Let it Rock: No Car Crashes With This Week’s New Releases

Maroon 5- Call and Response (The Remix Album)

While we anxiously await the release of some new music from Maroon 5 (why on Earth does it take them so long?), we can temporarily get our Adam Levine fix from Call and Response, an album of Maroon 5 remixes. The album makes me happy because it remixes the songs enough that some of them actually sound like new tracks. But it also makes me wonder if Maroon 5 desperately wants to get some play time in the clubs. Whatever the case, this whole album may be worth it just to hear the Mark Ronson “Wake Up Call” mix featuring Mary J. Blige. Not to mention, the album includes remixes with Of Montreal, Cut Copy, and Deerhoof.

If you tell me the hotness that is Adam Levine is involved, I’ll buy it, but I’m eager for something new from the boys of Maroon 5.

Brandy- Human

Wait, Brandy still exists? Didn’t she kill someone in a car accident a while back? Well, yes. But now she’s ready for her comeback and you can almost feel the pain of her past through the music in her new album, Human. The title track relays to the public how sorry she is for what we’re to assume is the accident: “I make mistakes but I can’t turn back time…I’m only human.” But despite all this pain, Brandy somehow manages to make most of the songs on the album positive and cheerful. I have to admit, I’ve been a fan of the upbeat track “Right Here (Departed)” from the first time I heard it on the radio.

Brandy may never reach her “That Boy is Mine” fame again, but she’ll definitely get some serious radio play-time.

Cat Power- Dark End of the Street EP

This EP full of more Cat Power cover songs is perfect for listening to on a cold, lonely night. Her beautiful version of Otis Redding’s “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)” caused me to hit replay over and over. Dark End of the Street is certainly not an upbeat album, but each song completely wraps you up in the beautiful crooning of her voice. Cat also covers songs by James Carr, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sandy Denny, Aretha Franklin, and the Pogues. Some tracks don’t quite match up to the originals, but that’s OK because you may never have heard the original anyway. And what you don’t know won’t hurt you.

Cat’s back covering the classics and helping you feel a little bit more depressed…in a good way.

[All images courtesy of Amazon.com]