One of the highlights of every afternoon is when I get my daily email from Uncrate with the coolest guy recommendations of the day. What a nice surprise to see The Fireman's Electric Arguments featured today. Indeed, it is an exceptional album that is easily on par with some of McCartney's best. He really needs to stretch his limits like this more often.

In promoting his new Fireman album (out tomorrow in the states), Paul McCartney provided an update on when The Beatles' catalog(ue) might hit iTunes:

"We are very for it, we've been pushing it. But there are a couple of sticking points, I understand. So the last word I got back was that it had stalled, the whole process.

"They [EMI] want something we're not prepared to give them. Hey, sounds like the music business.

"It's between EMI and The Beatles. What else is new."

Right, so, in the meantime, just rip those crappy-sounding CDs you already have and get by for a while.

Update: Here's a decent write-up of the situation at Apple 2.0. I'd have the agree that the window is rapidly passing for the digital Beatles to be a huge success unless they just knock it out of the park with marketing, extras, etc. I think most casual fans already have the songs they want ripped from CD's or "borrowed" from friends.

More good Paul McCartney news today: Starting tonight at 11:59pm ET, NPR will be streaming The Fireman's new album in its entirety. This is one full week prior to its official release date.

Electric Arguments is sometimes bluesy and gritty, with McCartney howling against fuzzy guitars ("Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight"), sometimes delicate and beautiful ("Two Magpies") and sometimes lush and elegant ("Sing the Changes"). At times, the album veers off into entirely experimental directions, like the mash of ambient noises and sound effects on "Universal Here, Everlasting Now."

I'm very excited about this one. This link should be live with a stream tonight.

Pre-order here
Previously...

Evidently, Paul McCartney "stole the show" yesterday at the MTV Europe Music Awards where he was named Ultimate Legend.

"This is the man who invented my job," said U2 lead singer Bono, introducing McCartney.

Brilliant. After the well-received Memory Almost Full (by me at least) and his upcoming Fireman project, which looks to breathe some - well - fire into his career, perhaps it should have been the Ultimate Living Legend award. Congrats, Macca.

October has been busy month of vacations, work, illness, etc. I'm just trying to come up with an excuse for failing to share a free Fireman track courtesy of NME.com.

The Fireman = Paul McCartney + Youth - the inhibitions that keep Macca from letting loose. With this new release by Fireman, he certainly seems to be letting loose. The previous Fireman track I've heard, Sing the Changes, was quite a treat. Now it's time for Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight, and it's quite a departure from Sing the Changes or most of McCartney's music. If you think you need to hear more of the Paul McCartney behind Helter Skelter, Oh! Darling, and Why Don't We Do It In the Road, here you go.

MP3: The Fireman - Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight (via NME.com)

A few weeks ago we reported that Paul McCartney was reviving his Fireman alter ego in a whole new way. No longer would The Fireman be limited to electronic dance music - he was going to rock. The latest NPR's All Songs Considered features the new tune Sing the Changes and I agree with NPR, it is quite simply "inspired." This isn't some half-hearted, obligatory ethereal collaboration with Delerium. Somehow Youth has made Paul McCartney tap into his inner Peter Gabriel and that is evidently quite a great thing. Listen here.

According to NPR, Electric Arguments comes out November 25. This could represent a most welcome sea change of output for Sir Paul. I'm excited.

Paul McCartney is releasing another CD under his Youth-collaborative moniker Fireman. Honestly, despite how huge a Macca fan I am, I do not own the other two albums, which have been fairly difficult to find. The original Strawberry Oceans Ships Forest is now available on iTunes, though. The sophomore release Rushes - not so much. This new one called Electric Arguments - due for release on 11/17 - will be different; and I very much like where this is going:

The new album features more traditional songwriting, including classic rock and acoustic tracks, "yet is in keeping with the genre-hopping spirit of the first two the Fireman albums," according to a statement. One track, "Lifelong Passion," was donated to the charity Adopt-A-Minefield as download for those making donations.

Whereas the first two releases were ambient dance, this one seems to be a bit more in line with his other music. In other words, I feel as though I should treat this as a new legitimate McCartney release with the added bonus of some creative freedom to allow him to let loose a bit. Very interested in hearing it. Songs:

"Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight"
"Two Magpies"
"Sing the Changes"
"Travelling Light"
"Highway"
"Light From Your Lighthouse"
"Sun Is Shining"
"Dance 'Til We're High"
"Lifelong Passion"
"Is This Love?"
"Lovers in a Dream"
"Universal Here, Everlasting Now"
"Don't Stop Running"

More here.