Paul McCartney Memory Almost Full Hear Music Released 6.5.07 Rating: 5 out of 10 Some of the first people to hear Memory Almost Full , Paul McCartney ’s latest album, were getting their morning coffee and were on their way to somewhere. 10,000 stores nationwide, all providing cream and sugar for the coffee and some artificial sweetener for the ears. After leaving EMI , longtime label of the former Beatle , Paul decided to be the premiere act for Starbuck ’s record label, Hear Music , the coffee gods’ foray into something more than caffeinated consumer culture. As a result, Paul = Coffee. He’s Paul McCoffee. No longer will the general public associate Paul with walruses, death and lefties. No! I think Paul; I think coffee. Paul is dead, Paul is dead, misshimmisshim…now I’m dying for some fucking coffee. Maybe that was the Starbucks plan. I’m not sure if it was Paul’s, but he has left chaos and creation for the sake of marketing. And that’s why Memory Almost Full s...

Björk Volta Atlantic Released 5.8.07 Rating: 7 out of 10 Listening to “Earth Intruders,” all I can think is that Timbaland really stretched his button pushing to encompass more than “promiscuous girls” and “bringing sexy back.” But, I do have to wonder if he does it better than Tricky did in ’95 and if this was a chance for him to appeal to a more art-based sect of the music consuming populace. Or, maybe there was just a lot of loot involved and a chance for him to scrawl some credits on a new set of liner notes; in the case, notes that display the ever-eccentric Björk with an azure visage and some funky fuckin’ threads (possibly pretending to do the medieval “Volta” dance she mentions on her website). And then there’s the sticker: sole enclosure device for the CD that features Björk dressed as an inverted, but festive, light bulb with feet. The sticker’s losing its adhesion. As far as the record, that’s not completely the case. Volta brings back the electric, trip-hop, and in...

Queens of the Stone Age Era Vulgaris Interscope Released 6.12.07 Rating: 8 out of 10 Author’s Note: This write-up was born out of a discussion with my brother, a die-hard fan, upon first listen of Era Vulgaris . Some of his observations on the album made their way into my review, most notably the opinions related to the song, “Make It Wit Chu.” Right now I’m really wired on coffee and my attempts at diluting the effects with water have been worthless, despite the fact that I’m on my third fucking bottle. I’ll blame the music. I’ve been listening to Era Vulgaris all day with intense concentration because it’s the only album that I’ve really been looking forward to all year. Anyone reading this may wonder what it is about the Queens of the Stone Age that I find so captivating and important in regards to mainstream rock n’ roll. Simply put, QOTSA is the only reason mainstream rock n’ roll is alive. Keep in mind while I boldly make overreaching statements like this that I...