June 27, 2007

Slowly Sinking Into Something Black
 
Kelly Clarkson "One Minute" - I can safely say that when I watched the first season of American Idol, I never considered the possibility that the girl who kept singing Aretha Franklin's "Respect" would eventually embrace stadium rock, much less entertain the notion that she would ditch her penchant for melisma in favor of a sleek, intense style of emoting that is increasingly similar to that of Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker. I can totally understand why a music industry person with taste as horribly bland as that of Clive Davis would be worried about Kelly Clarkson's new album My December -- she's taking cues from all sorts of bands who exist on the periphery of the mainstream, and backing away from anything that might go over well on an adult contemporary radio station. That said, it's a terrifically accessible mainstream rock record, and the best songs transform indie/alt-rock sounds into full-on pop juggernauts. A lot of this type of bombastic pop music is carefully crafted to express or trigger some kind of massive emotion, and the singer doesn't really have to do much other than go with the flow of the song, but Clarkson consistently invests her material with a potent humanity that can be exceptionally gutting. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Elsewhere: PRI's Fair Game has a never nice studio session with A Sunny Day In Glasgow available for download as individual mp3s. The live version of the new song "Hugs and Kisses" is especially pretty.

Please Note That MP3s Are
Only Offered For a Limited Time
And Are Changed Frequently
Songs Mean A Lot
When Songs Are Bought
So Please Buy The Records
If You Like Them


Fluxblog Endorses These
High Quality Web Products


I Also Write For:
Fluxtumblr
Fluxcast
Pop Songs 07
NY Mag Vulture
Fair Game (RIP)
Spin
The Movie Binge
ASAP (RIP)
Urge (RIP)
Artistdirect

POP
The Cold Inclusive
Marathon Packs*
Clap Clap
Said The Gramophone*
Hello, Poindexter
For Your Pleasure
Alex Balk
Hipster Runoff
Idolator*
What A Fool Believes
Pterodactyls
Status Ain't Hood*
Player Piano Party
Star Maker Machine*
Pretty Goes With Pretty
Offnotes
Moistworks*
Soft Communication
Paper Thin Walls
Jezebel
Stereogum*
Golden Fiddle*
Fairytale In The Supermarket
Shake Your Fist*
Cokane's Bloggery
Ned Raggett
SF/J @ The New Yorker
Architectural Dance Society
The Cure For Bedbugs
WFMU's Beware of the Blog*
Discodust*
Antidisingenuousmentarianism
Taylor Long
Into The Groove*
Pop Justice
Zoilus
fansofsoft
Move Still
Wayne and Wax
Loose Strife*
Feministe
Discobelle*
Fluokids*
Chemistry Class
Destination: OUT*
No Rock N' Roll Fun
Green Pea-ness*
Yer Mam!*
Homo Eclectic*
Le Fou
Troubled Diva
Failed Pilot
Malcolm Gladwell
S/FJ
Lacunae
Who Needs Radio?*
Law of Sympathy
One Louder
Her Jazz*
Videogum
Lindsayism
Too Many Teeth
20 Jazz Funk Greats*
Recidivism*
Jane Espenson
Wrestling Entropy
Merry Swankster
Coolfer
Fractionals
Seaworthy Southeast Thesaurus
Byron Crawford
Ruined Music
Orbis-Quintus*
Hip Hop Music
The Suburbs Are Killing Us*
So Many Shrimp*
Government Names*
Soulsides*
The Prettiest Pony*
J Edward Keyes
Music For Robots*
Gorilla Vs. Bear*
You Ain't No Picasso*
Brooklyn Vegan
Arjan Writes*
Cocaine Blunts & Hip Hop Tapes*
Blackmail Is My Life*
Anthony Is Right
Tikun Olam*
Philip Sherburne
Antipopper
The Tofu Hut*
The Mix Hut
Daughters of Invention*
Benn Loxo Du Taccu*
Headphone Sex*
Chromewaves
Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat
Tuwa's Shanty*
Jack Fear
* = hosts mp3s

Radio/Audio
WFMU
The Best Show On WFMU
Friends Of Tom
Ed Shepp
Aircheck
Downtown Soulville
Cherry Blossom Clinic
Liz Berg
Irwin Chusid
Ken Freedman
Brian Turner
WPRB
East Village Radio
This American Life

Comics
Living Between Wednesdays
Pretty Fizzy Paradise
Absorbascon
Warlock Magazine
The X Axis
Crisis/Boring Change
Comics Should Be Good

Film
THE FACE KNIFE
South Dakota Dark
The House Next Door
Milk Plus
Onion AV Club

NYC
Gawker
Young Manhattanite
Forgotten NY

Edibles
The Knowledge For Thirst
The Blognut
A Hamburger Today
Slice
Serious Eats

Email Fluxblog
perpetua @ gmail.com

If you want to send music to Fluxblog, please inquire via email. If you want to send me mp3s, please send them to fluxblog @ gmail.com Please note that while I am always glad to be sent new music, there is no guarantee that what you send will be mentioned here.

If you are an artist (or represent an artist) being featured on this blog and want me to take down a song, let me know, and it will be removed from the server immediately.


Site design and illustration by
Deric Holloway

troninmorocco @ gmail.com


Fluxblog on MySpace

Fluxblog on Livejournal

Powered by Blogger

Weblog Commenting by HaloScan.com

FeedBurner.com Logo