(Music) May In Review

So May has come and gone before I really had a chance to enjoy it. It was a fairly decent month in music, seeing the release of at least one frontrunner for "Album of the Year" when the Third Annual Cale Awards happen in December. Of course, there were also a large assortment of lackluster releases in the month of May. As always, I am here to round things up into one convenient bite-size package.

May 2nd may go down as one of the biggest music dates of the year (with only January 21st giving it a run for its money, thus far). On that exciting Tuesday, the world saw the release of two of the years most anticipated albums: Pearl Jam's self-titled album and Tool's "10,000 Days." Obviously, these aren't my typical favorites, but they are good enough to still be gracing my CD-Player a month later (A good sign). Easily my most anticipated album for May (and beyond) was Tilly and the Wall's second album "Bottoms of Barrels" where they prove that they are superheroes with the power to be impervious to sophomore slumps! The album is, by far, the best album of May and easily one of the best I've heard in 2006!

Other notable releases in the month of may were Grandaddy's final album "Just Like the Fambly Cat" and Les Claypool's "Of Whales and Woe." Both albums were good in their own right, incredibly musical, vastly talent-laden, and interesting; but they just haven't affected me to the degree that May's other albums have. Of course, the month also saw the release of my debut album under the monicher of Soft Light Masquerade. "The Last of Our Lost Earth" won't win any awards (maybe not even Cale awards), but it proved, at least to me, that I can do amazing things with a little hard work in the studio.

May also saw the release of two albums that I greatly anticipated but, in my opinion, fell awfully short: The Red Hot Chilli Pepper's "Stadium Arcadium" and The Raconteurs' "Broken Boy Soldiers." I chose not to review these albums due to my lack of enjoyment with them and my unwillingness to devote more of my time to listening to them. Briefly, "Stadium Arcadium" could've been a much better album if they had taken all the good tracks from the 2-disc release and made it one album. There are simply not any good reasons to release a 28-track album when maybe 5 songs could be considered listenable. The rest is just plain bad, uncreative and unimaginative music that is far below what RCHP is capable of. The Raconteurs turned out to be a lot of hype despite the strong single "Steady as She Goes." Unfortunately, this group just seems to be destined to be known as Jack White's "other band," which would be more exciting if his "real" band didn't suck so much as it is. It's a shame.

Overall, a busy month full of nice surprises and utter letdowns...but not too shabby.

April Rankings:

1. Tilly and the Wall: "Bottoms of Barrells"
2. Tool: "10,000 Days"
3. Les Claypool: "Of Whales and Woe"
4. Grandaddy: "Just Like the Fambly Cat"
5. Pearl Jam: "Pearl Jam"
6. Soft Light Masquerade: "The Last of Our Lost Earth"
7. The Raconteurs: "Broken Boy Soldiers"
8. Red Hot Chilli Peppers: "Stadium Arcadium"

3.125 out of 5 Stars