In a sea of multi-day music festivals trying to make their mark with the ultimate modern-rock lineup, one upcoming festival rises up - literally - like a mountain above all the others. With sponsorship by the oddly suited actuaries at Esurance, the Monolith Festival will debut the weekend of September 14 in Colorado's Red Rock Amphitheatre, an unforgettable natural environment. Five stages will keep things busy for the 9,000 ticketholders, with the Flaming Lips, Cake, Earl Greyhound, Juliette & the Licks, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Kings of Leon, and Flosstradamus among the 50-plus participants.

Pearl Jam - Live at the Gorge 05/06Pearl Jam and its fans know the good vibes of Red Rocks. Later this month the band will release Live at the Gorge 05/06, a limited-edition seven-CD set that documents three complete concerts. Members of the band's Ten Club fan club can order the set from (http://www.tenclub.net) to receive bonus goodies, all for less than 35 bucks.

Weirdness and wit get tickled in three upcoming CDs that have me grinning and pondering their album titles. Later this month The Eat declare It's Not the Eat, It's the Humidity; July finds Reel Big Fish in dire straits with Monkeys for Nothin' & the Chimps for Free; and coming in August, Imperial Teen checks off The Hair, the TV, the Baby, & the Band.

Honored as one of 200 albums selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Registry, and selected by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time, Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation gets a loving reissue next week as an expanded, remastered two-CD or four-LP set. Originally released in 1988, the bonus material includes a variety of songs from the album's international tour and hard-to-find covers of Captain Beefheart's "Electricity," the Beatles' "Within You Without You," Neil Young's "Computer Age," and Mudhoney's "Touch Me, I'm Sick."

 

Television Alert:

 

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Chris Cornell this evening, Dashboard Confessional on Thursday, Goo Goo Dolls on Friday, and John Mayer on Monday; The Late Show with David Letterman presents Maroon 5 on Tuesday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien hosts Nelly Furtado this evening, El-P on Monday, and Feist on Tuesday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson chats up Bright Eyes this evening, Poison on Thursday, and Ian Hunter on Tuesday; and The Henry Rollins Show on IFC features musical guest Rufus Wainwright this weekend.

 

New Releases Coming Tuesday, June 12:

... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.

 

Marc Almond - Stardom Road (Sanctuary) with guests Jools Holland, Antony of Antony & the Johnsons, and Sarah Cracknell of St. Etienne, this import-only new collection of covers includes Petula Clark's "Happy Heart," Dusty Springfield's "I Close My Eyes & Count to 10," Frank Sinatra's signature "Strangers in the Night," and T.Rex's "The London Boys"

Bad Brains - Build a Nation (Oscilloscope/Megaforce) special two-LP multi-colored vinyl edition in advance of the album's CD release in two weeks

Steve Barton & the Oblivion Click - Flicker of Time (Sleepless) edgy new nervous pop and melancholy moments from the Translator co-founder

Bitter Bitter Weeks - Peace Is Like a Burning River (High Two Records) jangle-pop wunderkind Brian McTear's third album, with Ric Menck of the Velvet Crush and Jesse Gallagher of Apollo Sunshine

Frank Black - Frank Black 93-03 (Cooking Vinyl) two-CD anthology

Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation (Long Duck Dong) discombobulated, mud-covered, full-moon jams from this Oregon collective

Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison: Deluxe Edition (Zomba/Jive) special-edition reissue boasting an acoustic version of "Tears Don't Fall" and a bonus live DVD filmed in Japan

Cocktail Slippers - Mastermind (Wicked Cool) female five-piece from Oslo, Norway

Paula Cole - Courage (Decca) with guest pianist Herbie Hancock on "Lonelytown"

The Conformists - Three Hundred (54 40 or Fight!) sausage-grinder noise tantrums recorded by Steve Albini

Datarock - Datarock Datarock (Young Aspiring Professionals/Nettwerk) domestic release of this melodic dance-floor sensation from Norway with three bonus music videos

John Doe - A Year in the Wilderness (Yep Roc) with guests Jill Sobule, Aimee Mann, Dave Alvin, and The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach

The Dynamics - First Landing (Hacktone) fantastic reissue of this "Motor City meets Memphis" soul gem

The Dynamites - Kaboom! (Outta Sight) super-tight old-school soul featuring vocalist Charles Walker

Fair to Midland - Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True (Serjical Strike/Universal)

Immaculate Machine - Fables (Mint) with the New Pornographer's Kathryn Calder

The Loose Salute - Tuned to Love (Graveface) new from Ian McCutchean and Alan Forester of Mojave 3

The Mag Seven - The Future Is Ours, If You Can Count (End Records) high-octane surf-punk instrumentals pounded home by drummer Bill Stevenson of the Descendents, featuring tunes named "I Drive Like Steve McQueen" and "Put Your Weight On It"

Abra Moore - On the Way (Sarathan) ethereal, breathy, lovelorn perfection from this former member of Poi Dog Pondering

Laurie Morvan Band - Cures What Ails Ya (Screaming Lizard) blues-guitar wail in this tight, crowd-pleasing album of originals

Mark Olson - Salvation Blues (Hack Tone) new from the Jayhawks co-founder

The Pines - Sparrows in the Bell (Red House) this stunning Americana roots-folk-core duo has spun a dusty, desert-road-trip soundtrack

Psychic TV/PTV3 - Hell Is Invisible, Heaven Is Here (Sweet Nothing/Cargo) with guests Gibby Haynes and Nick Zimmer

Bobby Rush - Raw (Deep Rush/Thirty Tigers) stripped down to vocals, harmonica, and acoustic and Dobro guitars

Scissors for Lefty - Underhanded Romance (Eenie Meenie) hot off a tour with The French Kicks, this San Francisco quintet shows its peppy, coy Brit-pop roots, coolly reminiscent of The Cure, Pulp, and Franz Ferdinand

Sister Hazel - BAM! Volume 1 (Rock Ridge) B-sides collection

Socalled - Ghettoblaster (JDub Records) diabolical, mad-scientist emulsification of Klezmer and hip-hop, bubbling up an infectious clash of spittin' crazy MCs, free-jazz mariachi horns, and opium-haze cut-ups

The Takeovers - Bad Football (Off Records) all new from the prolific mystic Robert Pollard and GBV bandmate Chris Slusarenko, with a motley cast of associates known as The War Torn Girls with Tad Doyle, Steven Malkmus of Pavement, and Dan Peters of Mudhoney

Traveling Wilburys -Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 & Vol. 3 (Wilbury/Rhino) collecting both albums on one CD, and a in deluxe edition with a bonus DVD

Wooden Wand - James & the Quiet (Ecstatic Peace) with guests Thurston Moore, Steve Shelly, and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth

various artists - Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur (Wa rner Bros.) John Lennon tribute with Snow Patrol, R.E.M., Green Day, Corinne Bailey Rae, Jack Johnson, and more

various artists - Furry Selection: Luxury Cuts of Trojan Chosen by a Super Furry Animal (Trojan/Sanctuary) 16 slices of seminal reggae from the Trojan Records jukebox, personally selected by bassist Guto Pryce

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