and just like that, there's a new Kaiser Chiefs album

The other day, seemingly out of nowhere - though apparently they had been talking about it for weeks and I just wasn't paying attention - a new Kaiser Chiefs single was out there. Entitled "Little Shocks", it is the perfect single to come back with after a few years rest - it sounds exactly like the Kaiser Chiefs while still bringing something new to the table, in this case a throbbing atonal keyboard-led beat. (No, really, it works.) The video, as music friend Dean pointed out, is Suede's "Electricity" part 2, which is certainly not a bad thing. So, all around, a win.

This morning, also out of nowhere, there's a new Kaiser Chiefs album. Entitled "The Future Is Medieval", it's not just any album. Instead of the "name your own price" model others have tried in the past few years, this is "name your own album": you can preview the twenty songs the boys have put together for the project, pick your ten favorite and plug them into the album in any order you want - literally plug them in, the Flash animation is quite cute - design the album cover from a given palette, pay £7.50 through a Paypal account and bam, there's your version of the fourth Kaiser Chiefs album. Not only that, but if someone doesn't want to go through all that hassle and chooses to simply purchase the edition of the album you put together - also for £7.50 - you get £1 of that deposited into your Paypal account.

My initial reaction is: "neat!", and also: "what if you suffer from complete-ism and need all 20 tracks? That's at best 2 copies of the album you have to put together and there goes £15." I do think it's a neat concept and the band says on the FAQ that they were interested in seeing what the fans did with the material, strongly suggesting that there will be a "proper" version of the album forthcoming.

I'm curious to see how this develops. I wish I didn't have to work all day so I could play Kaiser Chiefs album creator.