It's only the first [half] day of summer, and I've already bought two new cd's...

What better way to celebrate the end of the school year, then going out and buying not one, but TWO cd's...? As soon as I entered Borders' Music section (there are no "local" music stores within a reasonable distance from where I live, unfortunately), I knew I had one hard decision on my mind.

After sweeping through the "Bargain" racks, and the "New Releases", I had a stack of eight cd's to choose from, ranging from Zappa's Sheik Yerbouti to Imogen Heap's Speak For Yourself, Elliott Smith's (fairly) new New Moon to the Replacement's Tim; I settled on the White Stripe's brand new Icky Thump and Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy: Deluxe Edition (it contains both BSB and BSB Appendix).

Of the two I was already familiar with the Later in its entirety (as I know a friend who as both albums...), and the purchase of that was more for the sake of having the cd than for new music. I highly recommend this album.

Next comes Icky Thump, The White Stripes' new masterpiece, and Jack White's first album under the title of the White Stripes, since he took a break to work on his side project, The Raconteurs.

First off, I refused to "illegally download" this album before it was released: I felt I owed that to myself (plus I didn't want jack White knocking at my door bringing a lawsuit (or at least a barrage of harsh criticism of my moral character)). So, up until today I had only every heard the title track, and a snippet of You Don't Know What Love Is... After finally getting my hands on the album, and listening to it in its entirety numerous times, I can only come up with one conclusion. Whatever expectations I had for this album, Jack and Meg out-did them ten times over. This masterpiece is just that, a musical masterpiece by arguably the best rock band of modern times.

Whatever I try and say about this album could never do it justice, so I won't try. Instead, listen to these, then go buy the album and experience the genius for yourself:

The White Stripes - Icky Thump
The White Stripes - Rag & Bone
The White Stripes - Little Cream Soda

Like the songs, buy the album (duh!): Amazon