This cup tastes like Vodka.

Song YOU should be listening to: "Deacon Blues" by Steely Dan

A quick sidenote about the song I chose for today. Steely Dan is one of the more underrated rock groups of the 70's all the way through the 90's. I highly recommend, especially if you enjoy a good style of rock that is fused with jazz, funk, blues, and even latin at times, this is what it's all about. As my good friend Peebles and I agreed, these guys are some of the best studio musicians to grace the rock industry. Enough about that. Just try to get a hold of a song of theirs sometime. I can make recommendations.

Over the last 10 years of my life I have grown to be a bigger and bigger music fanatic, with my tastes exploring new territories everyday. The evolution of music can be such a joyful experience, and yet it can be such a sad one as well. Many of us have favourite bands, groups, et cetera. We anxiously wait for their new albums to come. We (or at least I do) check their websites to find out when their band will be swingin through town on tour, or even better when their new album will be released. It's ever-so difficult to not get your hopes up about the upcoming album too. After all, you've been obsessed with their previous albums, so now it's time to hear some new material. But much like people, music inspirations change over time. Chances are, if the band really enjoys writing original music with their endless imagination full of creativity, their style is going to change their sound anywhere from slightly to extremely.

Lately though I have noticed that my favourite groups have been releasing new albums. And all of these groups are ones that are looking to change their sound with each album they release. To exlempify I would like to mention Daft Punk's new album projected to be released on March 25th. Daft Punk is without doubt one of my top five favourite music groups. The musical genius of the duo Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel de Homem has entranced my ears with ecstasy for over five years now. The first album, Homework, in 1997 included the hit that many of you are familiar with called "Around the World". Indeed this put the French duo on the map. The triumphant return after Homework came in 2001 with the dynamite album "Discovery". (Yes they made us wait 4 years. It's kind of a rule with these guys that they only release a studio album with new material every four years. They also never show their faces in public either. They aren't very media friendly and make themselves very mysterious. Frustrating to not know what they're like, however, the mystery of their characters and interests maybe be part of the attraction.) Discovery is indeed their best release to this date. For anyone who wants a good dance beat to groove to, look nowhere else. This album has got some of the most underrated musik of our time. Anyhow, it is 2005. Four years after the release of Discovery. They have decided to release the album entitled "Human After All". My impatience has put my hands on a leaked copy of the album from the studio already though. Don't worry though, I will pay my heritage to the band by purchasing a copy of the album when it legally is released. Anyway, like I discussed some bands like to take their sound to a different level. This album is indeed an album that has not struck me as anything impressive however. This is very sad to me. It was a long four years to wait since their last masterpiece. They have most definitely moved on to a sound that engages a whole spectrum of emotions with beats of "delirium." I won't say that there isn't anything good on the album, but there are indeed some songs they could have done without. "Robot Rock" will be the first single from the album. It's somewhat repetitive and mostly dark. Much like the rest of the album. This large change in musik most definitely will change their fanbase no doubt.

One particular album that changed feelings about a band a while back was Dave Matthews Band's release of "Everyday". They worked with a completely different kind of producer on the album and it completely changed their sound for the worse on the album (at least in my humble opinion). But DMB realized this mistake they made and changed back to their old sound and followed the mistake up with a far more promising (and likeable) album "Busted Stuff".

But on the other hand I look at bands who kept their sound exactly the same album after album. I would like to exemplify Collective Soul here. A favourite band of mine throughout high school. Any of their albums from 1990-1999 were nothing short of enjoyable in my mind. They went on a bit of hiatus from 1999-2004 from making albums. They pretty much had considered themselves broken up for the most part. As did I, and forgot about them for the most part. But when I heard that they were coming out with a new album last year I got awful excited. The album was entitled "Youth". When I first got a hold of it I fell in love with it. But about two weeks later I found myself tiring of the album ever-so-quickly. I realized at that point that they had not changed their sound one bit. It all sounded the same to their previous stuff. The chord changes are strangely similar and the tempos are ever so similar in many of the tracks. Just a flat out bland album. One that is only brought out on rare occasion on my computer.

So where can we find an equilibrium of acceptable change from album to album from our favourite groups? Or is it silly to have "favourite groups" and be placing all these hopes and expectations on them only to be disappointed? I think I'll hang on to my favourites. I think of them as my friends. They have great music to get me through the best and worst of times. But much like a friend will do, they won't always impress you. They are both ever-changing creatures. Or in some cases, their style just never changes, and it becomes annoying. So in closing I would like to mention some important new releases in my world of musik. Maybe they are ones that interest you. Please share any story you have concerning the topic here. I would love to hear from everyone and anyone.
TTFN

Releases:
Daft Punk "Human After All" March 25
Jamiroquai-Late Spring
Beck-March 29 (EP with a few tracks available at the iTunes music store. Also take note that Beck has been doing work with Jack White (Lead Singer of the White Stripes))
Dave Matthews Band-May http://www.dmbnewstudioalbum.com/ (This album will be with a new producer as well. I highly recommend any DMB fans to check out the videos supplied on the site. It gives you somewhat of an idea of what they're goin for with this album. I'm nervous to an extent about this one.)
Royksopp- 85% complete. I don't know what date that makes the release.