Our End of Summer Music Review/Revue

I know, I know. Another stupid blogger trying to do music reviews. In my defense, I'm not really reviewing anything. I'm sharing. Plus, there's this cute ratings system:

Crap in My Pants

Just Pee-Pee

Fresh and Clean

Ah-Goo

A Sofia Simone Classic

Smashing Pumpkins

Zeitgeist

The summer started out great. We were excited to see Billy and the Pumpkins at a little club in Asheville, N.C. They were going to play eight shows there. Our Internet connection failed us, so we had to stay home and console ourselves with the fact that James Iha didn't get to go either.

The album made up for all of it.

Common

Finding Forever

Billy Corgan's fellow Chicagoan is the King of Similes and clever, topical rhymes ("Drivin' herself crazy/ like that astronaut lady"). It's hard to be hard with separate references to the breakups of Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn and "Ryan and Reese" on the same album, but Common does it somehow.


Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Lifeline

I don't know why I've ignored Ben Harper for so many years. If you're black and play guitar, I'm usually your biggest fan. This is album is real soul.

Coconut Records
Nighttiming



I knew actor Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, Marie Antoinette, and the upcoming The Darjeeling Limited) was very funny. I knew he played drums in a group called Phantom Planet. I did not know his solo album under the name Coconut Records would be so enjoyable. If you like simple 1960s pop, try this. Plus, if you buy it directly from the label, Young Baby Records, you may just get an original Polaroid allegedly taken by the artist.
In the meantime, watch the video for my favorite song of the summer right here.

Prince

Planet Earth

I was really trying to enjoy the new Prince album. There are some good songs on there. But then Prince's evil henchmen had to remove from Youtube a sweet little video of my sweet little daughter dancing to the title track. Give me a mother-funking break, you control freak. You owe me. I've paid for more than one pair of your high-heels, so the least you could do is allow me to share video of my daughter dancing to your music. If you're worried about your image, maybe you should concentrate on eradicating Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic from all record stores, online and otherwise.

Mark Ronson

Version

Why is all the soulful, funky stuff coming from England? This is a very cool collection of covers that makes all three Van De Voordes get up and dance. Try it. You'll like it, but watch out for the Britney Spears cover featuring the legendary ODB rapping from the grave as "Dirt McGirt."

Do You Believe in Magic?

I do.