After hearing news that my favorite store is closing, my bank account should be seeing a nice push from me not spending money on the endless amounts of $10 CD's that Virgin has.  Where will i go spend countless hours, just looking through CD's, books and gadgets?  I guess the upside is the gigantic sale that will taking place right before it closes.  Let's bring buying good music back and enjoy the tunes.  People may thing that the the price of CD's has gone up over he last 10 years but the truth is that CD prices have stayed relatively flat.  So when you really look at it the price of a CD has actually decreased in real terms and when adjusted for inflation, CD's are less expensive today than ever before.  Whereas the price of a MLB tickets, concert tickets, cable, movies, etc. have steadily increased. 

Music is such a big part of my life.  Ever since I was little, I would get lost in music and loved that I could accompany moments in life with a soundtrack.  Also when I would hear music, I would visualize colors to accompany music and see its colors.  Apparently its called Synesthesia, in which the customary boundaries between the senses appear to break down, sight mingling with sound, or taste with touch.  So you can see my excitement for the new N.E.R.D album called "Seeing Sounds".  It stands apart from all new releases this week and I'm hoping it will stand up and receive the commercial reception it deserves.  N.E.R.D opens the CD with a movie type monologue "Time For Some Action" where Pharrell makes it very clear "That this is not love, its lust".  Then the album goes on for another 11 tracks where N.E.R.D continues to push the basic creative surfaces of music.  This album is like "In Search Of..."where you will not be bored or want to skip to the next track.  A few of my track favorites are "Spaz", "Everyone Nose", the soul-swooning "Sooner or Later" and "Love Bomb".  So this week I ask that you go support my Future Baby Daddy Pharrell Williams and N.E.R.D and go buy "Seeing Sounds". 

Next up we have Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III".  This is probably one of the most awaited hip hop albums of the year and its his 6th solo album since 1999.  And the reviews have been pretty damn stellar.  Since the release of his last album the platinum selling "Tha Cater II", Lil Wayne has guest appearances on over 70 songs and MTV News and Rolling Stone gave him last year the title of "Hottest MC of the Year", that same month he was given the "Men of the Year-Workaholic" by GQ Magazine and this year Blender named Weezy "Best Rock Star Alive" all of these accolades and he hadn't released "Tha Carter III".  After listening to it, the wait was worth it.  With his first number one single ever off "Tha Carter III"- "Lollipop" it will help Weezy get decent numbers for his first week sales.  Not to mention the line "Call me, so I can make it juicy for ya" is insane and I likes it a lot.  The star studded-producer/guest spots definitely add a couple of extra pro's to this album but its all about Weezy and he does not disappoint.  I'm still digesting the album but have managed to pick some stand out favorites, the Kanye West produced tracks "Let the Beat Build", "Shoot Me Down", "Tie My Hands" featuring Robin Thicke is freakishly smooth and will definetely be a hit and the song "Comfortable" which features Babyface, which is an obvious response to Beyonce's "Irreplaceable".  The 18 track album lives up to all the hype that has been said and even though Weezy has been making his mark on collaborations lately, he stands alone on "The Carter III" and he marks the spot on the game and is worthy of the "Best Rapper Alive" title.  Go GET THIS ALBUM NOW!

Lastly I want to briefly touch on the genius that is the grammy award winning Sergio Mendes and his new CD "Encanto".  For those that haven't heard of Sergio, he is a Brazilian musician that has put his own touch on the latin jazz movement.  He has turned it from traditional jazz and added to a touch of the bossa nova, samba and that groovy in lounge music.  He has been making music since 1961.  He reached mainstream with his 2006 album "Timeless".  It featured some of the best of neo-soul hip hop acts India. Arie, Black Thought of The Roots, Erykah Badu and pop artists Justin Timberlake and John Legend and I loved it!  Encanto has timeless melodies, tied in with modern production and a wide range of artists that are making appearances.  From Fergie to Juanes to Vanessa de Mata, this album is a tasty delight for summer listening.  "Funky Bahia" which features Will I Am and Siedah Garrett is a good one and so is "Dreamer" with Lani Hall and Herb Albert. 

So go out and support these good artists and enjoy their music!


Ps:  I was lucky to go see a screening of "The Hulk" AND they had the Marvel people there to talk about upcoming projects.  "The Hulk" was damn good and it surpassed any expectations that I may have had.  Ed Norton just solified himself as a Future Baby Daddy and the cameo of Robert Downey Jr. was great and you could tell the crowd loved it.  I know the guy that I went with, even he was swooning, although he tried to hide it under his VTech hat.  Grown men can swoon too David!  I'm going to try to post a mini-review on it.