This week was all about utilizing what I learned in Girl Scouts all those years ago. No, not building a fire or navigating my way out of a forest, but that whole “make new friends but keep the old” adage. And by “friends” I mean, “musicians who I consider to be my friends because I spend so much time with them and turn to them when I need to cry, sing really loud, or dance around in my undies.”

There were some great new releases this week from some of my favorite musical talents ever, in addition to some from bands I never knew. And while I may have fallen for some of the new stuff, I’ll always hold onto the old faves.

Mat Kearney- City of Black and White

If you don’t listen to Mat Kearney, you need to. He’s hard not to like, trust me. I loved him from the minute I heard his album Nothing Left to Lose in 2006; from his smooth voice to his meaningful lyrics to the fact that he spells his name with only one “t.” I’m also in love with his new album City of Black and White, which is filled with his smooth voice again and equally as many meaningful lyrics. And yes, he still spells his name with one “t.” If you like music like The Fray and Joshua Radin, you’ll likely enjoy Mat Kearney.

My favorite song is definitely “Here We Go,” but honestly, there’s not much I don’t like about Mat’s new album. “Never Be Ready” is also pretty awesome and I totally love the lyrics: “We’ll never be ready/If we keep waiting for the perfect time to come/Hold me steady, we’ll never be ready.” The only thing I really miss with this new album is Mat’s white boy rapping. I suppose this album does sound a bit more mature without it, but it was so incredibly fun it’s hard not to miss it. But I guess that’s how it always goes when friends start growing up and changing; they may be different, but you find a way to love ‘em anyway.

Mandy Moore- Amanda Leigh

Mandy Moore is probably one of my favorite people in the world. Ever since high school, if you asked me who I would want to play me in a movie, it would be her. I thought it was nearly impossible for me to like her any more and then she married my other favorite person, Ryan Adams. I thought the world would implode upon such an awesome marriage of two beautifully talented people, but thank God (at least so far!) it didn’t. And Mandy survived to make another album, Amanda Leigh. Now, before you think I’m some super Mandy fan who isn’t going to properly judge her album, I’ll admit right now, I was not a huge fan of her last album Wild Hope. I found it to be mighty boring. So I was super nervous for Mandy’s latest release. But she didn’t disappoint me at all.

Marriage must be doing something good for her because her album is absolutely amazing. The more I listen to it, the more I love it. Why is Amanda Leigh so much better than Wild Hope? It actually has a lot of personality, unlike the previous attempt. The first single “I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week” actually gets you dancing, but also showcases her beautiful voice. It’s almost like “Candy” grew up….a lot. There aren’t really any songs on Amanda Leigh that I dislike, but I’m a really big fan of “Fern Dell” and “Nothing Everything,” which are both upbeat and fun. I also have to love “Merrimack” because it’s totally about the river I grew up next to. Oh, and I absolutely love “Bug” as well, because “Bug” is Ryan’s nickname for Mandy. OK, I’ll stop gushing about Mandy Moore now. At least until she and Ryan Adams come out with an album of duets. Then the world really might implode.

Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

I know I’ve head about Phoenix before, but I had no idea who they were or why should I listen to them. Then I learned they were “French Rock” and I still had no idea why I should listen to them. But then I listened to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and now I know why I should listen to them. Because apparently I was made for French rock. And Phoenix is just awesome. Allegedly, the album’s first single “Lisztomania” is about Franz Liszt and his piano performances. I have absolutely no idea who Franz Liszt is, but I totally feel like I have this “Lisztomania” when I listen to Phoenix.

Phoenix is the kind of music that makes you get up and dance and throw your hands around in the air. I’m not kidding here. They actually sound a bit like NYC’s own MGMT, mixed in with a bit of The Strokes. And maybe a dash of Franz Ferdinand too. I don’t even know the band very well, but I already feel like they’re allowed to have songs like “Love Like a Sunset,” where they spend 6 minutes building up the song instrumentally, and then start singing with only a little over a minute left. It works! Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix makes me wonder why more people I know don’t listen to Phoenix. And for that matter, why don’t more people I know listen to French rock? And what other French rock have I been missing out on? I’m grabbing my beret, heating up some crepes and working on building up my French music catalog ASAP. This is good stuff.

And this week I learn how easy it is to write about music I’m crazy obsessed with. I was so beyond-words excited about the new releases this week that I basically wanted to tell you about every song, transcribe all the lyrics, and somehow hum the tunes onto the computer screen so that you’d get the full effect. But I tried to restrain myself a little bit.

And It wasn’t easy.

I really wanted to personally ship every one of you each of these albums because I’m pretty sure you can’t live without them. But unfortunately, I’m not rich enough for that. So maybe you could just take my word for it and have a listen yourself? I’m not saying they’ll change your life, but….well, they might change your life.

Racal Flatts- Unstoppable

Nobody makes me squeal like Rascal Flatts. Nobody. And that is saying A LOT. The second I first heard the beginning notes to their new single “Here Comes Goodbye,” I knew. I knew their new album, Unstoppable, was going to be exactly like the rest. Amazing. Rascal Flatts is extremely consistent in the music they put out; I’ve never been disappointed with an album and each one has at least a few songs that you can immediately tell are going to be huge hits. I’m not going to lie; when I first heard “Here Comes Goodbye,” my eyes filled with tears. Yes, Rascal Flatts has the power to do that to me (OK and maybe a little PMS too). “Forever” also might have made me a little bit weepy.

But their album isn’t all heart-gripping emotion; it’s also a big party. Yes, “Summer Nights” is pretty cheesy, but you just know it’s going to be the anthem of the summer: “Come on ladies, it’s time to pop that top/And fellows! I know you’re read to rock/We went crazy cooped up all winter long/And school is out so let’s get it on/Flip flop tans and some white sand/I know the perfect spot.” When I heard it, I almost put on my bathing suit and ran outside before I realized it’s still 35 degrees in Boston and I live on a busy city street. “Once” lands somewhere in between; classic Rascal Flatts about sitting and waiting for the one you love to come back: “Now I wait by the phone in the dark drunk on hope/I’m so lost, I’m so alone and I just want you to know.” And the title track “Unstoppable” is another one of Rascal Flatts “Stand Up,” you-can-do-it-type anthems. So, they’re a tiny bit predictable. Whatever they’re doing, they’re doing it pretty much perfectly, so why change anything? I don’t want to state the obvious, but yeah, these guys are unstoppable.

The Hold Steady- A Positive Rage

I’m not normally one to get crazy happy over the live albums bands put out. I’d usually rather hear some new material and not the old stuff with a crowd cheering in the background. But The Hold Steady is different. I know this because I saw them live. By accident. I actually went to their show to see the Drive-By Truckers who they were playing with. But I left the show with a newfound love for The Hold Steady and a t-shirt to prove it. Lead singer Craig Finn is an amazingly awesome performer and listening to their new live album, A Positive Rage, is driving me crazy with a desire to see them live again. His singing sounds like storytelling and he always sounds like he’s having a blast. Which is good because the audience is generally going crazy with energy. OK, so lots of their songs are about partying and getting high (“If she said we partied then I’m pretty sure partied/I really don’t remember/I remember we departed from our bodies.”) but even if you’re not into that, chances are you’ll still love The Hold Steady.

I don’t generally recommend live albums to first-time listeners of a band, but I’d make an exception for A Positive Rage. The first song I ever liked by The Hold Steady, “You Can Make Him Like You” is on the new album and if you’ve never listened to the band before, definitely check the track out; kind of an anthem for every girl: “But if you get tired of your boyfriend’s things/There’s always other boys/there’s always other boyfriends…If you get tired of the music he likes/There’s always other boys/And you can make him like you.” I’m also a big fan of  “First Night,” which has more extremely appealing lyrics: “Don’t bother talking to the guys/with the hot soft eyes/They’re already taken/Don’t even speak/to all those sequencer and beat boys/When they kiss they spit white noise.” You won’t be able to help singing and dancing along to “Chips Ahoy,” after all, “How am I supposed to know that you’re high if you won’t even dance?” High on The Hold Steady’s music of course. Once you hear how singalong-able everything they do is, you’ll be dying to see them live too.

Bob Mould- Life and Times

I first listened to Bob Mould because Ryan Adams told me to. Well, really Ryan was constantly blogging about how awesome Bob Mould is (and is 80s band Husker Du) and since I am so obsessed with Ryan Adams’ music, I figured I should take his recommendation. I liked the music almost immediately and am really excited that he is releasing something new. Bob Mould’s voice is incredibly unique and it’s obvious the now 48-year-old knows what he’s doing with Life and Times (it is his 9th studio album, after all). I love that he opens the album with the title track; it feels like an introduction, not only to the album, but to Mould’s own life and times. “I’m Sorry Baby, But You Can’t Stand in My Light Anymore” is definitely my favorite track on the album, not only for it’s crazy sweet title, but because the lyrics are so intense; “I always find the broken ones/What does this say about me?/Well maybe I’m the broken one.” I’m also a fan of “City Lights (Days Go By),” in which Bob’s voice really reminds me of Matthew Good’s (or would it be the other way around?).

I really need to thank Ryan Adams for introducing me to Bob Mould. Is there any way I could do that personally? I guess it’s true that geniuses know how to spot other geniuses.

One of the most frustrating things is when one of my favorite artists or bands takes absolutely forever to release a new album. Maybe I’m impatient or maybe I just listen to music so often that I’m constantly wanting more from my favorites. But is there ever anything better than listening to a brand new fabulous album over and over?

Yes, the anticipation can be great, but there gets to be a point where I’m done anticipating and want to start listening. Here are 3 artists that I’m hoping to see albums from in the very near future. I don’t know how much longer I can wait before their old albums start skipping from me playing them over and over. And over. Oh, they’re digitally downloaded? Well, I still don’t think I can wait much longer.

Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams is basically a music-making machine. Some people get annoyed because it seems like he writes songs and makes albums non-stop. He comes out with at least a couple every year. I don’t get annoyed; I love every moment of it and buy his every album. But see, his last album that he did with the Cardinals, Cardinology, wasn’t so fabulous. Don’t get me wrong, I still bought it and listened to it over and over again like I do with all his albums, but the songs on it didn’t move me like they usually do. So normally I’d think, “Eh, it’s OK, he’ll come out with a new album in a couple months anyway.” But now? Now I’m scared that he won’t.

He recently claimed that he’s done touring and while Ryan is known for his fickleness and often goes back on what he’s said, it’s been a few months now and he’s standing by his claim. So maybe he’s just done touring for a while and wants to focus more on creating new music? I wish. Instead it seems as if he’s moving away from music and more into writing poetry. And then last week he went and got married, which means he’ll likely have even less time for music making. The only bright side is that he married Mandy Moore who is not only one of my favorite people in the world, but is also an amazing musician herself. Let’s hope she encourages Ryan to keep up with his music. Or that they at least create some beautiful duets.

Bon Iver

Bon Iver seriously confuses me. Or teases me. Maybe a little bit of both. I mean, they come out with a 6-song LP at the beginning of 2008, which I absolutely fell in love with. Like, hard. So, doesn’t an LP mean a full-length album would be out soon or something? So I waited and waited. And then in early 2009 I hear Bon Iver is coming out with something new. Hooray! But wait, it’s only a 4-song EP (What’s the difference between an LP and an EP anyway??). Sure, the 4-song EP, Blood Bank, excited me beyond belief and I listened to it at least 200 times the first day it came out. But now I’m dying for more – like, I don’t know, a full-length album?! And not an album that just replays everything on the EP and LP. I want new stuff. Justin Vernon, you and Bon Iver are awesome and if you need to, please go lock yourself in a cabin deep in the woods of Wisconsin again (that’s what he did while writing the songs for For Emma, Forever Ago), and don’t come out until you can give me a full-length album. I mean it.

Enrique Iglesias

Don’t laugh at me. I know I’m not the only one who is absolutely obsessed with Enrique Iglesias. I’ve grown up with his music, so I can’t help but love it (though I still stand by the fact that Ricky Martin is the hotter of the two). The thing about Enrique is that his music is always good…year after year. His last album, Insomniac, was different than anything he’d previously done, but was still awesome. He took songs that had the potential to be the cheesiest of cheesy, “Ping Pong Song” and “Don’t Turn Off the Lights,” and made them songs I wanted to listen to over and over. And I was only a little bit ashamed when my friend noticed my #1 most-played song on iTunes happened to be Enrique’s “On Top of You.” Oops. My point is, Enrique has me constantly anticipating what he’s going to do next and I always know I’m going to love it. So he should just put down his pen and his studio-recording microphone now and release a new album; I’m sure it’s amazing as is.

I was going to include Rascal Flatts on my list, but guess what? I just found out they’re coming out with a new album in a couple weeks. So, you’ll be hearing about them again on Let it Rock very soon. Yay for that!

What artists are you eagerly anticipating new albums from?

[Images courtest of Rollogrady.com, Poorpony.com, Starpulse.com]

Obama wants to help students.

Chris Brown pulls out of Teen Choice Awards.

Lookin’ for a new look? How about 80′s eyes?

Shooting spree in Alabama kills 11.

Annalynne McCord drives as well as she acts.

Spring handbags!

Katie Holmes has lady hair!

Octomom coming to her senses?

5 argument tactics that never work.

Life changing beauty products.

Make your own erotic novel? Best V-Day gift EVER.

I didn’t think it was possible, but David Beckham is gross. 

The most romantic fragrances.

Mandy Moore is getting hitched.

Nicolette Sheridan leaving Desperate?

Bedroom toys that will knock your socks off. That is, if you wear socks to bed, which is just weird.

Is it just me, or is Lily Allen’s dress a bit short?

Heidi Klum makes me feel even worse about myself…

Eat healthy for only $1 a day? No way.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone.

I’d like to make that journey a little more literal and give you some of my favorite city-specific tunes. Start packing the suitcase, this gypsy’s taking you with her!

1. Is It Safe- Matt Pond PA [let's go swimming in Philly]

2. Pachuca Sunrise- Minus the Bear

3. This Place is a Prison- The Postal Service [watch water "cascade down Puget Sound"]

4. Lubbock or Leave It- Dixie Chicks [take a trip back to Texas]

5. Lights- Journey [see the lights shine in San Fran]

6. Boston- Augustana

7. 8 Mile- Eminem [takes you to his hometown of Detroit]

8. La Cienega Just Smiled- Ryan Adams [takes you on a drive in Los Angeles]

9. Spanish Harlem- Aretha Franklin [takes you to NYC]

…You can also go to “Coney Island” with Deathcab For Cutie

10. Walking in Memphis- Marc Cohn

11. Paris, Tokyo- Lupe Fiasco

12. When in Rome- Nickel Creek

13. Holiday in Spain- Counting Crows

14. Leaving on a Jet Plane- Peter, Paul and Mary

Jessica Alba is having an identity crisis

Fraggle Rock: can you imagine the modern-day cast?

Finally–what web site logos really mean

You can be a World Champion, too!

This just in: Miley Cyrus has returned to her age

Why is Mandy Moore always up in my Dream Man grill?

Everyone loves surprises

Will Kate Holmes’ stint on Broadway even be allowed in Scientology?

I wonder how LeBron James spent Mother’s Day

Oh, the places you’ll go…to have sex

Girl Power summer reading to kick your tushie!

Guys who can sing and play the guitar … need I say more.

Obvious guys were selected, like Justin Timberlake (my future husband), Jared Leto, Kenny Chesney and Bow Wow (what? he’s turned into a really nice piece of young man). But then there are the questionable few — Lance Bass? Josh Groban? Dave Navarro? They’re definitely not my idea of “sexy.”

Check out the rest of these dudes.

Photos after the jump

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Which Music Man is the Best Catch?