Welcome to The Whole Note. Three albums this week. Contestant number one: "The Milk-Eyed Mender" by Joanna Newsome So, I firmly believe, and have never had any reason to doubt the fact, that funk is in the soul. Which means, among other things, that funkiness doesn't rely on any particular instrument or ensemble configuration. Joanna Newsome has funkiness in her soul. The fact that her chosen instrument is a harp doesn't keep that funkiness from funkifying its full self. And then there's her voice - a bit twee with huge character. It may not be for everyone, but I just love it. "The Milk-Eyed Mender" is mostly just Newsome on harp and voice. For a few songs, Newsome forgoes the harp for a piano or Fender Rhodes, but it's all very small, very intimate. I only have two complains about the album. 1) It's front-loaded. The first six songs are just fabulous. The second six are ok. They're definitely worth listening to, especially the last track "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie." But at the end of the first half, I though I had just found maybe one of the best albums of the year. By the end of it, I thought I found a very good album. Honestly, if the cd was just an EP of the first half, I think it would be better. 2) The CD needs to be remastered. I've listened to the CD in a number of players, from computers to cars to theaters, and most of the time it sounds fine, but there are a few systems that just tear it apart. The highs need to be rolled off and it needs better compression on the harp. While these two downsides are sad, the album still kicks ass. Take a listen. Here's track #4 - "Sadie" Contestant number two: "Misery Is A Butterfly" by Blonde Redhead You may know them, you may not. I just got hip to them a few weeks ago, and I think this album is quite nice. I'm the kind of guy that listens muck to fit my mood, and "Misery Is A Butterfly" fits right in where Radiohead used to before it got old. The intensity, the fullness, the complexity, is all very similar to Radiohead. Lot's of angst. But the sound is different. It's orchestra driven music, with a male and female trading off on vocal duties, both of whom have pretty distinctive voices. I dig them both. Here's the first cut from the album - "Elephant Woman" And contestant number three: "Hot Fuss" by The Killers Here's a short one: Are you totally into the '80s sound, but get sick of listening to the same old Duran Duran, Cure, and Til Tuesday albums? Check out The Killers. New music for an old style. Track #1 - "Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine" About The Whole Note: The Whole Note (TWN) is a place for me to talk about my latest music finds. On average, I spend about 20 hours per week specifically looking for new music. I'll check out maybe 20 artists that I've never heard of before, and listen to another five or six albums from artists that I know. Once I find something that I like, I set it aside to listen to later and go back to searching. I will often play some of my favorites at Balls Cabaret where I play bumper music between acts. Most weeks, someone will ask me about something I played, or about new finds. After realizing that I was writing individual TWNs a few times a month, I figured I might as well organize it to save myself some work and spread the music love. I will post the text of these emails at http://www.ochenk.com/twn but will not include the links to the free mp3s. The links to mp3s will only be available in the emails. If this message has been forwarded to you and you'd like to sign up for yourself, go to http://www.ochenk.com/twn Thanks for reading. If you find anything cool out there, let me know. Ochen K.