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So every once in a while, I’ll hear a song that immediately grabs my attention and make me run out and find any and all material by that band. Sometimes it’s worked out great. The Fratelli’s and Cat Empire are two that immediately come to mind. Sometimes it doesn’t work out so well, cough, cough Mickey Avalon and Butane Variations cough, cough. I’m From Barcelona is somewhere in between those extremes. When I first heard the song “Collection of Stamps” from the bands debut album Let Me Introduce My Friends, I thought to myself “that’s such a happy, bubbly song, I must own it.” So I bought the album. The rest of the album is just as happy and bubbly as that song, but there are only a few songs that measured up to “Collection of Stamps.” Overall, the album was ok, not great. Certainly not enough for me to pursue the band any farther.

Fast forward to now, when I come across I’m From Barcelona’s new album, Forever Today. I did not know that the band was coming out with a new album, nor did I really care, but I figured I’d give it a listen. Initial thought is that this album is a lot like the first album. Ok, not great. There are really no bad songs on the album, but at the same time, there is no one track that jumps out and yells “hey look at me, I’m an awesome song that if you play me for that special lady or fella, whatever you’re into, you will totally get some action.” No, that song is not on here. What is on Forever Today is a lot of very poppy songs that kida sorta all blend together in one long ass song. If you were to hold a gun to my head and make me pick a song that is best, I’d first piss myself, but after that, I’d probably pick “Skipping a Beat.” But really, it’s just as good as every other song, only now I have soiled pants.

Is this album worth getting? Depends. Are you a die hard fan of 28 piece (28 piece!) pop indie bands from Sweden? If you are, then you should totally buy this album. If you’re rather indifferent to 28 piece (28 piece!) pop indie bands from Sweden, then you should probably pass on this. It’s worth a listen, but I’m not sure one should shell out 15 bucks to own it.

This wont be as much of a review as it will be a rebuttal to something that I see as a travesty. I don’t know if you noticed, but Music Boxer’s own Karen Renee wrote a “review” of the latest Ben Folds album Lonely Avenue. Now I put the word “review” in quotes because, really, that drivel can barely be called a review. To put it bluntly Mr. Renee, you are wrong!

Point one: how can you truly judge this album if you didn’t even listen to it, as you claim? That just doesn’t make any sense. What, were you too busy watching your dvd copy of “Jersey Shore” Season 1? I wouldn’t doubt it. Lonely Avenue is a damn good album. Is it as good as some of the other Ben Folds Five/Ben Folds albums? No. It is definitely not the best album, but I can tell you this: Lonely Avenue is 10 times better than Folds last album Way to Normal. Just try to debate that Karen! You can’t because you know it’s true.

Point two: evolution is bullshit. Everyone know that God created EVERYTHING in seven days so your so called “evolutionary feat” is nothing short of mild to moderate brain damage. Brain damage from what? I can only assume it’s all the paint huffing. Or maybe the bare knuckle brawling that you do in your super secret (not so secret if I know about it) fight club. I’m not sure what you kids are into these days.

Point three: if this album is a “re-imagining of every Ben Folds (Five) song I hate” then you must hate every Ben Folds song ever made. I’m sorry Karen, but not every song can or should be about abortion. The opening track “Working Day” is awesome, as is “Levi Johnson’s Blues.” Do these songs sound like other Ben Folds songs? No. Unless you’re listening to a super secret Ben Folds album from the future. An album that your future self came back from the future to share with you because it is the album that ends all wars. And your present day self, having just listened to the future album that your future self just gave thinks to yourself “wow, this sounds just like Lonely Avenue. Who know this was going to be such an important sound to the future of the free world.” Did you hear that explosion? That was you mind being blown!

Saying that Lonely Avenue is bad is like saying that you hate puppy dogs. Do you hate puppy dogs, Karen? Anyway, seeing that Lonely Avenue is in fact a good album, all I have to say is please, Karen, leave the “comedy” to the professionals like George Lopez.

Sit back kiddes, I want to tell you a tale of times past. It was the Summer of 2010, much of the U.S. was suffering from record heat and we were all trying to get over the sudden death of comic artist Harvey Pekar while still celebrating the shocking Nobel Peace Prize win by Liu Xiaobo. As a famous author once said, “it was the best of times and the worst of time.” Little did we know that our fragile little world would soon come crashing down with the release of a certain little song with a certain little title that made us all giggle at its naughtiness. Of course I’m talking about Cee Lo’s “Fuck You.”

Aside from the Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dog’s Out,” I’m pretty sure that no other song has hit like “Fuck You.” That shit was everywhere. Unlike the “Who Let the Dogs Out” though, “Fuck You” is a damn good song. That song alone was enough to make me put Cee Lo’s new album, The Lady Killer, on my purchase list. I’m glad that I did. The Lady Killer is a mighty fine album that luckily, has more to offer than one, highly catchy song.

The best song on the album is, hands down, the aforementioned “Fuck You.” It just doesn’t get much better than that. It’s got a great beat, a catchy hook and it says the word “fuck” a lot. How can you go wrong with that formula? I submit that you cannot. Other good songs are the second single off of the album, “I Want You,” with its jazzy horns backing Cee Lo’s plea for some unnamed woman (or dude, hey, it’s 2010) to “want him” (whatever that means) and the aptly named “Old Fashioned” that sounds like it came out of the 50s. The only song that I’m really not a huge fan of is “Love Gun.” Listening to it over and over, there really isn’t anything wrong with it, I just think it’s the weakest song out of the bunch.

This album is definitely worth the price. Go out and get it and sing “Fuck You” to all your friends and loved ones.

So there I was in Phoenix, standing in a club at midnight and sweating my balls off. Why was I there? Well I’m glad you asked. I was there to see Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, touring under the name of Reflection Eternal and supporting the newly released album Revolutions Per Minute. Now, aside from it being nearly 150 degrees in the club and the fact that there were five opening acts, I was a bit wary about the show because I didn’t really know anything from Reflection Eternal. Sure I have several albums by both Kweli and Hi-Tek, but I didn’t have their first album together, called Reflection Eternal, and I had yet to pick up the new album. What I’m saying is I didn’t know the catalog, and apparently I was one of the few in the crowd that didn’t. In the end, aside from the heat and the numerous shitty opening acts, the show was good and I was able to pick up the album the next day.

Revolutions Per Minute is a great album. There is not a bad song on the disc. I don’t know if it’s more of an influence by Hi-Tek, but this album is a lot mellower than any of Kweli’s pervious albums. That’s not saying that he doesn’t let lose on a couple of tracks, the beats and the rhymes are just a bit slower than normal. This works though. Hi-Tek’s beats combined with Kweli’s raps, and a number of guest stars, make for a highly entertaining album.

Contrary to popular belief, the best song on the album is “Midnight Hour” featuring Estelle. It’s one of the few really high tempo songs on the album only with a musical feel from the 50s. Kweli’s vocals fit perfectly with the beat, making an all around good song. Like I said before though, there isn’t a song on this album that I would ever skip. Each song is just as good as the last. Take your pick on which song will be your favorite.

Do yourself a favor and buy this album. As far as rap albums go, it doesn’t get much better than this. I would dare say that this is the best rap album to come out in a loooooong time.

I like the Gorillaz. Since the first time I heard “Clint Eastwood” off of their debut album, I was hooked. After the release of their second album, Demon Days, in 2005, I thought they were done and that the world would be a whole lot less Gorilla-y. But here we are, a measly five years later and we have a brand spanking new album, Plastic Beach. Normally, I’d be a bit annoyed if a band took five years to make an album, but when your weren’t expecting an album at all, I guess that’s pretty good.

Let’s get into it, shall we? This is a pretty good album. Not all the songs hit, but the ones that do hit like Ike Turner. What? Too soon? Anyways, there are some really good tracks on this album. The first single, “Stylo,” breaks out as one of the best. It’s got a great beat and with Mos Def providing some of the vocals, you really can’t go wrong. Another high spot on the album is “White Flag” featuring Bashy and Kano, which starts out like a classical track but a distinct island beat to it. When Bashy and Kano come in with their raps, the tone of the song changes but the flow remains consistent. Other good songs are “Some Kind of Nature” with Lou Reed and “Sweepstakes” with Mos Def.

Like I said before, though, there are a few tracks that fall short. Before the album came out, a lot of people were hyping the tracks that feature Little Dragon, “Empire Ants” and “To Binge.” To me, these are the weakest tracks on the album. Perhaps the most disappointing song on the album is the title track, “Plastic Beach.” When the guest stars were revealed for the album, it was revealed that Mick Jones and Paul Simonon would be guesting on “Plastic Beach.” This got my music nerd heart all aflutter. For those of you who don’t know, Jones and Simonon are two of the surviving members of The Clash, and aside from Joe Strummer, the only members of The Clash that anybody gives a shit about. When I saw this, I had visions of a Clash reunion going through my head. Alas, the song sounds nothing even remotely close to what I hopped. You can’t even distinguish Jones’ voice from Gorillaz front man Damon Albarn. Oh well.

Overall this is a good album. Is it as good as the aforementioned Demon Days? I don’t think so. It might grow on me the more I listen to it, but let’s be serious, Demon Days was an incredible album. Plastic Beach is definitely an album that you’ll want to buy though.