New Favorite Album - Mark Ronson Version

Yes, really.

Mark Ronson's Version is an absolutely fantastic album. I've been listening to it all afternoon (well, in between Grindhouse and talking on the phone to S about music and H about film).

It hits all of the elements I love: 60s soulful, funky arrangements, British (for the most part) pop songs, British pop singers.

It's like he knew and made the perfect Musette album. In reality, it means I have extremely universal taste. It also means we're on the cusp of a complete motown revival now that our English friends are leading us back to rediscovering our own music. Again.

The album is released on Monday in the UK and can be purchased from Amazon and the complete album is streaming on Mark Ronson's myspace.

Blog Round-Up -- Amy Winehouse, Andrew Bird, Annuals, Bloc Party, The Cinematics, Kaiser Chiefs, Mark Ronson

Culture Bully has 13 live songs from an Amy Winehouse show in February.

Good Weather for Airstrikes has a review of the Annuals/Kaiser Chiefs show in NY. I am a huge fan of Annuals (Complete or Completing is still a favorite) and I also really enjoy Kaiser Chiefs, so it's an interesting read. Plus, mp3s.

Good Weather for Airstrikes also has an mp3 from Bloc Party's appearance on BBC Radio 's Live Lounge: a cover of Nelly Furtado's Say it Right. Plus, more mp3s from my favorite source of wacky covers.

BBC's Collective, which is not technically a blog, has an interview with Mark Ronson about his new covers project.

30 frames confirms why all music videos look the same.

The Music Slut covers Spinner's coverage of The Cinematics covering Jeff Buckley at SX, under the headline "Jeff Buckley's Mother 'Teary Eyed' After Cinematics Cover." An impressive example of great pr at work.

I Guess I'm Floating reviews Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha.