It's that time again. This week:

Artist: Muse
Album: Showbiz

This'll be another tough one to describe. You may recognize the song "Sunburn" ("she burns like the sun...") from the iMac commercials a few years ago that touted their ability to burn CDs. Then again, you may not. I've heard them compared to Radiohead, but since I don't own any Radiohead albums (even though I like them), I can't comment intelligently on that. It's definitely "alternative". The songs have titles that rarely appear anywhere in the lyrics. I couldn't tell you what most of the songs are about, as the lyrics aren't literal or obvious, but you still get a strong sense of the emotions being expressed, and the words are enigmatic (like), not nonsensical (hate). The singer has impressive, Jeff Buckleyesque range and the arrangements are inventive. It's a great album to sing along to in the car, very cathartic. I do that a lot. I like it a lot. That's about all I have to say about it. Oh, and the band has a very well-designed website that's cool in both HTML and Flash formats.

Now as a special bonus in honor of singer Robert Palmer's passing, a "music you missed" single slice! I always liked Robert Palmer, solo and with The Power Station. He was cool and classy and elegant...well, maybe not so much when he sold out to Pepsi, but who didn't sell out in those days (besides Neil Young)? I appreciated the tongue-in-cheek humor of his famous 80s videos, although they quickly became a parody of themselves. Anyway, my spotlight song is "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming" from the Heavy Nova album (the one "Simply Irresistible" was on). I really like it. End of commentary! RIP, RP.