Neil Hamburger Sad, tortured and painfully blundering, the acquired taste of Neil Hamburger and his stand-up routines are deliciously subversive, much to the delight of Tom Green and musicians Tenacious D, for whom he opened for on the group's international Pick of Destiny tour. Channeling Pat Paulsen, William Shatner, and Andy Kaufman, Hamburger's latest anti-humor antics snuggle up to the heartland, looking for love and a little respect in Neil Hamburger Sings Country Winners, out this week on the Drag City Records imprint. And not since Ween sucked on a sprig of hay dipped in PCP in 1996 with 12 Golden Country Greats has country music been strangled so wonderfully. Backed by a killer barnyard band featuring Tubes drummer Prairie Prince and Link Wray bassist Atom Ellis, Hamburger chews up (and spits out) the bucolic landscape with tear-jerkers "Please Ask That Clown to Stop Crying" and "Three Piece Chicken Dinner." He holds hands with the eternally despaired in "Garden Party II" and turns in a wild cover of John Entwistle's "Thinkin' It Over" (from his 1972 Whistle Rhymes album). Do a YouTube search for the video of "Jug Town" and catch the fever.

Classic MTV-era favorite Def Leppard is back this Tuesday, with country superstar Tim McGraw as a special guest on the album's first single, "Nine Lives," and a bonus piano version of "Love" found on the UK edition. Currently on tour with REO Speedwagon and Styx in support of Songs from the Sparkle Lounge on Universal Records, the band hits the television talk-show circuit with appearances with Carson Daly on Tuesday and Jimmy Kimmel next Thursday.

Bluegrass trio Cornbread Red is feeling the love for "the Def," with CMH Records' recent release of Pickin' on Def Leppard. Eleven classics from "Hysteria" to "Pour Some Sugar on Me" get the moonshine-and-back-porch treatment.

 

Television Alert:

 

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Tegan & Sara tonight, Old 97's on Thursday, and Prince on Friday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts the Black Crowes on Friday, The Roots on Monday, and Alicia Keys on Tuesday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien boasts Radiohead overnight this evening; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson features Morrissey on both Monday and Tuesday overnight; and Last Call with Carson Daly is hopefully hoedown-free with Ashlee Simpson tonight.

 

New Releases Coming Tuesday, April 29:

 

365daysofstatic - The Distant & Mechanized Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties (Monotreme) CD EP hot off last fall's tour with The Cure

Beehatch - Beehatch (Lens Records) new from Marc Spybey of Dead Voices on Air and Phil Western of platEAU, who developed these electronic, experimental strolls by file-sharing across the Atlantic

The Cab - Whisper War (Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen) on tour now with The Kings, Charlotte Sometimes, and Valencia

Chin Chin - Chin Chin (Definitive Jux) trippy disco communal jams from this horns-a-plenty trio, feeling copasetic with groovy vocoder vocals in "Le Petit Mort"

Kid Creole - Going Places: The August Darnell Years 1974-1982 (Strut) culling tracks by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band and his many other incarnations

Dub Syndicate - Overdubbed (Collision/Groove Attack) blistering, highly recommended return of the bass-rumbling dub unit under the mix-master control of Lincoln "Style" Scott of Smith & Mighty and legendary visionary Adrian Sherwood, with vocalist guests Junior Reid, Big Youth, Luciano, and Capleton

Melissa Errico - Lullabies & Wildflowers (Velour) beautiful album inspired by the birth of her daughter in 2006; the gentle voice of the Tony-nominated artist weaves good-night wishes through an original, timeless traditionals, and covers of songs by Tom Petty, The Beatles, and George & Ira Gershwin

The Flamin' Groovies - Flamingo (American Beat) reissue from 1970 with six bonus tracks

Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American Deluxe Edition (Geffen/Interscope) two-CD expanded reissue featuring the "Last Christmas" holiday single, a cover of Guided by Voices' "Game of Pricks," demos, and radio sessions

Madonna - Hard Candy (Warner Bros) featuring the single "4 Minutes," co-written by Justin Timberlake

Sarah McLachlan - Rarities, B-Sides, & Other Stuff, Volume 2 (Arista) featuring covers of The Muppets' "The Rainbow Connection" and The Beatles' "Blackbird," duets with Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Adams, Emmylou Harris, Run DMC, The Perishers, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and a remix by DJ Tiesto

Mindless Self Indulgence - If (The End) featuring creepy-cool cover art by Jhonen Vasquez of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac fame; the CD is also available in a bonus-DVD "deluxe" edition and two-LP vinyl in a gatefold sleeve

Mudcrutch - Mudcrutch (Warner Bros) all-new "debut" album from the band that brought Tom Petty, Benmont Tench, and Mike Campbell to Los Angeles in 1974 in search of a record contract; performing live in a week-long run at the famed Troubadour club at the end of this month

Nerf Herder - Nerf Herder IV (Oglio) big riffs and nutty shout-outs from these nerdcore kings

New York Dolls - Live at the Fillmore East (Sony/BMG Legacy) recorded last year, the rip-roaring set features all the band's hits and a cover of Bo Diddley's "Pills"

Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun (Kscope/Snapper) expanded reissue from 2000 remixed in 5.1-channel surround sound

Portishead - Third (Island) featuring a spooky folkie pluck through "The Rip," this is the long-anticipated new album, and the group's first new work since 1997's self-titled release; also available as a limited-edition two-LP vinyl box set featuring an etched 12-inch of "Machine Gun," art print, and USB stick with bonus short films and other goodies

Puscifer - V Is for Viagra (Puscifer Entertainment) special vinyl edition, featuring a tucked-in "airline safety card" by comedian Patton Oswald

Puscifer - V Is for Viagra: The Remixes (Puscifer Entertainment) with remix agents Dave "Rave" Ogilvie, Paul Barker, Lustmord, and 8mm

Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English (Definitive Jux) dynamite domestic issue of the grimy MC's 2007 Mercury Prize nominee, featuring guests Lily Allen and Arctic Monkey's Alex Turner and expanded with two new tracks and an EL-P remix of "Where's Da G's"

Rats with Wings - Rats with Wings (Supercot) smart, softly freaky, stream-of-conscious fun from Brendan Fitzpatrick, bassist for Clem Snide, and former members of Johnny Boomslang

Robyn - Robyn (Cherrytree/Interscope) with guests the Teddybears and Swedish brethren The Knife

The Roots - Rising Down (Def Jam) with guests Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Talib Kweli, Common, Mos Def, and DJ Jazzy Jeff

Les Savy Fav - After the Balls Drop (French Kiss) digital-only release of their News Year's Day performance at New York City's Bowery Ballroom, featuring covers of songs by Superchunk, Nirvana, the Misfits, the Pixies, and Creedence Clearwater Revival

Carly Simon - This Kind of Love (Hear Music) colored by Brazilian samba breezes and arrangements guided by Jimmy Webb, this all-new album features her son, Ben Taylor, and a beautiful closing tribute to humorist Art Buchwald in "Too Soon to Sat Goodbye"

Phil Stacey - Phil Stacey (Lyric Street) full-length debut from the American Idol season-six finalist

Testament - The Formation of Damnation (Nuclear Blast) the band's first new music in nine years with its original lineup

The Wagon - Match Made in Hell (Las Conchas Music) butt-rockin' San Diego trio, peppered with lap steel guitar and ukulele

We Shot the Moon - Fear & Love (Militia Group) tight new feel-good pop and pensive ballads from Jonathan Jones of Waking Ashland with members of Sherwood

Steve Winwood - Nine Lives (Columbia) all new with guest Eric Clapton on "Dirty City"

Dweezil Zappa - Zappa Plays Zappa (Razor & Tie) single-CD or double-DVD set filmed in 2006 in Portland and Seattle, with guests Steve Vai and Terry Bozzio

various artists - Balance SOS (EQ Recordings) three CDs mixed by London's SexOnSubstance collective, with sexy, grinding workouts of Bryan Ferry's "Don't Stop the Dance" and The Cure's "Lullabye"

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