Kaiser Chiefs - The Future Is Medieval

Ever since Radiohead offered In Rainbows online for whatever price one was willing to pay, the race has been on to see who could come up with the next clever way to market a new album.

I think Kaiser Chiefs have found it in the creative strategy for their new album, The Future Is Medieval. On their official site, there is a tool that allows you to preview 20 potential tracks for the album, from which can select 10 songs in any order to form your own personalized version of The Future Is Medieval. From there, you get to design the album's cover art and then, using Paypal, you can purchase your customized album for about $12 (£7.50). Finally, your special version of the album--complete with custom artwork--is available for other people to buy (for those who presumably don't want to be bothered with the work of choosing and ordering the songs).

If you click on the banner below you can see (and buy) my custom version of the album. A full physical release is due to follow in a couple of weeks, although not all 20 tracks will appear on it. The cover above is the custom artwork I designed.

Best of 2000s: Other albums 2003-2005

Because I couldn't narrow it down to just 10, here are 12 other notable albums from 2003 through 2005:

Evanescence - Fallen
With its dark, but accessible tones, the gothic yet top 40 friendly Evanescence struck a chord in 2003 with its hit single "Bring Me to Life." Better yet was their gorgeous third single "My Immortal." I remember particularly enjoying this album walking around the city on cold but sunny winter days that year. Essential: My Immortal

Innocent Eyes - Delta Goodrem
Australian Delta Goodrem's debut showcased the pop singer as a classy act, as adept in front of the piano as she was in front of the microphone. Sadly, her tabloid romance with former Westlifer Brian McKnight seems to have completely eclipsed her musical career, but back in 2003, she looked on course to become the next Celine Dion. Essential: Lost Without You

Dido - Life for Rent
Dido's second album was almost as good as her first, continuing in the electronic adult pop vein with songs like "White Flag" and "Don't Leave Home"--the latter of which was about drug abuse but mistakenly assumed to be a love song and played at weddings (according to Dido, who told this story during her 2004 concert tour). Essential: White Flag

Sugababes - Three
Three was the Sugababes last great album. Although it lacked singles as good as its predecessor, the other tracks were more consistently good, such as the slamming "Whatever Makes You Happy" and cool "Conversations Over." It was with this album that the group tried but failed to break into the US market. Essential: Hole in the Head

Alicia Keys - The Diary of Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys' albums haven't quite lived up to their hype, but this, her second, was the best of the trio. I love its old school flair, and there are a lot of great moments here (like the spoken word confession of the diner waitress on "You Don't Know My Name"). Essential: If I Ain't Got You

Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin
Avril Lavigne's second album largely avoided the punky/pop sound she cultivated on debut Let Go. Pity it didn't work out for her, for I actually think this is by far her best album, with darker more mature themes. Essential: Together

Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
As a stepping stone between their indie roots and their recent, more mainstream Under the Blacklight (which I'll be featuring later), More Adventurous effectively shows off both sides of the band. Essential: I Never

Gwen Stefani - Love.Angel.Music.Baby
Breaking from No Doubt in the mid 2000s, Gwen Stefani released two stylized dance pop albums. This, the first and better received of the two, showcased the singer's taste for fashion, dance, hip-hop and '80s synths. Essential: Cool

Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi
After seeing the quality of her albums decline from Daydream through Rainbow (and hitting rock bottom with Glitter and Charmbracelet), Mariah Carey reinvented herself with The Emancipation of Mimi, a winning set of modern R&B with a retro sensibility. Essential: We Belong Together

Gorillaz - Demon Days
With Demon Days, Gorillaz, the cartoon band side-project from Blur's Damon Albarn stepped off the page to become a legitimate musical act ("Feel Good Inc." was a much bigger hit than anything Blur's released in years). Essential: Feel Good Inc.

Kaiser Chiefs - Employment
The playful debut from the Kaiser Chiefs was upbeat and fun, with nods to punk and '80s new wave similar to that of the Killers (who broke out at about the same time). Essential: I Predict a Riot

James Blunt - Back to Bedlam
Earnest, acoustic male pop singers proliferated this decade (see John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Daniel Powter, etc.). While I'm generally not into this kind of thing, I rather liked James Blunt's 2005 debut. Essential: You're Beautiful

Album review: Kaiser Chiefs - Off with Their Heads (4.5/5)

Kaiser Chiefs have settled into a comfortable strata of popularity. Not quite the breakouts that Arctic Monkeys have become, but big enough that Off with Their Heads, now album number three, was met with enough enthusiasm to debut at #2 on the UK albums chart last week, just behind AC/DC. I may be one of the few people who liked their second album Yours Truly, Angry Mob better than their debut, Employment (both made my year-end top 10 lists). Their attempt at something more serious didn't connect with the public as well; while "Ruby" was a #1 hit, none of their last album's other singles peaked higher than #19.

Last time I reviewed a Kaiser Chiefs album I compared them to The Killers, and the analogy continues to hold. Like that American band, album #3 finds Kaiser Chiefs employing a big-name co-producer--Mark Ronson--in an effort to recapture their first album's sense of energy and fun they abandoned in the name of "maturity" for album #2. Why Mark Ronson? He would at first blush seem like a strange choice--his sound being associated more with R&B and retro '60s soul than British pop/rock. But recall that last year he successfully covered the Chiefs' "Oh My God" with Lily Allen, giving the song a second appearance in the UK top 10. So did he turn the band into a five-man version of Amy Winehouse?

Of course not and the results are not disappointing. Off with Their Heads is a fun album, much of it fast and furious. "Spanish Metal" announces itself with dramatic booming bass and guitar before settling into mellow, warm keyboard chords. It's a darkly camp opening. "Never Miss a Beat" turns up the tempo and the guitars. It's the most fun the band's had since "I Predict a Riot," using a call-and-respond format for the verses and a great hook for the chorus ("take a look at the kids on the street, no they never miss a beat").

"Like It Too Much" throttles back a bit with tinkling pianos and a string arrangement courtesy of James Bond composer David Arnold, but gets its noisy moment during the heavy guitar bridge. Ronson's '60s influence shows here, with the heavy layering of sounds to produce a warm, rich sound. That '60s effect where you make a guitar sound a bit like an organ shows up on "You Want History," which also shows an '80s new wave influence. Same goes for "Can't Say What I Mean," which is a really great upbeat song.

"Good Days Bad Days" is refreshingly happy--very sunny '70s and silly (lyrics such as "sticks and stones and animal bones" repeated over and over). "Tomato in the Rain" is the quietest moment so far on the album, but I'd hardly call it serious, since it analogizes a vegetable and is backed by a woman's voice lightly singing "ahh..." "Half the Truth" uses the old-fashioned organ sounds punctuated by the more modern grungy guitars. Ricky Wilson's vocals veer toward spoken word here, punched up by rapper Sway.

Lily Allen shows up to contribute backing vocals to "Always Happens Like That," but ends up buried in the mix of piano, bass and clangy percussion. The percussion set stays in place with "Addicted to Drugs" (cowbells?), which references Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" in the chorus (substituting "drugs"). This quirky number gets a boost of oddity from a short synthesizer effects middle section. The final track, "Remember You're a Girl," is a real surprise: a mellow, '70s-influenced love ballad sung not by Wilson but the band's drummer Nick Hodgson.

The short and sweet approach works well for this band--none of the songs cross the 4 minute mark, and many are under 3. There's a pleasing amount of warmth to this album, particularly from the rich strings arrangement of "Like It Too Much" and the acoustic guitar melody of "Remember You're a Girl." Such warmth is often associated with music being sappy, but this record is anything but, as it exudes upbeat attitude, even camp. Most of the best songs are in the first half, but the second half isn't bad. Overall, this is a very worthy effort--perhaps the band's best yet.

Best: Never Miss a Beat, Like It Too Much, Cant Say What I Mean, Good Days Bad Days, Spanish Metal, Remember You're a Girl

Fall Music Preview - October

Album of the Month: Keane - Perfect Symmetry (10/13) They've been around since just 2004 and already Keane are poised to release their third album. They fell prey a bit to the dreaded sophomore slump for Under the Iron Sea--great album, but not as successful as the band's debut Hopes and Fears, the UK's second best-selling album of 2004. Known for their piano-backed guitarless pop/rock, the first singles from this album, "Spiralling" and "The Lovers Are Losing," already point to a new and exciting direction, heavy with synths and even featuring electric guitar.

Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul (10/6) Oasis's career has been a bit rollercoaster. Lately its been on the up though, so I'm hopeful this, their seventh album, will be really great. Last album, Don't Believe the Truth, gave us the great singles "Lyla," "The Importance of Being Idle," and "Let There Be Love," and this new album has already produced an upbeat first single, "The Shock of the Lightning" and the dark album cut currently offered by iTunes "Falling Down."

Snow Patrol - A Hundred Million Suns (10/27) Until 2004, Snow Patrol were a little-known band. Then their third album Final Straw produced a major UK hit, "Run," and then their fourth album Eyes Open, which was the best-selling album in the UK in 2006, produced an even bigger international smash, "Chasing Cars." The album's first single, "Take Back the City," gets its UK radio premiere next week.

Kaiser Chiefs - Off with Their Heads (10/13) Another band that had a bit of a sophomore slump (although they did hit #1 with "Ruby") is back for album number three. This time they've enlisted hot retro soul producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse) to steer their sound in a new direction. First single "Never Miss a Beat" is a great start.

Pink - Funhouse (10/27) Pink is back with her fifth album. It's first single "So What" finds the singer in her usual punkish pop/rock vein, and already it's a massive hit, debuting in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Australian ARIA chart this week. Max Martin, who helmed her last album's two major hits "U + UR Hand" and "Who Knew" produces the track.

Chris Cornell - Scream (10/14) Timbaland produced--no joke. First single "Long Gone" is, as expected, a bit reminiscent of OneRepublic's "Apologize" from last year. From Nelly Furtado, to Justin Timberlake, to Madonna, Timbaland is positively the hottest producer in popular music right now, if not this whole decade. Struggling has-beens everywhere are selling their souls to have him produce their next hit, although he doesn't seem to be as good at launching new artists (see Nicole Scherzinger).

Bloc Party - Intimacy (10/27) The British indie band offers their third album. Already available as a download, the CD gets its release in late October with a few bonus tracks. First track "Mercury" sounds a lot like their previous stuff.

High School Musical 3 Soundtrack (10/20) With the Disney gang hitting the big screen for outing #3, this is sure to be one of the best-sellers of the year, considering that HSM1 was the best-selling album in the US for 2006 and HSM2 was #2 for 2007.

Sugababes - TBD (10/20) The 'babes stumbled a bit with their fifth album Change, which scored only one major hit (the #1 "About You Now") and became their first album not to have a fourth single. The jury's still out on first single "Girls," which features a lot of horns.

John Legend - Evolver (10/28) Soulful R&B singer John Legend puts out his third album. First single "Green Light" finds him teamed with Outkast's Andre 3000, exploring a more modern sound than we've heard from him before. Then there's the more traditional "If You're Out There," which he performed at the Democratic National Convention.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor - TBD (10/27) Her fourth album, with songs produced by Calvin Harris (including the Cathy Dennis-penned first single "Off and On," which is on her myspace page) and Freemasons. After the underwhelming performance of her third album, Sophie needs a hit.

Peter Bjorn & John - Seaside Rock (10/6) Swedish Indie band that had a hit last year with "Young Folks" offers their fourth album.

Razorlight - TBD (10/27) Not much info on this yet, other than it's possibly coming in October.

Other:

Anastacia - Heavy Rotation (10/27)
Ludacris - Theater of the Mind (10/21)
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (10/6)
Hoobastank - Untitled (10/14)
Boyzone - Greatest Hits (10/13)
Jennifer Lopez - Greatest Hits (10/27)
Sarah McLachlan - Closer (greatest hits) (10/7)
Katie Melua - The Collection (10/27)

Kaiser Chiefs "Never Miss a Beat"

Kaiser Chiefs return in October with their third album, Off with Their Heads, produced by Mark Ronson. He may seem like an unusual choice, but remember Lily Allen covered the Kaisers' "Oh My God" for Ronson's album Version. The first single is "Never Miss a Beat." Check it out: