The major release is CONSOLERS OF THE LONELY by the Raconteurs, the other band of Jack White of the White Stripes. I would classify this as organic rock, not a lot of bells and whistles, just some tasty contributions by the Memphis Horns.
Another interesting marketing story, apparently this CD was finished only weeks ago. According to WIRED:
"We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and THEN marketing and promoting it thereafter," the band said in a press release, employing caps at will. "The Raconteurs would rather this release not be defined by its first week's sales, pre-release promotion, or by someone defining it FOR YOU before you get to hear it. Another purpose was to also allow people to have their own choice as to exactly which format they would like to hear the album in IMMEDIATELY, rather than having to wait for their favorite format to become available."
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/03/the-raconteurs.html
The sophomore album of PANIC AT THE DISCO claims to be influenced by Beatles, Dylan and Beach Boys, and the samples contain riffs and harmonies that those of us who came of age to Sgt. Pepper and Pet Sounds might recognize. I'll put it on the list for a full listen at Napster..
The name JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE got my attention. My suspicions were right, he's the son of Steve Earle, one of the most forthright guys in music, and he was named for Townes Van Zandt. This CD is unadulterated roots music,
"direct, fat-free and resolutely timeless...the subject matter is eternal: good love, bad love and the way either can lead a man to hit the road." Performing Songwriter
If you like your honky tonk unadulterated, this should be worth a listen.
For me the acoustic tracks had the most promise.
Here's his website:
http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/artists/...wnesearle/
and his myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/justintownesearle
Not a bad thing at all. Will probably check that one out, too.
There are some uptempo tunes but the groove is mostly mellow, definitely that spaced-out mid-60s feel as run through the successive four decades. I probably shouldn't have been listening to it while I was already tired, because I did get very, very sleepy. Also there are a TON of "bonus tracks", different versions of songs, on the iTunes download. (Not sure about other media.) The thing I really liked about it was all the songs were between 2 and 4 minutes long, a rarity these days, and pretty much a guarantee (to me, anyway) that there will be no extraneous repetition of choruses or beats+moaning. The Beatles influence was mainly symphonic noise in the back of some tracks, and some of the harmonies. The Beach Boys influence I didn't really get on the first listen, but I'm going to listen to it again and see what happens. Again, didn't really hear Dylan in there, but his influence tends to be lyrical and I never get lyrics on the first try anyway. 