AKA William

Pork is here with his weekly post, bringing you the best of this week’s new music releases.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Man, I love Christmastime. Here in New York City we got slammed with a foot of the thick white stuff, and I’ve been singing and whistling Christmas songs enough to make even the most spirited person nauseous. As far as new releases go, with a few exceptions, the labels are taking it easy and giving you a chance to listen to your favorite Christmas albums (or 106.7 here in NYC…holla!)

The major exception is Ms. Mary J. Blige.

Although her release schedule has been possibly too heavy for her own good, I still can’t resist a new album by Mary J. Blige. Case in point for over-saturation is the song that’s been getting the most radio play and that Mary’s been pushing on television lately, “I Am.” After one listen I was left wondering if MJB remembers the remixes to her cover of The Stylistics’ “You Are Everything.” We’ve been here, Mary. WITH YOU! Still, my love for this woman will have me listening to Stronger withEach Tear (yes, it’s deliberately styled that way) from start to finish. There have got to be some of my favorite Mary(s) in there somewhere. MJB has truly come to be one of the reigning female forces in contemporary R&B music, and watching her grow vocally and artistically since the start of her career has been one of the most rewarding fan experiences I’ve had in my lifetime. Can’t ever knock her hustle.

There may be some exciting names down below the main List but a majority of them are simple bundles of three cds by the artists being grouped together by the label and sold together. Nothing to scream about, but I won’t discourage the production of any actual compact discs/albums these days. (Speaking of albums…and screaming, Nirvana gets some vinyl action today with the release of their legendary Reading concert on a double-album set that will have you feeling all 1992 all over again. Flannels out.

And for all you Madonna fans (and I know you’re out there), you can get the recently-released hits collection, Celebration, on a 4-LP set. Also available today is the mp3 download of the maxi-single for “Revolver.” Now you can celebrate Christmas with Madonna. How biblical.

Merry Christmas and Happy Everything, dear AKA-ers.
Here are some of my favorite Christmas-music moments for you:

It’s been a pleasure serving you in the ’09. Here’s to the ’10 when we’ll do it again.
OH SNAP!
Til then…keep on…with the pork, don’t stop.
And here is…

The List: (New 4 U on December 15th, 2009)