The New Shit | 4/20

Calm before the storm as April closes because the next wave of giant releases hits in May. It gives us the chance to highlight a few worthy releases this week that might otherwise get lost in the flood. (Apologies for the water imagery - we're hopelessly hooked on HBO's new post-Katrina drama, Treme).


CDs

THE DIRTYWHIRL'S PICK OF THE WEEK: Caribou | Swim
A friend of the blog swears by this record and that dude usually hates EVERYTHING, so our interest has been piqued. First single "Odessa" is pretty strong and features some of the best dance beats we've heard since the Hercules And Love Affair album two years ago so we have some high hopes for Swim.

The Radio Dept. | Clinging To A Scheme
Swedish shoegazers The Radio Dept. first came to our attention in 2006 when three tracks (including the super-excellent "Pulling Our Weight" and the just-as-excellent "I Don't Like It Like This") were included on the soundtrack to the Sofia Coppola flop Marie Antionette. This is their first new output since then so it's been a long wait. Good thing our memory is still... wait, what were we talking about?

The Delta Mirror | Machines That Listen
Imagine The Album Leaf when The Album Leaf was actually good and you'll have a decent approximation of what The Delta Mirror's debut album sounds like. If that's your kind of thing.

He Was Worse Than The Needle H...

DVDs
A quick note before we get started on the DVD releases. Two weeks ago, 20th Century Fox and Universal joined Warner Brothers in requiring a 28-day rental window for Netflix and Redbox to carry their films. Basically, movies from these studios are not available to be rented until 28 days after they've been released for sale on DVD. It sucks, but what are you gonna do? In Netflix's case, they're getting more back catalog selections for their streaming catalog so it's not all bad. Point is, since three of the major studios are insisting on this exclusivity, we're adjusting this space to look at movies that are available for the first time on Netflix or Redbox since no self-respecting person goes to Blockbuster anymore. And if you are still going to Blockbuster, what's wrong with you? Seriously.

The Blind Side
I already made a joke at Sandra Bullock's expense when we previewed this movie last month on its DVD release date so, since we're recycling an entry, we figured we'd recycle a funny we heard on Tosh.0. Gabourey Sidibe probably didn't have much of a chance at an Oscar for Precious because the votes were split with her starring role as Michael Oher here. Heyyyyyyooooo. Johnny Bench called.

The Lovely Bones
Yes, this is an adaptation of Alice Sebold's chick book but it's also Peter Jackson's first directorial effort since the polarizing King Kong back in 2005. That's worth something, yeah? No? Probably no.