Two Incredible New Albums

There's a brand new Keane album coming out next week and that's a big deal for those of you that loved their debut as much as I did. Piano driven brit pop at it's best! The new one is called Under the Iron Sea and you can listen to the whole thing right now! You can stream it here: http://www.myspace.com/keane

I've listened to it all the way through once, and so far I would say it's at least as good if not better than the first one! It comes out June 20th.

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Another candidate for the most beatiful pop record of the year has just been released, but this one doesn't have the big marketing push or budget that Keane has. Jamie Randolph is a new artist on a brand new independent label called Marauder Records. I've got to hand it to them, this is one incredible debut release. Villain is a great album. From the music, which is exceptional, to the album packaging design, which is almost as good as the music itself. But the real story here are the vocals and the songs. Strong melodies over piano, strings and acoustic guitar with vocals that actually have a bit of the Keane-Coldplay vibe, but with a more American bent. This is one of the strongest debuts by a completely independent artist and label that I've ever heard. I would highly reccomend this release to anyone who is into beautiful acoustic pop. Jamie is a step above most of the singer-songwriters out there and his voice is killer. Paste Magazine should be all over this release as it's right in line with what they cover and better than 90% of what was on their last CD sampler. Two of my favorite tracks are "Not Crazy" and "Wine Kings." For audio samples and more information go here:

http://www.villainthealbum.com/

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