America actually got it right this week on American Idol, by sending Jason Castro home, where, let's face it, he wanted to be anyway. Somehow, Jason didn't seem to care anymore either way, with rumors running around that he was weirded out by all the attention/fame he's been getting lately (150 balloons, random affection from female fans). Jason should have gone weeks ago, but now, the lone girl (Syesha Mercado) and the two Davids are in the final stretch.
It was Rock and Roll Hall of Fame week and there was really nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary other than Jason screwing up the one Bob Dylan song I learned in high school ("Tambourine Man"), and later doing a version of "I Shot the Sheriff". David Cook did "Hungry Like the Wolf", by Duran Duran, and all I could think about was Duran Duran doing the song overlaying his version. Later on, he did "Baba O'Riley" by The Who, and that was much better and much more suited for his style. And for the most part, it really seemed like another pretty comfortable week for David.
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The Black Keys - Attack and Release
Nonesuch Records (4/1/08)
Blues-rock
The story goes like this: Danger Mouse, über-producer for the '00s, was working on an album with rhythm & blues & spousal-abuse legend Ike Turner, and tapped the modern stripped-down psychedelic-blues duo The Black Keys for a few tracks. Once ol' Ike shit the bed, the project was scrapped. Realizing that they'd struck relative paydirt by combining the low-fi sounds of the Keys with the mind-bending soundscapes of the Mouse, a full-album collaboration was in order.
Once news of this hit, fans of both acts collectively had a simultaneous geekgasm that likely gummed up many a keyboard. The album was set to drop April 1, but it wanted to be cool like the rest of the new albums and get released early. So us Pavlovian geeks dutifully went out and downloaded Attack and Release as soon as it became available. And guess what? It sucks.
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