COOL NEW MUSIC: BAUHAUS, KATHLEEN EDWARDS, BLACK CROWES, RAKIM AND ALAN JACKSON

I bought one song each from all of the above. Maybe I'll go back and buy the rest of the albums later. In the $14.99 CD era before downloads, I might not have tried any of these albums. Anyway, here's my lowdown:

Bauhaus release their final album today, called Go Away White, a great title for the curtain call by this seminal goth band. I remember in one of the greatest comic books of all time, Sandman, the title character went from being all black to all white by the end of the comic's run. I saw Bauhaus on their reunion tour a few years back. I was never an expert on the band, but I had a respect for them. And they were great. I saw them again a few summers ago, opening for Nine Inch Nails at the most ungothly of venues, Jones Beach. But still, they were great. Apparently during the recording of this album, "an incident" occured, ensuring that the band will never work together again. Wow. Anyway, judging by "International Bulletproof Talent," they're taking thier final bow on a pretty cool note.

Today The Black Crowes release thier first album since reuniting a few years back, Warpaint. Like Maxim magazine, I have only heard "Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution," and unlike Maxim, I'm not going to pretend I heard anything else. This is a pretty groovy song. I'm not a hardcore Black Crowes fan, but I enjoy lots of thier songs, and this is a good one.

Kathleen Edwards' "Oil Man's War," from her new one, Asking For Flowers, appeals to me on its title alone. On her last album, Back To Me, I really loved two songs (the title track and "In State"), but not the rest of the album. This is a pretty cool song, though, so I'll have to investigate the album further.

Rakim's "Love 4 Sale" is from a new collection called The Archive: Live, Lost & Found. He's one of the best MCs of all time, and it's too bad that he can't seem to get his career back on track. At one point, he was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records, but got dropped before he released anything. As he proved on last year's track "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)" remix (produced by DJ Premier and also featuring Kanye West, Nas and KRS-One), he smokes pretty much any MC who is considered hot these days. Anyway, this is a pretty cool track.

Alan Jackson's "Small Town Southern Man" is from A-Jax's new album, out today, called Good Time. It's actually his first album where he wrote all the songs himself. I know he's lumped in with all of the "hat acts," many of whom I'm indifferent to. I don't have his albums, but I used to work in a record store and we played him sometimes, and I found myself liking his music. This is actually the record I'm most likely to pick up of this batch.