There’s something about Thom Yorke’s voice. He has a unique ability to elicit sadness without coming off as a whiner (unlike, say, Coldplay). The lyrics of his new album, The Eraser, seem at first to be mostly nonsense, basically there to give Yorke an excuse to use his voice as an instrument… much like he does when fronting the band Radiohead. But look closer and there is meaning to be found.

Just give a listen to the title track, The Eraser. The combination of creepy piano chord progressions and a snazzy beat with Yorke’s haunting voice sends chills up my spine and sets the tone for the rest of the mostly melancholy album. Yet for some reason, it doesn’t make me depressed like most sad music… it just makes me feel.

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So I got the new Outkast album early, Idlewild and I’ve been listening to it on repeat for about a week now. It’s more of a companion album to the movie, than a pure soundtrack. Like all Outkast albums, it’s stylistically all over the place. But how is it?

praises & high points

Keeping in tune with the time period of the movie, some of the songs have a bit of a ragtime feel to them. To my ears, these are the standout songs of the album. I’ve had a long-standing love of swing, big band and ragtime music. So when I heard the guitars and horns on such danceable songs as PJ & Rooster and Idlewild Blue, I couldn’t help but get happy.

But, again, this isn’t a soundtrack to the film of the same name. Less than half of the 25 tracks follow the theme of the film. Most of the tracks are contemporary hip-hop and funny interludes.

Standout songs such as the Mighty “O”, which sounds like the Outkast anthem, and N2U, which I’ve been singing since I heard it a week ago, will get heads nodding and toes tapping. Make no mistake, Idlewild is the album you’ll hear bumping out of stereos for the next month or so… at least in ATL.

In addition to the danceable tracks, there are introspective songs such as The Train, which is one of the best cuts on the album. But the lines are blurred, these are songs that make you think AND make you tap your toe. With only one exception, mentioned later, every song on this album was genuinely entertaining, yet offered a little something for those who chose to look beneath the surface for meaning.

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