· Prepare yourself for "gorilla-rap" or maybe "gorilla-scat" as lowland superstar Koko has announced the debut of her Fine Animal Gorilla album, the first ever release by, well, a gorilla. The 31-year-old is best known as one of a select group of lowland gorillas raised to communicate in American Sign Language by San Francisco's Gorilla Foundation. The CD features human voices singing her "lyrics" over a variety of musical styles, and reportedly the gorilla shared her approval of particular mixes in the recording process. With Koko's vocabulary reaching 1,000 basic terms, the possibilities are fantastic.

· Low on word count but high on the funk is this Tuesday's release of Nuclear War by Yo La Tengo, the long-standing indie rock trio and humble royalty of Hoboken, New Jersey. The four-track EP marks the first release of this concert favorite, a cover of the 1982 anthem by avant-jazz visionary Sun Ra. Each track on the Matador Records CD is a different mix, including members trading instrument duties, an 11-child choir, and a re-mix by Mike Ladd of Ozone fame.

· Kurt Cobain's private writings have just hit store shelves. While the concept of publishing 270 pages of his innermost thoughts, rants, and rambles after his death might seem insensitive and overly commercial, I have to think that perhaps Cobain secretly desired these 20-plus dime-store notebooks to be shared and contemplated. From his first dreams and the formation of Nirvana in the late 1980s to his superstar suicide in 1994, his musing on the Northwest music explosion and his ride inside the corporate music industry are eerily prophetic and articulate. The Riverhead Books release is a somber, fragile manifesto, printed in full color, as each page is photographed as an archival treasure with random sketches, ragged edges, and mangled spiral bindings. Reaching for fame yet haunted by the aftertaste, Cobain as a cultural pundit pulls no punches as he writes, "I feel there is an universal sense amongst our generation that everything has been said and done. True. But who cares it could still be fun to pretend." I was amazed at his drive to break the band internationally, and the book includes early drawings of proposed album covers and ideas for T-shirt designs and video shoots. Other highlights include handwritten lyrics, personal lists of influences, and taped-in photographs. Highly recommended.

Television Alert:

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Tom Petty tonight, 3 Doors Down on Friday, and Busta Rhymes on Monday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits tonight, Pearl Jam on both Thursday and Friday nights, Matchbox 20 on Monday, and Shania Twain on Tuesday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien features LL Cool Jon Friday overnight and Ok Go on Monday overnight; and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn sits down with Papa Roach on Friday overnight.

New Releases Coming Tuesday, November 19:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change

Audioslave - Audioslave (Epic) anticipated debut of studio sessions recorded after Rage Against the Machine's breakup, with vocalist Chris Cornell of Soundgarden

Boy Sets Fire - Live for Today (Equal Vision) 10-inch vinyl EP of three studio and three live tracks

Toni Braxton - More Than a Woman (Arista) featuring the track "Me & My Boyfriend," a song written in response to Tupac Shakur's "Me & My Girlfriend"

C-Bo - Still a Major Pain (Warlock) with guests Yukmouth and Frank Castle

The Chemical Brothers - American EP (Astralwerks) featuring "Temptation/Star Guitar" recorded live at Brixton Academy with two bonus video tracks

Billy Childish - 25 Years of Being Childish (Damaged Goods) two-CD or three-LP set with many tracks now on CD for the first time

Elvis Costello - Armed Forces, Imperial Bedroom, and Mighty Like a Rose (Rhino) three more releases in this new two-CD expanded and enhanced re-issue series, from 1979, 1982 and 1991, respectively

Craig David - Slicker Than Your Average (Wildstar/Atlantic) new album featuring collaboration with Sting on "Rise & Fall"

Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime (Swami) re-issue of this 1994 underground hit with bonus tracks

Fairview - We'll Dodge It on the Way Back (SideCh Records) Orange County, California, quartet recently playing Coachella and Vans Warped Tour

Fatboy Slim - Illuminati, Camber Sands, and The Pimps EPs (Astralwerks) three separate CDs of singles and re-mixes with guests Bootsy Collins and Staton Warriors

FC Kahuna - Machine Says Yes (Nettwerk) sweeping electronic adventures in house and acid beats featuring Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals as guest vocalist on "Fear of Guitars"

Gorillaz - Phase One: Celebrity Take Down (Virgin)

Green Day - Pogo Paradise (Music Video Dist) documentary DVD featuring over 40 minutes of interviews and a digital photo gallery

Ben Harper - Pleasure & Pain (Virgin) DVD

George Harrison - Brainwashed (Dark Horse/EMI) beautiful studio sessions he was working on at the time of his death, lovingly completed and produced by his son Dhani and ELO's Jeff Lynne

Journey - Red 13 (Journey Music) new four-track CD EP with vocalist Steve Augeri

Kittie - Safe (Artemis) six-track CD EP featuring live material and a re-mix of the title track by Sascha of KMFDM

Lenny Kravitz - Live (Virgin) DVD

Talib Kweli - Quality (Rawkus) with guests Black Thought of The Roots, Pharaohe Monch, and Bilai

Bob Marley - Rastaman Vibration (Island) enhanced and expanded deluxe edition

matchbox twenty - More Than You Think You Are (Atlantic) featuring the track "Disease," co-written by Rob Thomas and Mick Jagger

"Mississippi" Fred McDowell - Mama Says I'm Crazy (Fat Possum) recorded at home with Johnny Woods on harmonica

The Mother Hips - Green Hills of Earth (Future Farmer)

Mudvayne - The End of Things to Come (Epic)

Owen - No Good for No One Now (Polyvinyl) new from the American Football singer-songwriter

Papa Roach - Potatoes for Christmas (JBF Music) seven-track live EP originally recorded as teenagers in Vacaville, Virginia

Pearl Jam - Riot Act (Epic)

Phone Booth - original motion picture soundtrack (Trauma) score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams

Piano Magic - Writers Without Homes (4AD) with guest Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins on three tracks

Dan Potthast - Sweets & Meats (Asian Man) new and acoustic from the MU330 member

Radio Vago - Black & White Photo Experience (Buddyhead) voted best new band this past summer in the LA Weekly reader poll

Billy Joe Shaver - Freedom's Child (Compadre) with guest Todd Snider on "Deja Blues"

Smashing Pumpkins - Earphoria and Viewphoria (Virgin) separate CD and DVD

Staind - MTV Unplugged (Elektra) DVD

Susan Tedeschi - Wait for Me (Artemis) with guests Col. Bruce Hampton and husband Derek Trucks

UB40 - The Fathers of Reggae (Virgin) with guest vocalists Freddie McGregor, John Holt, Toots Hibbert, and Gregory Isaacs

Usher - Evolution 8701 (Eagle Vision) concert CD featuring a bonus DVD

various artists - Uncontrollable Fatulence: Fat Music Volume VI (Fat Wreck Chords) 18-track budget-priced sampler featuring a cover of Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2U" by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

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