With Halloween approaching, it's not too early to get your "creep" on with a pair of spooky CDs. Lurking over his pipe organ, Theremin, and other noisemakers, Eban Schletter summons the fog with Witching Hour on the Oglio Records imprint - easy work for a composer whose work includes SpongeBob SquarePants and Mr. Show with Bob & David. Plenty of friends show up to sip from his cauldron, including Grant Lee Phillips, Jill Sobule, and comedians Paul F. Thompkins and Dave Foley. One highlight features the voice of SpongeBob, Tom Kenny, welcoming victims to his "Haunted Carnival."
Looking for something a lot more rocking? Little Steven Van Zandt has combed the record collection in his Underground Garage for Halloween A Go-Go on his Wicked Cool Records label. From surefire hits "I Walked with a Zombie" by Roky Erickson & the Aliens to The Fuzztones' "I'm a Wolfman," the personally selected timeline of hair-raising rock 'n' roll also features Carl Perkins, Howlin' Wolf, The Electric Prunes, the Minus 5, Tegan & Sara, and the late night "Cool Ghoul" himself, John Zachere, with his "Dinner with Drac (Part 1)."
Television Alert
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Kenny Chesney tonight and the Black Kids on Friday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien hosts Ray LaMontagne this evening and Nikka Costa on Thursday overnight; Tavis Smiley chats with T.I. on Thursday; and Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is Adele.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, October 21
AC/DC - Black Ice (Columbia) all new, making their return only at Wal-Mart
... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Festival Thyme (Richter Scale Justice Records) CD EP in advance of next year's So Divided album, also available in a limited-edition 10-inch vinyl edition with a bonus cover of The Replacements' "Within Your Reach"
The Bridge - Blind Man's Hill (Hyena) funky R&B grooves from Baltimore with a country-road/railroad cadence and a satisfying New Orleans spice
Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm - 2 Man Wrecking Crew (Delta Groove) composed of R.L. Burnside's grandson and a young guitar slinger raised on Muddy Waters and Junior Kimbrough, this is authentic, full-moon, backwoods roadhouse slow grind and shake-it-loose magic that your parents warned you about
Kenny Chesney - Lucky Old Sun (Blue Chair) with guest Dave Matthews; a two-CD deluxe edition is also available with three live tracks and guests The Wailers on the album's first single, "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven"
Cirque du Soleil - All Together Now (EMI) DVD documentary of the performance group's Love production in Las Vegas that debuted in 2006, integrating more than 100 Beatles songs into 27 musical pieces
The Deep Vibration - Veracruz (Dualtone) bestowed their name by Lou Reed after a performance at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, this rockin' and relaxed five-song EP is in good company with guests Gillian Welch and Spooner Oldham
Electric Six - Flashy (Metropolis) on tour later this month with Local H, this new album bristles with heavy-hammer funk guitar, glittery, preening vocals, and strobe-light horns
Frances - All the While (Gigantic) with a background in classical music, Paul Hogan spins a sophisticated pop with a playful array of instruments and melodies
Frightened Rabbit - Liver! Lung! FR! (FatCat Records) with guest James Graham of The Twilight Sad, this is a live and acoustic companion to their Midnight Organ Fight album
Sebastien Grainger - Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains (Saddle Creek) all new solo album from the former drummer of Death from Above
Michale Graves - Illusions Live: Viretta Park (Screaming Crow) unlikely - but powerfully strong - solo acoustic album from The Misfits' former vocalist, featuring 17 tracks recorded live in Florida earlier this year and six demos recorded in Romania
Herman Dune - Next Year in Zion (Everloving) perfect, sunny, wistful, unforgettable pop from the French duo with nods to Jonathan Richman; this week the band begins its stateside tour with Jolie Holland
Jake One - White Van Music (Rhymesayers) terrific debut from this member of the G-Unit production team, rolling out 22 tracks with guests Black Milk, Brother Ali, MF Doom, Busta Rhymes, Blueprint, and Little Brother
Katy Mae - You May Already Be a Winner (Maggadee Records) five-song CD EP from this Brooklyn quartet spinning in bold, overdriven guitars and alt-country vibes
Kiss - Ikons (Mercury) four-CD set featuring a disc representing the best of original members Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss
Long Blondes - Singles (Angular Recording Company) with drum-and-bass covers of Pulp's "Love Is Blind" and The Cure's "Lullaby"
Gary Louris - Acoustic Vagabonds (Rykodisc) produced by Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes; six songs from the Jayhawks founder's recent solo album are given the sparse, intimate treatment
Magnetic Morning - A.M. (Friend or Faux Records) debut from Adam Franklin of Swervedriver and Sam Fogarino of Interpol
Matisyahu - Shattered (Epic) four-song EP featuring guests Sly & Robbie and members of Fishbone
McCarthy Trenching - Calamity Drenching (Team Love) hot off tour with The Felice Brothers and Justin Townes Earle; these home recordings with guests from Azure Ray, Cursive, and The Good Life play like barroom-closing-hour memories as the lights dim out
The Mint Chicks - Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! (Milan Flying Nun) all-boy trio fittingly calling their sound "troublegum"; this is the domestic issue of the Album of the Year, Best Group, and Album Cover of the Year from last year's New Zealand Music Awards
Mörglbl - Toons Tunes from the Past (Free Electric Sound) two-CD reissue of the French trio's first two albums from 1997 and 1999, a borderless mental expansion of instrumental jazz fusion built from heavy-metal riffs and soaring guitar flight that would make Frank Zappa smile
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl) in a 32-panel foldout package; also available in a two-LP 180-gram vinyl set with a die-cut poster and bonus digital download
OhGr - Devils in My Details (SPV) all new from Mark Walk and Skinny Puppy's Ogre
Parts & Labor - Receivers (Jagjaguwar) reportedly using hundreds of responses to a questionnaire from this past spring as segues between the songs
RTX - JJ Got Live RTX (Drag City) all new from Jennifer Herrema of Royal Trux
The Sea & the Cake - Car Alarm (Thrill Jockey) the band's eighth full-length album in 15 years; the quartet is tighter and more driving than ever
White Lies - Death (Fiction Geffen) CD EP featuring a bonus remix by former touring partners Crystal Castles
Hank Williams III - Damn Right Rebel Proud (Sidewalk) the album's deeply honest "Candidate for Suicide" is the kind of good ol' dark 'n' pensive country that's lost to today's shiny radio blandness
various artists - Eccentric Soul: The Young Disciples - (Numero Group) fantastic collection of 21 tracks from East St. Louis in late 1960s, when a talented young music teacher hired by a neighborhood community center rescued and groomed troubled youth into soul powerhouses that rivaled superstars of the day
various artists - Love Train: The Sound of Philadelphia (Philadelphia International Records Legacy) four-CD box set collecting 71 hits from Teddy Pendergrass, Patti LaBelle, Lou Rawls, the Delfonics, the Spinners, and other artists that were guided by the hands of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff
various artists - Mushroom Jazz 6 (Om Records) 20 stellar tracks of sexy down-tempo fantasia collected and weaved by DJ Mark Farina, highlighted by The Jazzual Suspects, Rubberroom, J-Boogie's Dubtronic Science, and Super Smoky Soul
