Updates on my music notes from last week:
1. Jon Pareles agrees with my Madonna observation in this weekend’s New York Times Arts section, although he takes it more positively than me: “It’s the kind of album a record company longs for in the current embattled market: a set of catchy, easily digestible, mass-appeal songs by a star who’s not taking chances…. Her grand statement on ‘Hard Candy’ is nothing more than that she’s still around and can still deliver neat, calculated pop songs.”
2. When I tell other “AI” watchers David Cook is dweeby, they look at me in shock. Which tells me two things. One, that a Simon Cowell-anointed series of appearances on national television, coupled with some honest to goodness talent, does wonders for one’s public impression. And two, that his combover is really good.
3. Seriously: new music from the Odds! Go listen!