New music from Michael Penn!

It's pretty amazing to realize that this year marks the 20th anniversary of Michael Penn's solo debut March, and that it's been that long since the great "No Myth" marched up the Top 40 (good luck with tunes like that today). Anyway, I've been a big fan of MP since I first saw the "No Myth" video on MTV, and I'm excited to bring you the news that he has some new material out, his first since 2005's Mr. Hollywood Jr. 1947.

These three tracks (which can be streamed in full and/or purchased below) are from the upcoming IFC miniseries Bollywood Hero, starring Chris Kattan. They're all quite good: "Untouchable", given its title and the subject of the miniseries, has some Indian instrumentation but is otherwise classic Penn; "In Two Worlds" is a duet with wife Aimee Mann, and "This is the Life" is the real standout of the three, a classic slow-build Penn ballad in the vein of "Bucket Brigade" or "I Can Tell".

And here's that "No Myth" video that hooked me back in the day:

Michael Penn - New Music - More Music Videos

CD of the Day, 4/17/07: Duane Dolieslager-The Opposite of Optimist

It's kind of fitting that I chose today to feature Duane Dolieslager's The Opposite of Optimist as the CD of the Day, as today also marks the release of two Michael Penn releases: one, a best-of, and the other a re-release of 2005's Mr. Hollywood Jr. 1947 (our #4 disc of that year) with bonus tracks. Why is it fitting? Because Mr. Dolieslager has managed to put out the nearest approximation to a new Michael Penn album with this disc, and had earlier received raves for his cover of "I Can Tell" from the online-only Penn fan tribute Look What The Fans Drug In.

Optimist opens with "Mad Dash For The Door", the kind of dense yet melodic Revolver-influenced rocker that Penn perfected with "Try" from 1997's Resigned. Following is "Carousel", a brilliant reflective midtempo number that recalls Penn classics like "Out of My Hands" and "Whole Truth". "Like Day & Night" is another uptempo rocker in the vein of "Evenfall" and "On Automatic", as I continue my quest to compare each of these tracks to those of Penn's. Oh, and did I mention "A Long Trail of Enemies" reminds me of "Bunker Hill" crossed with "A Bad Sign"?

Elsewhere, the jaunty, somewhat baroque "Nowhere In Record Setting Time" has a strong Jon Brion/Jason Falkner/Jellyfish influence, while "Nothing's New" is more straightforward pop/rock in the style of The Wallflowers. All in all, an outstanding disc, and have I made it clear that if you like Michael Penn, you'll love this album?

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