We All Ain't Ready (a Halloween Edition)

>> Featured Artist: Ben Gibbard

For Halloween, the Toaster dressed up as an amplifier. And The Toaster Talks has set its sites as a clearing house for "Thriller" covers (see our earlier Petra Haden entry).

Yes, this the ol' Death Cab-Postal Service frontman going solo on some MJ at some undetermined live show.

In the words of Camus, "I love me a good 'Thriller' cover." So do we, Albert. So do we. And, wow, some of those lines ("beast with 40 eyes"?), well, let's just say we never quite heard them so clearly before.

>> Album Lookout: Pretty Little Head
Nellie McKay - Released: October 31, 2006 Hungry Mouse

After a self-induced contentious split with Sony/Colubmia earlier this year over how many damn songs would be on Pretty Little Head, Nellie McKay is finally releasing the full version on her own label, Hungry Mouse (which, like McKay, doesn't seem to have an operating official site).

The good thing for McKay, though, is that the material seems to be just as strong as that on her debut double album, 2004's Get Away From Me. She's still clever - almost annoyingly so - and turns a mean lyric when you're not looking, a talent that would make Elvis Costello proud.

With the lovely-angry vocal delivery Nellie seems to have spent her 24 years mastering, "There You Are in Me" jumps out as an immediate winner, as do "Cupcake" and "Columbia Is Bleeding" (the latter, we're told, is not a dig at her former label).

Everyone you meet secures a wretched seat within your memory
Wipe their filthy feel upon the yearning of your soul
There you are in me

Ouch.

>> Reverting to: 2005

As the title of today's post suggest (other than that we ended up wearing angel wings and a eye masks in the makeshiftest of makeshift costumes) is that the release of K. Fed's long-awaited debut album has finally fallen upon us. Where were all the leaked MP3s and music blog previews? Where was all the promotional appearances on Inside Edition? Where is Britney in this critical time for her is-he-significant other?

And after a glace at the track list, where did "Y'all Ain't Ready" and "PopoZao," the two tracks that were test-leaked to the welcoming arms of music enthusiasts and pavarottis everywhere?

Mr. Fed, please issue an explanation. Until then, we'll leave with the preview snippet of our favorite "lost" K. Fed barnburner, "Y'all Ain't Ready."

[OK, we do love the lyric to "Privilege" (whose MySpace version is notably dirtier than the version streaming on his website), most notably "I'm in love with the herb just like my wife." How'd he get that one by Brit's publicist?]