One has the lyrics as fragmentary comments on the English Civil War, which ran from 1642 to 1651, and there is definitely the notion of armies in motion and marching reflected in the verses. Another theory takes the lyrics as the literal description of a town that has gone mad due to ergot poisoning (ergot is the mold that attacks rye, and is a principal ingredient in LSD), although there seems to be no medical or scientific evidence that such an event has ever taken place. A third theory (and perhaps the most plausible one) holds that the song is actually the fragmentary remnant of an ancient mummer’s play in which the actors would reverse their clothes, then walk and talk backwards, which would possibly explain the many contradictory symbols in the lyrics. Whatever the theory, the true meaning of “Nottamun Town” is probably forever lost in the march of time itself, but as a haunting, mysterious and ultimately unknowable ballad, the song has survived and proliferated, with recorded versions having been done by Jean Ritchie (her renditions are the source of all the others), Fairport Convention, Bert Jansch, Pentangle, Judy Collins, Jackie Washington, Shirley Collins and Davey Graham and Green Man. Bob Dylan used the melody of “Nottamun Town” for his song “Masters of War,” and while Dylan’s tune is hardly as elliptical as its source, it retains some of the emotional power of the original.

Jean Ritchie - Nottamun Town
Fairport Convention - Nottamun Town
Bob Dylan - Masters of War

Beck, “Chemtrails” (Listen to it here)
AK: Not 100% contemptible.
HP: High praise, Andy.
STE: Well, anybody expecting a bit of crazy Gnarls-funk from Beck when he’s working with Dangermouse will be disappointed, I suppose.
HP: Does that mean you didn’t like it, Tom?
STE: No, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it at all — I’m a fan of Beck in his spacey psych mode.
MC: This kind of reimagines his Serge Gainsborough fixation.
JL: I love it. Beck seemed on the decline, starting with Sea Change, but this shows him trying to be inventive. Dangermouse is a perfect producer for him.
STE: I really like Sea Change, but I see where you’re coming from Jason — the last two felt a bit like Beck trying to be Beck, for better or worse, but this sounds a bit like moving forward. It’s not greatly removed from Mutations — a record I like very much — but he’s working with a producer who really likes to take advantage of psychic landscapes, so it really works.
MC: I’m not nuts about it really. It’s okay, but I feel like I’ve heard a ’90s indie band do this better.
HP: I still feel like this is Beck’s take on, say, Grizzly Bear. It’s a good adaptation of that sound though.
AL: I like this. Doesn’t sound like him, in my opinion, but I still like it. Maybe now I can forgive Beck for playing Bonnaroo 2006 and only allowing the Jumbotrons to film the tiny marionettes that he had dressed up to look like his band. Which was inventive, but not fun to watch for 2 hours.
MC: It’s really dopey.
AK: “Never as Tired as When I’m Waking Up.”
HP: Heh, yes Andy.
AK: And now I’m hearing in my head Beck’s own version of “Losing My Edge”: “Curved Air, Aphrodite’s Child, Meddle…”
JL: I didn’t recognize his voice at all the first time I heard it. This coming from someone who owns all of his albums.
HP: That’s true, he’s singing more than he has since Sea Change, and not doing so much of the stoner drawl.
MC: Yeah, definitely fits into the Beck tradition of trying to not sound like himself.
HP: I dunno, this is less collagey to my ears than what Beck normally does (which of course changes from album to album).
JL: I really like the pretty voiced Beck, but I do kinda miss the carefree days of “Satan Gave me a Taco.”
STE: Yeah, I’m afraid he’s never going back there again.
JL: Hard to say what the whole album will sound like. I’m expecting collagey.
HP: Good point, this could be the only psych-pop jam on the whole album.
AK: Not sure whether I love or hate that plastic Carol Kaye bassline.
HP: I like the big, rolling bassline. The phased “Itchycoo Park” drums are also boss.
JL: True that.

Jessica Simpson, “Come On Over” (Listen to it here)
AK: Who is going to fall for this? Jessica Simpson fans who don’t otherwise listen to modern country?
MC: I think Jessica Simpson is just following her idol Jewel’s lead.
STE: Nobody is going to fall for this — the great hidden secret of Jessica Simpson’s career is that nobody likes hearing her sing.
JL: I just saw Employee of the Month on Sunday. I have to say I like her acting more than her singing. That said, the movie was not very good.
AL: Is that the movie starring her and Dane Cook?
JL: Sure is.
AL: That sounds terrible.
JL: Better than expected. Not terrible. Merely painful.
HP: Her voice! It burns!
MC: But I can’t turn away!
AL: So first she did gospel, then teen-pop, now country?
AK: Keep those four wheels spinnin’ fast.
STE: No, and this is actually more interesting than her pop albums, which are utterly boring apart from “I Think I’m In Love With You,” which is pretty great pop.
MC: It’s not a bad song though — as far as contemporary country pop goes.
HP: Yeah, everything about this song EXCEPT Jessica is OK country pop.
STE: I actually don’t think it’s that great as a song — it’s not that country, it feels like it was written for an audience that doesn’t listen to either country or pop.
AK: Let’s get these kids who hate pop and country — that’s an unserviced demographic in which to tap.
MC: But isn’t that THE new country audience Tom?
STE: Yeah, I suppose it is — and it has been for a while now — but I feel like it misses the notes. The lyrics are clumsy and it’s not that hooky.
HP: Tom, I could see a more accomplished singer, even Kellie Pickler, selling that song. Even if it’s not up to country pop standards.
STE: I could see accomplished singers pulling it off — it’s not a horrible song, just not a great one, which makes it fine for pros. But Jessica is not a pro.
HP: A song nobody wants from a singer nobody wants to hear.
JL: Side question: Is the fourth song on her MySpace, “Boy,” sampling the Cars?
AK: Hell yes it is sampling the Cars, if not replaying it.
AL: She also sampled “Jack and Diane” for one of her earliest hits.
STE: “I Think I’m In Love With You” is the one that has Jack & Diane.
AL: She also did a cover of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away.”
HP: Yes, I wrote a song review of that. It’s so bad — way worse than this. Believe it or not, this is an upgrade from that (but not from “A Public Affair”).
AL: Terrible song. They tried to promote it during “Newlyweds.”
STE: Yeah, the worst thing about this is that she’s a terrible, terrible singer. “A Public Affair” is about as good as she gets.
AL: Who would’ve thought that Ashlee would eclipse her older sister?
STE: Ashlee shows more personality on record — Jessica is a blank slate.
MC: A really hot blank slate.
AK: Blank slates are pretty cold.
AL: Pssh, Ashlee’s way hotter than Jessica.
HP: They’re both ciphers. Moving on?
MC: Hot ciphers!
STE: Eh, they’re not as hot as they should be. They’re perfect hotness for the W era — they give the illusion of being hot, but there’s no there there.
AL: I wonder what Daddy Simpson has to say about her new direction.
STE: Her dad loves it — she’s from Texas after all, so she’s got some country in her!
AL: Jeff Archuleta is the new Joe Simpson.

Robin Thicke, “Magic” (Listen to it here)
AL: “Magic” is the song Blake Lewis wishes he’d written. And that’s my last Idol-related comment of the day.
AK: Sticking with the temperature theme, Thicke goes hot and cold with me, but this is on the warmer side.
JL: So, for the uninformed, who is this guy?
STE: Alan Thicke’s kid!
MC: Robin Thicke is the Klaus Nomi to Justin Timberlake’s David Bowie.
HP: No! He’s not nearly wild enough to be Nomi.
STE: Totally agree — nothing about Thicke is wild.
AK: He got better once he ditched the fourth-member-of-Color Me Badd look, and he’s getting even better now, apparently. Oh, wait, there WERE four members of CMB. Sorry, Sam.
STE: This is the first time Thicke has really clicked for me — I think the production is really great, warm and filled with great retro touches without being too reverent, and he sounds good, really soulful.
JL: Mike Seaver is bringing it.
AK: He’s not trying too hard — that is key.
STE: Yeah, he’s not trying to sing too hard — I really like that there’s not too many extraneous runs.
JL: He’s pulling out some Marvin Gayeisms — “hoos!” and bongos.
AK: Very heavy ’70s Marvin Gaye, yeah — a running thread for him. He’s got the Gaye-type backgrounds down, too.
MC: I dig this of course. I’ve always though Robin Thicke is kind of his own inside joke.
AL: So it’s safe to say that we all like this, yes?
HP: Yeah, I think so!
AK: Hopefully this album won’t be too self-consciously eclectic. “I have 70 minutes, and I’m missing some samba.”
STE: Yeah, this is pretty great — really surprised by it. If he keeps this low-key vibe on the whole album, it could be really cool.
MC: Also, there’s really nobody else out there like him right now.
HP: Has he been producing much for anyone else lately? I was just curious because this seems a lot less contrived than the other stuff I’ve heard that he’s been associated with — was wondering if he was sharing the newfound maturity with anyone else.
AK: He has had some guest appearances — the Usher album, for instance. He’s shown flashes of this with a couple singles and album tracks, I think, but not to this extent.

The Stills, “Being Here” (Listen to it here)
AL: “Being Here” is yet another change for this band — first they were playing trendy New York rock, then they moved into heartland territory, and now this is something along the lines of U2 … which, of course, means I like it.
MC: Yeah, but it’s like watered-down U2.
AL: Of course.
HP: See, I always thought that they were more atmospheric than the NY crowd anyway.
STE: U2 crossed with that post-Oasis brit rock thing.
MC: I really don’t like the mid-song breakdown part or the key change.
AL: No, I don’t either. They shouldn’t have dropped out so many instruments.
JL: That was the only thing that grabbed me.
AL: The singer’s doing a better job; last album was his first time in front of the mic. He was the drummer on their debut and changed roles after the original Stills frontman left, whatever his name was.
JL: Bono.
AL: Larry Mullen Jr.
STE: This doesn’t do much for me one way or the other — I certainly don’t hate it, wish the singer pulled me into it more. I think it sounds fine but it’s unfortunate that it’s surfacing around the time of the new Coldplay, who do this very serious anthem business with a bit more flair.
HP: Yeah, I can see how someone would like it, it’s well made, but it’s not doing much for me either.
AL: Maybe the Stills are bigger in their native Canada? Another Canadian band, Pilot Speed, basically does this same sort of U2-ish thing.
STE: I am going to be charitable to most things today because it’s all better than The Music.
AK: Does that band still exist?
STE: They not only exist, they have a new album which I made the mistake of listening to yesterday.
AL: Their song “Breakin” always reminded me of EMF.
STE: Yeah, they definitely have that vibe — but it makes you realize that you were way too hard on EMF way back when.
JL: Detour: http://www.myspace.com/themusic.
AK: Worse than a Rickroll. Even when you know what is coming.
HP: His voice! It burns!
JL: Agony!
AL: This is the worst sort of detour. The kind of detour that people make in horror movies where they decide to drive down the dark, deserted country road instead of the brightly-lit interstate.
HP: Yes, a fatal wrong turn.
JL: “Bleed from within.” Such an appropriate song title.
MC: Great band name.

Santogold, “LES Artistes” (Listen to it here)
AK: Annoyed me to no end on first few listens, cannot get enough of it now — like most of my favorite new wave singles.
STE: Andy summed it up absolutely perfectly up there. This is the closest any 80s retro track has gotten to the actual vibe and feel of new wave — the icy style, the hooks.
AL: When this song first began, I thought it was The Strokes’ “You Only Live Once.”
HP: Yep, the Missing Persons comparisons are spot on. And those tweaky synths… very nice.
MC: More than just spot on…
AK: Lene Lovich.
JL: I thought ‘Til Tuesday, “Voices Carry.”
AK: Still want to beat up that dude in the ‘Til Tuesday video. Creep.
JL: He said “shut up,” what a jerk.
MC: But do the kids hear this in the same way we do? I mean, it’s cool but I can’t really get past the Missing Persons vibe. Which doesn’t bug me.
AL: Having never heard a lot of her stuff before, I can objectively say that I like this.
JL: I have a love/hate relationship with ’80s retro, but this is good retro. The album’s pretty diverse too.
AK: But she seems to be much more post-punk in spirit, grabbing from several styles, depending on the song — this being the most overtly pop song on the album, if my recollection is correct.
HP: And she seems more in control of it than a lot of ‘80s appropriators. She’s not just grabbing the sound whole-hog and spitting it back out.
STE: Yeah, I’d agree Andy — this is the poppiest, although there are a few others that get close. The only stuff I’m not crazy about is the ragga stuff which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Kids probably will blow right past the Missing Persons thing and pick up on that post-punk magpie spirit — especially if you take into account the rest of the album, which does not just stay in one place.
JL: She gets a LOT of comparisons to M.I.A.
AK: Female who is not white, not easily categorizable — as in not rock, not rap.
STE: She’s kinda similar to M.I.A., kinda not — she’s poppier and less political than the fiancée of Edgar Bronfman’s son. She’s really sharp as a writer and producer — she’s arty and poppy in almost equal measures, knows how to spin to both audiences.
MC: And she can barf glitter! Look at her Myspace pic.
AL: Glitter / steel wool / the golden version of the Smoke Monster from Lost.
HP: Always a handy skill.
JL: Barfing glitter is so ’80s.
HP: So, has the big song of the summer landed yet?
AL: If so, I haven’t heard it.
AK: I think everyone has moved onto the song of winter ‘08/’09.
HP: Which is…?
AK: They’re working on identifying it, I think. Like how you probably can’t get shorts at Target right now.
HP: Ah, OK. There’s an “Umbrella”-shaped hole in my heart that must be filled with this year’s summer jam.
AK: It should be filled with the-Dream/Rihanna’s “Livin’ a Lie,” if that is ever released as a single.
AL: Who wins the Track Meet, then?
HP: Quite possibly Robin Thicke! Although Track Meet is really more about the journey than the destination.
STE: Robin Thicke for me.
AK: Thicke by a well-manicured goatee whisker.

Lindsay Lohan — “Bossy” (Check it out here.)
MC: “Ho ho, stop touching me!”
HP: Yeah, that’s my problem with the song — this is the LEAST in-control she’s ever sounded. How can she be all that bossy when this person is already touching her? I like the song a lot — especially “I like it how I like it when I like it and that’s just how it is” or whatever — but it’s not a confident-sounding song.
STE: Well, Heather, that explains a lot about her life at this point in time. It’s also the most desperate she’s ever sounded. She’s really gunning for a hit.
MC: I really dig this. LOVE how she sounds like a bratty girl in the chorus.
MB: Not being much of a Lohan connoisseur, I don’t know how to compare this to her other things. But I’ve forgotten it already. Is that normal?
HP: Yes, Marisa.
MC: I think it sounds more club friendly. More like a throwaway disco hit.
STE: I kinda love this song — I think it’s awfully misguided and it doesn’t really work, but I love it for that. It’s kind of like the I Know Who Killed Me of dance songs. She’s actually talking to her twin here.
HP: You overthought it more than I did, Tom.
STE: Lindsay inspires me that way.
AL: I had semi-high hopes for this, though, particularly since I sorta liked that song she did for the Confessions of a Drama Queen soundtrack. But this doesn’t appeal to any sort of guilty-pleasure sensibility. It’s just forgettable.
MC: I disagree. Really gets stuck in my head.
HP: Oh, I dunno, I feel plenty guilty for liking this.
AL: Have you heard “Drama Queen (That Girl)”?
HP: Yes Andrew, I like that song too.
AL: It includes a Lohan rap about self-empowerment! Now THAT instills guilt in the listener.
HP: I even like the song she had on the Herbie: Fully Loaded soundtrack!
AL: Yes, that song rocks. Give me that and Hilary Duff’s “Come Clean,” and I totally turn into a 12-year-old girl.
STE: She does over-sing a bit — articulates everything way too much — but, again, that throws it off enough that I really like that aspect. And I love that it plays into her bratty/bitchy persona — that really works. And that “I like it how I like it” chorus is very funny, catchy.
HP: It is unfortunate, though, that the song is called “Bossy” when Kelis’ infinitely superior song owns that title.
STE: That’s kind of the story of Lindsay’s life — somebody else got there first.

Oasis – “I Wanna Live a Dream,” “They Ain’t Got Nothing on Me” and “Stop the Clocks” (Check them out here.)
STE: As a longtime Oasis fan I have to say I’m quite pleased with these — especially “They Got Nothing on Me.”
MC: These are very earnest, respectable songs for Oasis.
HP: Yeah, I like them a lot too. They need to focus the songs a little more and keep the production almost as simple as it is here.
STE: I agree — a little more color than this, but not overblown.
AL: I really like “I Wanna Live a Dream.” Doesn’t sound heavy-handed, doesn’t sound too coked-out … just sounds good.
MB: Yeah, that’s my favorite, too.
MC: Also, it’s been a long time since any kind of Brit-rock or alt-rock has had a recognizable lead voice and so I welcome back Oasis wholeheartedly.
STE: Well, that’s the interesting thing about the decade-plus of post-Oasis bands — very very few have either a distinctive perspective and almost nobody has a singer like Liam.
AL: Or a singer like Noel! He’s a very underrated vocalist.
HP: I agree Andrew! He has a really nice voice, especially for ballads. He’s the clean tone, Liam is the stompbox.
MB: Yeah, it works really nicely here.
STE: I agree Andrew — Noel slays almost all Noelrockers, he has a real warmth on it. For me there are so few singers trying to do what Liam does — nobody can, so all the post-Oasis bands do bad Noel.
HP: I hope they keep the production raw by their standards and inspire other Brit bands not to drown their music in glossy studio tricks.
STE: They were coming close to that on Don’t Believe the Truth, so I’m hoping they continue on that route.
HP: I really like the dreamy psych bent on these Noel songs. “Stop the Clocks” is nice and introspective like “Champagne Supernova,” but not as ponderous.
MB: It makes me miss the days What’s the Story was on my discman everyday… “Dream” would fit nicely after “Don’t Look Back in Anger.”
HP: Yeah, Marisa, these songs make me nostalgic for when I really LOVED Oasis too.
MC: I vote for the album being called Stop the Clocks.
STE: Too bad they used the title for their hits comp. Classic Noel jumping the gun. Like when he poured out all those great songs on the B-sides of Definitely Maybeand What’s the Story. What I like about these is that Noel — and Liam now too, who is turning into a pretty good writer — really knows how to construct a song, to build to the chorus and bridge.
MC: Yeah, which is what has been kind of missing on their last few albums. Some great songs on those as well, but a bit lost.
STE: I think the last two albums are pretty good — well, Heathen Chemistry is the one that’s really lacking in great Noel songs (that’s where Liam turned into a writer).
AL: I was in a Dublin pub when “Don’t Look Back in Anger” came on the jukebox, and the place went absolutely insane. Scores of drunk, red-faced dudes hoisting their beers and howling along.
HP: That song was made for drunken hoisting.
STE: But Don’t Believe the Truth has some fantastic songs on it and I like the band vibe. Plus “Lyla” is timeless, at least for me.
MC: “Lilo”? Sorry.
STE: Hey, that’d be awesome.
HP: Lindsay deserves better Brit bands than McFly writing songs about her.
STE: Anyway, I like that Oasis is kind of settling into their strengths — they’re never gonna have that growl that they have on Definitely Maybe, but I think they’re building up a hell of a track record.
HP: Yeah, Tom, if the rest of the songs are as good as these demos are, this might be the album that makes me a fan again.
MC: I agree Tom. Might never recapture that aggressive, visceral pop. But I’m excited for this.
MB: Yeah, it looks like it could be a new era for them.
STE: Yeah, me too Matt — makes me feel good to be an Oasis fan.
AL: Me too. Go Oasis.

Coldplay – “Violet Hill” (Check it out here.)
STE: All right, I’m having a typical problem with “Violet Hill” that I have with Coldplay — the atmosphere obscures whatever melody/song there might be. Melody peeks through on repeats, but I’m not sucked into it.
MC: On the positive side, it sounds more classic rock to me. Very Fleetwood Mac which I like.
STE: Classic rock via Fleetwood Mac
AL: At least it’s not another retread of the “Clocks” riff.
AL: The guitarist finally grew a pair and demanded that he be allowed to play something.
STE: At least this isn’t as simpering as “Fix You” — or “Yellow,” for that matter. I like this better than those by a wide wide margin.
HP: Wow, it sounds a little purposeful.
AL: Yeah, they definitely wanted to make something harder.
HP: A little harder. Which should be the name of the album.
MB: I like the build up, I have to say. They should’ve just ended it there instead of getting all weepy at the end.
MC: Reminds of an ’80s song/band I can’t place.
STE: U2, Matt.
AL: U2 would never do this heavy-handed drum thing.
MC: Like Genesis? I envision Spitting Image puppets.
HP: Yeah, it is a little like Genesis!
AL: “Land of Coldfusion”? “Lamb Lies Down on Coldplay”?
STE: What surprises me is that it doesn’t feel like a single to me — it feels like an album rock track, something that would come after a first single that already hooked people in.
MB: Coldplay consider their career one long album, Tom.
STE: That Genesis angle is that very British/European bent in their music — the kind of classy arty stadium-filler that Q falls for.
MC: What/where is Violet Hill?
HP: Next to “Solsbury Hill”?
MC: Does not sound as pleasant as either Solsbury or Blueberry hills.
STE: I had “Lamb” in my head all day yesterday — this must have been it. That and “Counting Out Time” — “erogenous zones I question you.” Goddamn I love Peter Gabriel.
HP: Now that’s the Genesis guy they should be emulating.
STE: Hey, I’m really happy for any Genesis influence.
MB: The guitar line is straight out of PG’s songbook — “I don’t remember, I don’t recall, I have no memory of Coldplay at all.”
STE: Did anybody listen to “Viva la Vida,” which is also up on iTunes?
HP: No, how is it?
STE: It’s a bit more what you might expect, built on strings, but it also feels like it has more of a spine. And like “Violet Hill” it’s a grower. If the album is like this, that will be very good — they need to back away from the mewling, which it seems like they are.
HP: Wow, it’s gonna be so weird if I like Oasis again and Coldplay for the first time.
AL: This song might be the one that makes you like Coldplay?
HP: I mean, I ended up liking “Clocks” because of that Six Feet Under promo they kept playing on HBO, and “The Scientist” because I liked the video. But to actually like one of their songs for its own merit? Hmmmm….
STE: And I liked “Yellow” after Brooke White covered it. I kid.
AL: I liked “Clocks” because of the Bono-cribbing bridge.
MC: I can kind of get with this song being played and having to hear it, but it won’t make me like them or anything.
STE: Arpeggio on “Clocks” always bothered me. To me, “Clocks” always felt like a right-hand piano exercise blown up into an anthem.
AL: Yes, it was a simple riff and that same damn drum pattern that the dude always does (which is also the pattern from U2’s “Beautiful Day”).
STE: So I prefer this — the atmosphere is too heavy at first, but after it lifts, there’s a song there.
MC: Stop the “Clocks”!
AL: I don’t know, I’d rather have them do something like “Clocks” than this. I don’t buy the rhythmic stomp.
HP: That may be why I like it — it’s just so atypical for them.
AL: But I’m not a Coldplay fan in the least, so perhaps I should defer to the potential fans.
HP: I’ll never be a fan, but they do manage to make at least one song every now and then that I don’t mind.
MB: Well, that’s high praise!
AL: Oasis wins the track meet.

Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers — “Summer 39″ (from Turbo Ocho)
The bulk of Turbo Ocho was written in eight days, with the Peacemakers relocating to seaside Mexico and immersing themselves in a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants songwriting process. Recorded during one of the band’s practice sessions, “Summer 39″ takes a literate look at love, age, and passing time, with Steve Larson’s twangy pedal steel repeating the same riff like a gently ticking clock.

Old Haunts — “Not Hopeless” (from Poisonous Times)
Jack White’s whining influence and rockabilly’s twangy crunch combine on this track, which receives a boost from the economic percussion of Tobi Vail (who previously drummed for Bikini Kill).

American Princes — “Real Love” (from Other People)
Other People boasts a slick, beefy sound courtesy of its producer, R&B veteran Chuck Brody. The ’80s are alive and well on this track, which pairs American Princes’ best vocalist with the album’s strongest riffs.

Fleet Foxes — “Sun Giant” (from the Sun Giant EP)
An audible breath launches this sparsely gorgeous track, which travels through 90 seconds of pastoral a capella before giving way to the chimes of an acoustic guitar. “Sun Giants” sounds as if someone locked up the Shins and the Beach Boys in an old Appalachian cabin, fed them psychotropic substances, and let them wander through the scenic mountains with instruments in tow. Here’s to hoping the buzz lasts for the duration of the band’s full-length debut, which arrives next month.

Jimmy Eat World — “Bleed American” (from Bleed American [2 CD Deluxe Edition])
“The Middle” was plastered all over MTV, TRL, SNL, and nationwide radio in 2001, but this album’s title track remained fresh in its relative obscurity. The reissued Bleed American offers a live version of the song, taken from a performance at Washington D.C.’s famed 9:30 Club (where pioneering emo acts like the Dismemberment Plan once honed their craft). For those Clarity-era fans who think the band’s current work is too polished, there’s nothing but raw rock here.

Mickey Avalon — “My D*ck” (from Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay)
Although hardly the type of song you’d play for your parents, your girlfriend, or the bulk of your co-workers, this sonic highlight from “Harold & Kumar” is a juvenile battle track with an R-rating. You can guess the content from the song’s title, but the back-and-forth banter between Avalon and Simon Rex (aka Dirt Nasty) simply has to be experienced — provided you have a tolerance for potty humour, low-brow wit, and white boy rhymes.

Though Markus’s vocals are half-whispered in “Good Lies,” and often sound as if he’s too forlorn to get all his words out, they carry the song; it’s their very fragility that makes them so alluring, and so strong. His lyrics are both thoughtfully detailed (”We carry them home with us/To our bedside table and our coffee sets”) and catholic (”Let’s just imitate the real, until we find a better one”), as they lay themselves out and repeat throughout the piece. While Neon Golden relied heavily on what soon became the prototypical indie-electronic percussion (the soft blip, the chirp), here the band uses a bass drum and bass guitar to keep the eighth notes constant and steady as the guitars and soft keyboards play above. “Good Lies” is immediately melancholic and distantly gorgeous, the kind of thing that strikes you unawares and, once it hits, is difficult to dislodge. If the rest of The Devil, You + Me is as strong as this, the Notwist may not have the leisure of taking six years before their next release appears. Which isn’t a bad thing at all.

Heather Phares: So, I’d say this is poppier than Confessions on a Dance Floor’s singles, but there’s maybe not as much substance here. There’s a lot of stuff going on, but not a lot of hooks. It also continues Madonna’s habit of picking up on the big pop trends that happened after she released her last album, what with recruiting Timbaland and Danja to produce and Timberlake to duet.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine: It’s interesting — I grant you, it’s poppier than Confessions, but mainly in the sense that it feels more modern. Confessions was an exercise in stylized retro-disco — almost a back-to-basics move from Madonna, really — but this feels like it’s designed to say that she’s still cutting edge.

HP: Yeah, but it feels like 2006’s cutting edge. That said, it’s growing on me each time I listen to it, kind of the way that Timbaland and Timberlake’s “SexyBack” did.

STE: True, Confessions picked up on trends after the fact but that fit her comfortably. This, I do agree, does feel a couple years out of date, not something that’s on the edge.

HP: I mean, even if Confessions was self-consciously retro, its cleaner production just sounds more appealing to my ears.

STE: Yeah, this is a cacophony, to the point where Madonna is being swallowed up by the blaring synth-brass and loops — which may be a clever way to sneak her back into clubs/airwaves, but it kind of gives the impression that she’s not entirely driving the project. Which is unusual for Madonna, of course — even when she teamed with William Orbit, she felt in charge.

HP: Yeah, it feels more like she’s guesting on the track, rather than running the show.

STE: Also unusual, it’s primarily a dance track, not a pop song — almost always, the pop precedes the production in her tunes, whereas this is all rhythmic hooks.

HP: It’s definitely rhythmic, not so sure about the hooks — those take awhile to come out from under all the brass and beats.

STE: Yeah, I was trying to say that the rhythms ARE the hooks, whether it’s in the loops or that circular synth — after several spins, I’m still not discerning a strong melody.

HP: It doesn’t really feel like a grand statement, like some of her lead singles tend to do, which is kind of interesting. It’s just something that would fit in easily on the dance floor.

STE: Excellent point — it IS hard to tell which way the full album might go, other than it feels like she’s making a bid for her enduring relevance again. Which may make it not unlike American Life, only without the gloom and murk that sunk that album.

HP: Yeah, I’m all for that. It’s just not “announcing” itself as much as the American Life singles did.

STE: That said, I have to say that after listening to this single, it does seem like this album, like American Life, might take some work to get through.

Kap Bambino — “New Breath” (from Zero Life, Night Vision)
Re-issued material from Europe’s best electro-punk duo. The album actually came out on CD way back in 2006, but it was re-pressed on vinyl by the British label Alt Delete this past month. On “New Breath,” which was also released as a B-side, Caroline Martial yelps and sings forcefully enough to distort her English into something that can’t always be distinguished from a pile of syllables, while keyboardist Orion Bouvier plays bouncing, squeaky lines over the drums and bass. Vive la France!
www.myspace.com/kapbambino

Chessie — “Long Bridge” (from Manifest)
The long-awaited follow-up to 2001’s Overnight, Manifest is a lovely missive that explores ideas of both transience and industry. One of the most striking tracks on the album is “Long Bridge,” a guitar-centered piece that combines indie rock and ambient pop phrases into something simultaneously melodic and abstract. Words are absent (as they are on the entire record), but the instruments themselves have strong enough voices that the meaning is still effortlessly conveyed.
www.myspace.com/chessie

The frenetic bridge, brought to you by AMG.

(For the full version, try your luck at either of these sites)