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Health & Fitness

Local Music Blog: What's New at Kiss the Sky—9/23/11

We cover the newest music releases at Geneva's Kiss the Sky!

It’s true! I may be the world-famous and potential Pulitzer Prize opinion columnist you’ve all come to know and love, but did you know, in addition to making local politicians quake in their boots, I love music. All kinds of music. If you add my CD and LP collections together, the total would come to somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,000 titles.

So as you might imagine, one of my favorite pastimes is to head down to every Tuesday afternoon to pick up the new releases. For those of you who don’t already know, KTS is a rare independent record stores sitting in the heart of downtown Geneva on the northwest corner of State Street (Route 38) and Third Street.

And that’s exactly what we’ll be covering here—my weekly thoughts on the latest and greatest musical offerings from a wide variety of musicians. We’ll call this blog, “What’s New at Kiss the Sky.”

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So without further ado, let’s get started!

After a dearth of summer new releases, Sept, 27 proved a banner day for great new music. And the title that topped my list was Wilco’s The Whole Love. Jeff Tweedy and his Chicago based crew rarely disappoint and their eighth album, the first recorded on their own dBpm record label, is no exception.

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Some folks say that Yankee Hotel Fox Trot was their magnum opus. Others claim the band hasn’t been the same since Jay Bennett was forced out in 2001. But I think The Whole Love is Wilco's best work yet. I haven’t heard an album flow so perfectly since the Decembrists' Hazards of Love.

During those frequent and spontaneous KTS roundtable discussions on any number of musical subjects from Lady Gaga to Anthrax, someone will inevitably interject, “They just don’t make music like the used to!” Wilco is proof positive that this “give me something old or give me death” theorem doesn’t hold true.

I rate The Whole Love a rare “must have.”

Thanks to drummer Travis Barker’s near death plane crash experience, the boys in Blink-182 are back with their first album since 2003, Neighborhoods. Though there’s nothing groundbreaking here, there’s something about the post punk endeavors of Messrs. Barker, Hoppus and DeLonge that always get me playing the air guitar.

Maybe it’s Tom DeLonge’s distinctive vocals or the group’s capacity to mix punk sentiment with pop sensibilities, but Neighborhoods is a keeper. We’ll give it a “highly recommended.”

Chickenfoot, the supergroup consisting of ex-Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriana, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer, Chad Smith, also released their second album oddly titled, Chickenfoot III.

Considering the relative dearth of straight ahead rock albums, I really wanted to like this one, but I’ve never quite warmed up the foursome and Chickenfoot III didn’t raise the temperature much. Buy this one only “if you’re a fan.”

And speaking of something old, following in the footsteps of the Beatles, Pink Floyd reissued their entire remastered catalog in far too many iterations to mention here. Dark Side of the Moon received special treatment as will Wish You Were Here and The Wall in future epic re-releases.

I’m always leery about remasters. Are the boys simply trying to make a fast buck off their old fan base, or is the aging group truly making an effort to provide a new listening experience.

Let me tell you, though I’m a warm vinyl sound aficionado, these CDs sound phenomenal. The desperation of The Wall leapt out at me like never before. In fact, I was so impressed, I picked up the $130 Dark Side of the Moon “Immersion” box set. (Which only proves Rogers Waters must need a sixth mansion.)

This grandiose collection contains three CDs, three DVDs and all sorts of Pink Floyd memorabilia. My conclusion! You really haven’t heard DSOTM until you’ve heard it on blu-ray audio. Even my music engineering major wife had to stop and take it in.

If you want to bring the halcyon days of the 70’s rushing back without breaking the bank, pick up DSOTM, Wish You Were Here and The Wall CDs for 17 bucks a pop. But if, like me, you’re a Pink Floyd fanatic, then splurge and buy the DSOTM Immersion box set.

That’s it for this week’s releases. Next week we’ll discuss Feist, Mutemath and Nirvana’s 20th anniversary vinyl reissue of their game changing classic Nevermind. Until then, you'll probably find me at Kiss The Sky.

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