Slices of Fried Gold - 9/25/08

I didn't get a chance to do this over the last few days due to tiredness and being occupied with other things, but I wanted to make sure to toss out my two cents on some new releases and a wonderful and ignored favorite. These all come highly recommended from me.

Music: TV on the Radio - Dear Science,

I've never been the level of fan of TV on the Radio as some have. Perhaps it's because I haven't listened to them a lot before. Perhaps it's because they never really were my style until now. Whatever the reason, right now, I love this album. It's been universally praised, but I want to throw my opinion on the pile as well. This is one of the best albums of the year, and it's highly unlikely that it will drop out of my top 10.

It's experimental rock that somehow manages to be catchy, it's somehow on the cutting edge and mainstream. It's everything at the same time. This is a must have for music lovers I feel.

Music: Cold War Kids - Loyalty to Loyalty

This album is rather divisive from other opinions I've read, but I'm just an absolutely huge fan of this bands sound. My friend Erik told me he didn't really get why they're a big deal (or something of the sort) and I said I loved them because their music was "dangerous and sexy." I'm not really sure what exactly that means, but I think if you listen to either of their albums you'll understand.

While it may not be another Robbers and Cowards and most reviews may be right about some things ("Avalanche in B" is a pretty bad song for the Kids), it still features the awesome instrumentals and bluesy vocals I love the band for. Until that formula changes and they start singing bubblegum pop, I can't imagine not digging their releases.

Music: David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything that Happens will Happen Today

This album doesn't get released until November 25th (two months from today) but that doesn't stop me from really digging it right now. I never would have checked it out if it weren't for advance reviews, but this album from the former frontman of the Talking Heads and the legendary producer is the best album ever to be released in the gospeltronica genre. Because...you know, there aren't any other entries.

But it's still a damn good album full of fantastic vocals, catchy tracks, and tons of soul baby. Who doesn't need a little of that in their life?

Comics: Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

I've recommended this in here before, but it needs to be said again: Criminal is a criminally under read (heyoooooo!) comic from a legendary team - Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips of Sleeper fame - and it perfectly encapsulates the pulp genre into the sequential art medium.

Also known as, Brubaker spins some great yarns about down on their luck criminal types, the women that love them, and the men that don't exactly, with Phillips doing his standard, perfect for the genre pencils. This is completely and absolutely one of the best five books on the market, and it's first two arcs (and collection of three individual stories) are out in trade paperback form. Plus, it's two issues deep in a new arc about a counterfeiter that's in love with a gangster's girlfriend.

It's sexy and dangerous, sort of like a Cold War Kids album.