk, but if/when I remember I should definitely thank them. Girl Talk samples pop songs and creates all totally new songs. Think mash-ups. The songs are frantic and contagious to listen to. A friend who listened to Girl Talk, said "It's like a kid with ADD got a hold of my ipod". I don't think I could put it any better than that.

The best part is the album is free. Although, which album isn't nowadays. You can cop this jaunt HERE. The site has an option to pay...crap! Moral dilemma. With tough decisions I like to ask my self "what would Zack Morris Do?". Well....he'd probably download the album for free and sell it at school for $10 each, and eventually get busted by Mr. Belding.

Here is a fan video for the first track - "Play your part (pt. 1)"

Enjoy.