Fall Out Boy - Folie A Deux

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Fall Out Boy - Folie A Deux

“Fall Out Boy have become the kings of emo — without actually showing much emotion. Sure, they make all the signature emo moves: Singer Patrick Stump bellows cries of hurt, catalogs of grievances and confessions of inadequacy over guitars that hurtle toward big choruses. The group’s fourth album, Folie à Deux, begins in high-angst mode, with him crooning “I’m coming apart at the seams” over a funereal organ.

But behind the melodrama there is a smirk. In the galloping “Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes,” Stump sings about nervous breakdowns and detox stints before delivering a jokey self-critique: “Nobody wants to hear you sing about tragedy.” The title of “The (Shipped) Gold Standard” is an in-joke about record sales, and the chorus rises to winking couplet: “You can only blame your problems on the world for so long/Before it all becomes the same old song.” In Fall Out Boy’s world, tongue-in-cheek always trumps heart-on-sleeve.

That’s certainly the case on Folie à Deux, their most exuberantly cheeky release yet. It’s also their most rock-star-ish. The guest list boasts names that only an A-list band could corral, from emo homeboys (Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy) to rappers (Lil Wayne, Pharrell) to eminences (Elvis Costello, Debbie Harry). The music suggests that Fall Out Boy, now firmly established as leading Gen Y rock torchbearers, are starting to think about their place in history. In “Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet,” Stump sings, “I don’t just want to be a footnote.” This heightened historical self-consciousness registers most strongly in the music itself, which mashes up the band’s staples — caffeine-injected punk pop and bursts of prog-rock pomp — with more old-school sounds: Beatlesque backing vocals in “America’s Suitehearts,” string-swathed soul balladeering in the glorious “What a Catch, Donnie.” Fall Out Boy began dabbling with R&B on 2007’s Infinity on High, and they further explore their funky side here: Stump is emerging as one of the world’s most unlikely blue-eyed-soul stars, breathing life into classic R&B chord progressions and flaunting his agile voice. (He seems determined to give Robin Thicke a run for the Best White Boy Falsetto prize.)

The musical mix on Folie à Deux suggests a band with an advanced case of ADD, ricocheting between genres and eras, tempos and time signatures, often several times in a given song. But there is monomaniacal focus in the lyrics of Pete Wentz, FOB’s bassist, pin-up and poet/jester. Wentz is, as always, hyperverbose and infatuated by puns. (The wordplay is sometimes not quite as clever as Wentz thinks: “The mad key’s tripping/Singing vows/Before we exchange smoke rings.”) Above all, Fall Out Boy remain obsessed with Fall Out Boy. “Throw your cameras in the air/And wave them like you just don’t care,” Stump bellows in “(Coffee’s for Closers).” Rock stars have been making records about rock stardom for decades, but few have had such fun singing about the absurdities, the narcissism — and, as the album title suggests, the follies — of a life lived in fame’s strobelit glare. “I don’t care what you think/As long as it’s about me,” sings Stump in “I Don’t Care,” adding what could be FOB’s credo, a summary of their trickster-ish approach to the emo game: “The best of us can find happiness in misery.”

Soulja Boy Tell’ Em - iSouljaBoyTellEm

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Soulja Boy Tell’ Em - iSouljaBoyTellEm

“Here’s what hasn’t changed about Soulja Boy: Search his name on YouTube and you’ll find a guide to his new dance (the Bird Walk). Put on his new album, and you get a mix of bright synth beats and exuberant, drawled catchphrases. “Hey You There” uses the angry shout of a mall security guard as a launching pad for goofy nonsense rhymes. Here’s what has changed: The beats on iSouljaBoyTellem — built by Soulja and Mr. Collipark — are beefier. And Soulja Boy’s willingness to drill songs into your skull is less charming. The chopped-and-screwed hook of “Go Head” is repeated more than 30 times — about 20 too many.”

Glasvegas - Glasvegas

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Glasvegas - Glasvegas

“This Scottish quartet’s first album is practically a best-of set — four songs previously appeared as high-buzz indie singles. Glasvegas create wall-of-distortion melodrama that draws on the Jesus and Mary Chain, Sixties girl groups and the Velvet Underground’s rain-dance pulse. It makes for a compelling blend of grays — “Flowers and Football Tops” is based on the real-life murder of a Glasgow teenager — lit by singer James Allan’s high, bright hurrahs. You may get lost in his thick Scottish accent — until the chant-ready choruses come around”

Kanye West’s Mother’s Surgeon Jailed for DUI

The plastic surgeon who operated on Kanye West’s mother, Donda West, before she died has been sentenced to a year in jail for drunken driving.

Dr. Jan Adams, 54, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor drunken driving last year, according to The Associated Press.

On June 26, 2008, authorities say Adams’ Jaguar was spotted traveling the wrong way on Interstate 680 near Cordelia, Calif. Adams’ blood alcohol level was .20 percent, over twice the legal limit.

Solano County Court Commissioner Ray Wieser sentenced the doctor Monday. He will receive credit for eight days he previously served.

Adams performed breast reduction, tummy tuck and liposuction on Donda West a day before she died in 2007. An autopsy concluded her death was a result of both heart disease and complications from the surgery.

New Idol Judge Kara DioGuardi: Season 8 Offers at Least Five “Great” Males

New Idol judge Kara DioGuardi isn’t naming names, but she is admitting that she’s impressed with a handful of the male hopefuls she’s seen audition so far — plus a few of the ladies.

Speaking to press on Thursday, the music producer and latest addition to the reality juggernaut stayed mum on who to watch for when the series kicks off Jan. 13. “Looking at all of the contestants on the whole, I felt that the males were the strongest,” she told TVGuide.com. “That being said, there are one or two females that I’m excited about as well. And I’m really just waiting for the show to roll and the next phase to see who’s going to roll out on top.”

DioGuardi did, however, hint at what differentiated some of the male performances she’s seen so far, as compared to last year’s roster. “There is a uniqueness to some of the male contestants that’s different in terms of their voices, the songs they were picking and the general direction of what their record would be.” She continued, “What I feel very confident about is that the men in the competition, there’s…at least five that are great.”

The Idol newbie also shared her views of how each of her fellow judges approaches the competition, and where she fits in. To DioGuardi, Paula has “heart,” Simon “tells it like it is,” Randy’s the “diplomat,” and she is a combination of the three, often finding herself in the uncomfortable position of making the call on a contestant.

“I may say things that are negative,” DioGuardi explained, “but I always try to do it with heart, and some understanding of what it’s like to be on the other side of the table.” For her, the show so far has been a natural extension of her work as a songwriter and producer, often nurturing new talent, like (most recently) Colbie Caillat, as well as past Idols like Carrie Underwood.

“I’ve been involved in so many of these kids’ careers,” she said. “That’s my life. I live for that.”

How do you think the new judge will fare with the three veterans?

The Derek Trucks Band - Already Free

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The Derek Trucks Band - Already Free

“Derek Trucks could very well be the best guitarist of his generation, and his sixth studio disc is his band’s most accessible blues-rock set to date. Trucks hones the R&B, jazz and Middle Eastern influences of his previous outings into a tight groove on Already Free. It kicks off with a gritty, swamp-boogie take on Dylan’s “Down in the Flood” and stomps through a cover of the Southern-soul classic “Sweet Inspiration.” The originals pull their weight, from the dusty, field-recording vibe of the title track to “Get What You Deserve,” a distorto-blues monster. And appropriate for an album recorded at home, Trucks’ wife, Susan Tedeschi, delivers some Bonnie Raitt sass on the track “Back Where I Started.””

Plies - Da REAList

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Plies - Da REAList

“Do you like Young Jeezy but think he’s a little soft? Then this Florida MC and self-avowed “goon” is for you. Da Realist is Plies’ second album of 2008, coming on the heels of the gold-selling Definition of Real. Over minimalist hand claps and kick drums, Plies dishes singsong choruses and asserts his goon-itude: On the creepy “All Black,” he dreams of when he can “kill my first rap nigga . . . all head shots.” Changes of pace include “Spend the Night,” a pop-friendly sex jam where Plies tells a girl he’ll “fuck you till you’re out of breath.” Da Realist is catchy and seductive in small doses, and Plies’ no-frills chest-thumping has a certain logic to it. But when he says, “You ain’t got enough guns, you gonna need some help,” he could be talking about himself.”

Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke

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Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke

“For Phillips “Pip” Brown, the New Zealand-born singer-songwriter known as Ladyhawke, 1985 is not merely a year: It’s a career choice. Ladyhawke — the name comes from a Matthew Broderick fantasy film released in, yep, 1985 — is a retro fetishist, slathering her songs in synthesizer fanfares and thudding drum machines that precisely evoke the mid-Eighties sound of Pat Benatar, Kim Wilde and the Top Gun soundtrack. Ladyhawke is a skillful craftswoman, and in songs like the grandiose “Magic” she whips her synths into stormy dance-floor fun. But as with so much Eighties revivalism, there is a chilly emptiness to the exercise; most of the songs feel like fashion statements. She’d have done well to heed her own advice in “Another Runaway”: “It’s too late to call back yesterday.””

A.C. Newman - Get Guilty

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A.C. Newman - Get Guilty

“Between his solo output and his work with the New Pornographers, Carl Newman has turned out five records in six years — pretty prolific for a guy who seems to spend loads of time crafting his songs. Newman’s second solo album shuffles between power pop and mild psychedelia while tossing in horns and coed harmonies. Get Guilty isn’t quite as consistent as a typical Pornographers record, but the arrangements are lusher. And like all Newman records, it shows off his smarts and maintains a strong hook quotient: Gnomic lyrics like “You have defended the chemistry of the divide” usually come wrapped in golden melodies, and then there’s “The Palace at 4 A.M.,” a bright, propulsive cut and the catchiest song ever named after a Donald Barthelme story.”

Kevin Rudolf - In The City

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Kevin Rudolf - In The City

“Miami songwriter-producer Kevin Rudolf is the first rocker signed to Cash Money Records, and he’s already making money for his New Orleans hip-hop bosses: His single “Let It Rock,” an arena-ready electro jam with a fine cameo from labelmate Lil Wayne, has blown up on pop radio. Unfortunately, the rest of Rudolf’s self-produced debut is a middling rock record dressed up in sleek digital clothes. Rudolf hitches stomping, synth-packed grooves to lyrics so lazy you want to prod them with a stick: “I can take you higher” is one of the many platitudes that riddle In the City. Maybe Lil Wayne can help here?”

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