The soundtrack to "Wicker Park" is one of my favorite albums and it's one of those rare instances (for me, at least) where I love every single song! Whether it's the melancholic and dreamy "Maybe Tomorrow" by the Stereophonics or Danny Loher's version of  "The Scientist" (so much more heartbreaking than Coldplay's) the sound is phenomenal...and like so many of my favorite soundtracks far better than the movie it goes with...

The Dead Weather make dark and bleak sound beautiful and lovely...I can't get enough of either "Horehand" or "Sea of Cowards"...both albums are so raw and amazing it's as if every note reaches inside me and takes everything out, replacing it all with something halfway between the blues and gut-wrenching sensuality...wish I could truly do these two cds the justice they deserve!:)

Three AWESOME novels about music I hope to get the time to write about soon...hope you're having a great week!:)

The first is witty, sometimes a bit too dry and serious, but always interesting and very British 60s music...the second is (for me, at least) a bit far-fetched plotwise, but has a lot to say about music and music criticism and the third...wow...it's spunky and fun and truly captures the spirit behind loving music more than almost anything else in life (the cover is fabulous!)

What do you get when you merge super kitschy Lawrence Welk with the best mixers around? Upstairs at Larry's: Lawrence Welk Uncorked...one of the biggest guilty pleasures ever! One track, in particular, by the Curt Ramsey Quintent, is called "Let's Go Dance Again" and is so unbelievably earnest and non-cheesy that you can't believe anyone could so successfully make Lawrence Welk's music so so cool...

The rest of the album keeps that same spirit and though Upstairs has been out for a few years now it still sounds fresh and somehow amazingly adorable without being precious...I love it so much; it's always within reach if I want to listen...

If you want something that's going to keep you up and on your feet all night, then Bionic is perfect for you! I've been listening to it all afternoon and it's very, very, very danceable! It reminds me that while I mostly listen to music because it reaches inside my heart and touches my soul there are perfectly acceptable times for something a bit mindless that challenges your feet not to move!:)

Bionic's a highly sexualized album and sounds more like something Lady Gaga would do than Aguilera herself would. There are also heavy Mia, Gwen Stefani and Rihanna influences...nothing wrong with those, of course, but still surprising because Aguilera is usually her own girl...especially strong tracks are: "Not Myself Tonight" (she ain't kidding!), "Desnudate" (because "naked" would be too tacky, right?:) ), "Glam," "Woohoo" and "My Girls" (reminds me of something off of Gwen Stefani's Love. Angel. Music. Baby.)

Most of amazing of all? Aguilera's voice is strong enough to rise above the 'noise'...so many singers' voices get lost amidst all the techno sounds...but the beats are out of control!!! So it's time to go and exercise some more!