This is a new feature on CBK called “Now Wait A Second!”

What this is about is I’m highlighting music I might have missed last year or the year before when I made the “Best of” lists and didn’t include them. This way, I can, in a way, include them in some kind of “Best of” portion.

This time, we’re featuring an album and a few songs.

ALBUMS that I MISSED/OVERLOOKED:

Emeralds – Does It Look Like I’m Here?

Have you ever wondered what robot dreams sound like?

Well if you do, look no further than the electronic outfit Emeralds and their sophomore album “Does It Look Like I’m Here”. The reason I overlooked this album is because I only bought one song off of it. MISTAKE. I felt like the song lacked something that I couldn’t quite pinpoint and so I dismissed it. Later on I saw that it was getting rave reviews from critics, being in Best of Lists, the works. At first I thought nothing of it: I knew that some people liked the album and it just wasn’t for me. It was only until I saw it was Drowned in Sound’s #1 album of 2010, where I considered listening to more.

I found an album stream and started listening. Instantly I was pulled in by the robotic, warm tracks that were being laid down. The sound being created is reminiscent of clouds in the sky, but in the 50’s, and if the Dark Ages didn’t happen so we actually were modernized a lot quicker. I know it seems far-fetched, but trust me, that’s what I’m feeling.

Now after I thought about clouds, I thought about thought clouds, like in cartoons and stuff. Then I thought about dreams and the clouds they make. Then I thought about the entire sound of the album, which is robotic. So without any motivation I came up with the conclusion that the music MUST sound like robot dreams. Not nightmares, though. The good dreams where you wake up in a field of cotton candy and all your friends are dancing around having a good time. Now think about that, but with robot people. Doesn’t that make you want to buy this album? I would want to buy it. But I’m weird, so.

So we waited a second and now we can clearly see that this album DESERVES to be on the Top 50 albums of the year list!

SONGS THAT I MISSED/OVERLOOKED:

Everlasting Light – The Black Keys

“The Black Keys’ album, Brothers, was on your Top 50, CBK! How could you have overlooked this song?”

Well kids, even I miss songs sometimes.

“But it’s the first on the album!”

Well, the first time I heard the song it was through an iTunes preview, so I didn’t hear much. I didn’t like it based on the preview, so I never listened to the rest of it. I tried to like it before, but never did.

But then finally something clicked in my head dealing with this song when I heard it again. One of my friends posted it on my wall and I decided to listen to it thinking that if he liked it, why can’t I? I absolutely love this song now. I don’t think it was based off of the friend’s liking of the song, just the thought of giving it one more chance. The song might be my favorite off of the album now, but we’ll see.

Hot Mess – Chromeo

I had heard of Chromeo before I heard this song. Again, the killer here is iTunes previews. I listen to a snippet of a song and I don’t like it. Kills my interest for an artist. Bad habit.

I heard this song first on Conan and instantly loved it. I loved the talk box they used, which I found they use a lot in their other songs as well. It just had a sweet, 80’s groove that was inescapable, no matter how you tried.