The Sounds of Sy Sperling

when it comes to new music, Thighland is a bit behind on the lamest and greatest (plus all our time is eaten up by movies and JOing to Ed Westwick), but thanks to a poo recent releases by sum of our more flavorite artists, our silence hath been broken!!

Flight of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords
[buy @ Amazon]

It may be a bit early to proclaim the Conchords full length debut the album of the year, with new LPs from t.A.T.u., Ace of Base and Dexys Midnight Runners yet to drop, but we’re willing to stick to that claim as we’re sure to be rocking this disc well into the NFL season, and cause it’s so udderly FRANZtastic, for the rest of our lives. If you haven’t seen the show, stop what you’re doing and watch all of them NOW. It’s the only thing worth getting HBO for, besides using John Adams as a sleeping aid. Even if you haven’t seen the show, it shouldn’t prevent you from taking a flight with these brilliant Kiwis, who’ve found the perfect middle ground between Weird Al and Tenacious D. So strap on your business socks (cause it’s business time) and rawk out ‘Inner City Pressure’ [vid] + the 14 other jammy gems. The only thing missing (besides ‘If You’re Into It’ and ‘I’m Not Crying’, which were on their EP The Distant Future) is no bonus track love for The Crazy Dogggz’ ‘Doggy Bounce’. Guess we’ll have to wait for their full length, which will probably be the album of whatever year it gets released

Gnarls Barkley
The Odd Couple
[buy @ Amazon]

Throwing a soiree and have only lame white music to throw on? Gnarls Barkley’s second venture is the answer to all your problems, cause it’s an instant party itself. While it may not have any sure fire ‘Crazy’ hits, it’s more of a cohesive effort than St. Elsewhere, an album we’re sure most have long abandoned due to over overplaying it. We dare you to overplay this one: ‘Going On’

The Raconteurs
Consolers Of The Lonely
[buy @ Amazon]

Jack White is a lot like White Castle hamburgers, you either love em or you don’t, cause there’s no middle ground. For those of us on the right side of the fence, we welcome anything churned out by the former upholstery man, as anything he constructs is sturdy and built to last (although we miss thinking about Meg’s boobs when he’s not Stripe-ing). Like with Gnarls’ sophomore effort, Consolers is a more complete album than its predecessor, Broken Boy Soldiers. It also furthers our belief that JW’s voice works best when accompanied by piano or brass instruments. Listen up to a song that has both: ‘The Switch & The Spur’

R.E.M.
Accelerate
[buy @ Amazon]

A: Up, Reveal and Around The Sun.

Q: What are the last three R.E.M. albums that everyone’s been recently dogging in print when reviewing their ‘return to form‘ 14th album Accelerate, yet are each munch butter than it?

Alas, R.E.M. is incapable of releasing bad music, and clocking in at 34:39, Accelerate breezes by so quickly, you won’t have time to waste trying to figure out where this one ranks amongst their other albums. We juss hope there’s a #15. Bi the gay, the album’s artwork was created using some of Michael Stipe’s photography

Moby
Last Night
[buy @ Amazon]

Moby’s best album was called Play. We wouldn’t say that Last Night is his worst album (Animal Rights anyone?), but it coulda easily been named Stop. It gets off to a rousing beginning, with ‘Ooh Yeah’, but then drags on and on with soul-try diva after diva, handing in more snoozefests than an bedridden John Adams (we’l
l never stop with the J-Ads shiz). ‘Ooh Yeah’ reminds us of his collaboration with Debbie Harry on ‘New York, New York’. He shoulda done more of that than ‘Snooze York, Snooze York’. Mobes, peas, juss stick with the stadium anthems

Joe Strummer + Various
The Future Is Unwritten Soundtrack
[buy @ Amazon]

We know you didn’t see the yumcredible doc about Joe Strummer’s life [TWS review], and thus we know you haven’t sought out the accompanying soundtrack. Obviously there’s something wrong with you, so start with the film and then grab this disc, which includes rare Clash and other Strummer-related songs + tunes he rocked out to on his BBC World Service radio show, London Calling. We don’t know where Racid Taha’s desert take on ‘Rock The Casbah’ falls into the mix, but it rox

Carole King
Tapestry (Legacy Edition – 2 CD)
[buy @ Amazon]

We’re totally gay for Carole King. She’s written more hits for other people then you could ever imagine, and she’s been our hero ever since she lent her pipes to Maurice Sendak’s stories with Really Rosie. On Tapestry, she allowed herself to sing her purty songs, and what songs they are! Ever hear of ‘I Feel The Earth Move’, ‘You’ve Got A Friend’, ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ and ‘It’s Too Late’? Well, they’re all included here on this beyond must own classic, which has juss been re-released with a bonus disc of live piano-voice renditions of all the songs in the original album’s order. Here’s a vid clip of her kicking the jam that is ‘Natural Woman’

Various
Juno Soundtrack
[buy @ Amazon]

The movie is whatevs dot whorg, the soundtrack isn’t. Somewhere Wes Anderson’s pissed, cause someone made a fantabulous Wes Anderson soundtrack for a non-Wes Anderson movie. Now if only he’d worry about more important things like making his own non-Wes Anderson movie… hint, start by not including Owen Wilson. Wes, just remember that I love you