Posted on: Monday, March 26, 2007
These CD singles are worth buying
By Mark Beech
Bloomberg News Service
British singer Joss Stone, Australian rocker Nick Cave and American veteran Iggy Pop have more in common than it seems.
The trio, with respective ages of 19, 49 and 59, are releasing songs which may show that the CD single is not dead.
For those who want to save quality time and valuable cash, here's a pick of the best:
Joss Stone, "Tell Me 'Bout It" (Relentless/EMI): The British diva drags Motown kicking and screaming into 2007. Take this three-minute slice of soul and leave Stone's party before she gets boring on her CD, "Introducing Joss Stone."
Grinderman, "(I Don't Need You to) Set Me Free" (Anti/ Mute): Cave and members of his Bad Seeds resurrect the garage-rock menace of The Stooges. Note: Cave recorded the "Grinderman" album from which it comes in a five-day frenzy, throwing caution and quality control to the winds, then told his record company he is "old enough to know better."
The Stooges, "Trollin' " (Virgin): This song kick-starts the first new studio LP in 34 years for Iggy Pop's band. The first jam could be an impressive outtake from 1973's "Raw Power."
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Satan Said Dance" (Wichita): Brooklyn-based singer Alec Ounsworth's yelping style is hard to take for all 49 minutes of CD "Some Loud Thunder." It adds studio cacophony to the homemade simplicity of the band's self- distributed debut from 2005. This five-minute highlight says it all, with a superbly deranged disco coda.
Yoko Ono and Cat Power, "Revelations" (Astralwerks): Ono's name still produces reverence and anger. Yet if Ounsworth's vocals are annoying, Ono's shrieks can be worse. This track quietly works, with Cat Power smoothing the rough edges. On Ono's new remix collection "Yes, I'm a Witch," she also has collaborations with Peaches and Craig Armstrong.
Air, "One Hell of a Party" (Virgin): Jarvis Cocker supplies lead vocals for this classy morning-after reflection. Air, a French duo known for ambient melodies, turn so cool on the rest of "Pocket Symphony" that it's positively glacial.
