BuzzSugar

What to Download: New Music This Week

BuzzSugar — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:30:43 PDT

This week's new music offers one much-anticipated album from a buzz-worthy band, along with two new records from big female stars. Read on to see what's worth a coveted spot on your iPhone.

Kings of Leon, Come Around Sundown
The lowdown: After an explosive couple of years thanks to "Use Somebody," the rock band slows things down with a fifth album that boasts a more sophisticated sound - but with fewer hooks.
Choice tracks: "Radioactive"
"Pickup Truck"
"Beach Side"
Download this album if you: Prefer the band's mellow tunes over their catchy radio hits.

Liz Phair, Funstyle
The lowdown: The indie queen returns with an irreverent disc of charmingly inconsistent tracks. Getting in on the fun is Dave Matthews, who provides some guitar.
Choice tracks: "My My"
"Miss September"
"And He Slayed Her"
Download this album if you: Have a love for Liz Phair and a sense of humor about your music.

One more album review when you

Shakira, Sale El Sol
The lowdown: Shakira sings almost entirely in Spanish on her latest, but you don't have to understand the language to enjoy the sexy, energetic album. The Latin beats will you have swaying your hips like Shakira herself, while the ballads showcase her emotive voice.
Choice tracks: "Loca (Featuring el Cata)"
"Gordita (Featuring Residente Calle 13)"
"Rabiosa (Featuring Pitbull)"
Download this album if you: Want to spice up your usual Saturday night dance soundtrack.

Listen Up: "Faith and Tenderness" by Liz Phair

BuzzSugar — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:30:08 PDT

Liz Phair is known for wearing her heart on her sleeve and sharing her most intimate feelings with her fans through passionate lyrics. When she first hit the scene, those feelings were pretty angsty, which is part of the reason her album Exile in Guyville spoke to me as a teen.

Well, if her song "Faith and Tenderness" is any indication, Phair's days of romantic angst could be behind her for now. Here is a gentler Phair singing about the calming effects of love ("Just floating along/I'll follow you forever") and how willing she is to go with the flow to be with the one she needs. It's lovely and easy on the ears. The song will apparently appear on her next studio album, but you can download it now.

To take a listen first,

Do Tell: What Is the Last Thing a Man Did to Win You Over?

TresSugar — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:00:00 PDT

"Whatever happened to a boyfriend?
The kind of guy who tries to win you over
Whatever happened to a boyfriend?
The kind of guy who makes love 'cause he’s in it
I want a boyfriend, I want a boyfriend
I want all that stupid old shit,
Like letters and soda."

- Liz Phair, "F*ck and Run," from Exile in Guyville

What does courtship mean in a world of sexting, casual sex, and going Dutch on the first date? It's been a while since a guy pulled out all the stops to impress me, and although I consider myself a feminist, it's sweetly retro when they do that stuff. What is the last thing a man did to win you over? Did it work?

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Buzz In: What Album First Spoke for You?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:33:10 PDT

I was lucky enough to catch Liz Phair's live show here in San Francisco this week, one of a handful where she's performing Exile in Guyville in its entirety to promote the album's re-release this month. While the 1993 album originally dropped a tiny bit too early for a then-preteen me to catch on right away, this CD found me by the time I had gotten my first taste of romantic angst. I felt (in that slightly melodramatic, teenage way) as if she'd opened my diary and added some guitar. She was singing about stuff I'd never heard a woman sing about, and it kind of blew my mind.

Thursday's Ani Difranco interlude on So You Think You Can Dance also reminded me of how much my friends and I related - or at least thought we did - to her 1996 album Dilate. And for a while, everything out of Tori Amos's mouth seemed so right-on and true. Oh, to be young and whisked away by the lyrics of a rock star!

Tell me: Which album first gave voice to your inner thoughts and dreams? What singers articulated everything in their music that you couldn't yet?

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BuzzSugar's Must Haves for June

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:00:02 PDT

Most of my must-haves this month are highly anticipated albums, though I'm also jonesing for the latest seasons of a couple of my beloved TV shows. And check out which funny memoirist is back with a book that's getting all kinds of raves. To see what I'm adding to my shopping cart this June, just hit "Start."