I already raved about the newest Spoon album. They are one of my favorite bands and it’s one of the best albums of the year.

Now you have to check out this video for “Don’t You Evah” which features the Keepon robot. The song was already catchy, but the video will put it in your head for weeks! The video was a collaboration between Spoon (several members even make cameos) and Keepon to promote WIRED NextFest which is next weekend, Sept. 14-16, in Los Angeles. Spoon will be playing a kick-off concert on Monday, September 10 to benefit Creative Commons and the Keepon robot is scheduled to join them. (I would have thought he’s too big of a rock star by now… I’m glad to see he’s still humble.)

I love it when creatives and geeks work together. Left brain meets right brain—the way it should be.

On a sad note, opera lovers worldwide will miss Luciano Pavarotti. I’m an opera fan but I never got to see the great Pavarotti. iTunes: “Luciano Pavarotti - The Best”

New and Notable This Week

• Manu Chao: La Radiolina
  Manu Chao is immensely popular in Europe and Latin America, sings in seven languages, and writes rock/folk/world music with a leftist/political/protest angle that incorporate at least as many musical styles. His music has always been fractured and his new album features 21 songs, many of them under 2 minutes, but he moves between styles, languages and genres so deftly that you won’t notice the shift. He has appeared at numerous festivals and opened for bands like Rage Against the Machine, yet his U.S. success has been minimal. To me, this album feels like an attempt to be more mainstream and ends up being good but not as satifsying as his other albums. The earliest tracks are best, especially “Tristeza Maleza”.
• Björk: Family Tree
  An interesting approach to a greatest hits album. Björk selected her favorite songs and packaged them together with art and commentary so that it stands on its own as more than just a greatest hits. iTunes says that a fan selected greatest hits should have come out on the same day but I can’t find it.
• Just Jack: Overtones
  U.K. rap that’s not bad, but not great either. His technique and style is not quite as original as The Streets, but his use of funk and soul elements that remind me of early Thicke or Jamiroquai makes up for it.

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