iTunes finds
 
J. Mascis' cover of "Leavin' on a Jet Plane," originally released in 2001 to membes of the Sub Pop Singles Club. It doesn't sound like anyone told Mascis you can't smoke on a plane.
 
"Where the Streets Have No Name" by Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen, from the comp "In the Name of Love -- Africa  Celebrates U2." A bit smoother, with less pronounced polyrhthms, than I hoped for, but still nice. Sometimes it's a relief to hear U2 without the burden of Bono's weight-of-the-world voice.
 
"Love Remains the Same," Gavin Rossdale Gwen Stefani's baby daddy leaves the Bush behind (yeah, I remember Institute; does anyone else?) and makes a bid to be the Bryan Adams of the 00's on the first single from his upcoming solo debut "Wanderlust."

Jim Kiest | 210SA Contributor

Music Review: Gnarls Barkley's skillful express the demons of the mind on 'The Odd Couple'

By BRETT JOHNSON
For The Associated Press

Gnarls Barkley, "The Odd Couple" (Atlantic Records)

More than just gimmicky goofballs with a penchant for outlandish costumes, Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo Green and DJ Danger Mouse make some of the most deceptively funky songs about maladjusted behavior and alienation. Their unavoidable 2006 hit, "Crazy" from their brilliant debut disc, "St. Elsewhere," may have sounded like a call to party, but it's really a tension-filled rumination about psychosis.

The duo's equally superb follow-up, "The Odd Couple" doesn't feature a "Crazy"-level supersmash, but they still wed dark emotions with compelling beats. The closest they come to recreating a "Crazy"-like raucous paranoia is "Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)," a '60s mod send up in the vein of Outkast's "Hey Ya," but again with foreboding lyrics: "Run, children, run for your life!" Cee-Lo wails. Meanwhile, "Going On" is another uptempo handclapper that fades out to Cee-Lo's echoing vocals, distorted drum kicks and soaring strings.

The rest of the disc covers a range of melancholy, but never feels like you're emotionally sandbagged. Instead the somber tones merely sound artful, and transcendent in the disc's best moment. "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" is a slow-burning, soulful lament on which Cee-Lo begins, "Got some bad news this morning/ which in turn made my day." The chilling "Would Be Killer" jump starts with what sounds like a gun being cocked, then continues with Cee-Lo's devilish snarls and Danger Mouse's penchant for moody atmospherics and retro-futuristic funk. And the flute-driven "She Knows" is a cryptic song about dishonesty.

By the disc's end, the brooding moments relent a tad on "A Little Better," a track that talks of mental anguish yet imagines a hopeful outcome, as Cee-Lo delivers the hook: "I feel better, I can smile at it now, I feel better ..." Through all the murky feelings, "The Odd Couple" indeed has that sentimental effect.

CHECK OUT: His formidable rapping skills as solo artist and as a member of Atlanta's Goodie MOB notwithstanding, Cee-Lo proves he's a pure soulman at on the goose-bump invoking "Who's Gonna Save My Soul."

Music Review: R.E.M. picks up the pace on 'Accelerate,' best album in years

By CHRIS TALBOTT
Associated Press Writer

R.E.M., "Accelerate" (Warner Bros.)

When R.E.M. was at its peak, its music was filled with urgency and energy — something the band lost over the years.

After a decade of what singer Michael Stipe calls unfocused studio efforts, R.E.M. picks up the pace on the enjoyable "Accelerate," its first album since 2004.

Equal parts political commentary and personal introspection, "Accelerate" contains many of the hallmarks of the early R.E.M. sound abandoned in its middle age.

Here though the jangly guitar and ambulatory bass lines are more about jittery nerves than beautiful atmospherics, the high harmonies more Greek chorus moan than a reflection of the joy the band shared with millions of fans while making groundbreaking rock 'n' roll in the 1980s.

Stipe, one of our great storytellers, is as sharp and wickedly funny as ever here.

In "Man Sized Wreath," he sings, "Turn on the TV/What do I see?/A pageantry of empty gestures/All lined up for me."

In "Houston," a song featuring acoustic guitar, mandolin and an insistent organ line that sounds like a warning siren, he opens with, "If the storm doesn't kill me the government will." And in the powerful punch of "Horse to Water," he sings, "Bring a horse to water and watch him drown."

CHECK THIS OUT: Stipe said the band rewrote the rulebook for the new album, a sentiment displayed in the title track. "Accelerate" has the feel of a never-ending freefall that gains speed with each passing measure and the introspective line, "No time to question the choices I've made/I've got to fall in another direction."

Stipe finishes the song with the plaintiff cry, "I'm incomplete, I'm incomplete, I'm incomplete," perhaps an indication the band's not yet done transforming itself. Let's hope.