Airing 58 episodes from 1969 through 1971, The Johnny Cash TV Show is brought back alive in a new two-DVD set next week from the Columbia Legacy imprint. Sixty-six performances are collected, showcasing a magnificent lineup highlighted by Bob Dylan. Joni Mitchell, Merle Haggard, the Everly Brothers, Tammy Wynette, Ray Charles, and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
An exclusive release that's only available at Target hit store shelves earlier this week with Sony/BMG's Live From SNL! Music Performances from Saturday Night Live. Focused on the past four seasons, the 11-track CD features Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, and Maroon 5. What, no Ashley Simpson lip-syncing? Another SNL disc promises the show's R&B side.
Trading in stethoscopes for instruments, next week's release of the original television soundtrack to House features the cast recording a clever interpretation of the Rolling Stones classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Alongside tracks from Joe Cocker, Ben Harper, and Lucinda Williams, other cover nuggets include Sarah McLachlan's prayer through XTC's "Dear God" and Elvis Costello performing Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful."
Also due next week is a new audio party from The Simpsons. Shout Factory Records' The Simpsons: Testify looks like a tasty, glazed treat, with an "Everybody Hates Ned Flanders" medley featuring David Bryne, Kelsey Grammer's "The Very Reason I Live," Ricky Gervais' "Lady," and Los Lobos' take on the show's closing-credits theme. Other participants include The B52's, the Baha Men, Jackson Browne, and "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Sporting CD cover art that makes Aphex Twin look tame, my pick of the week is Happy Birthday!, released this week from the ultra grimy, infectious electronic duo Modeselektor. Sure, the CD boasts an appearance by Thom Yorke of Radiohead in the Morse code funk of "The White Flash," and the slippery French rap group TTC on the robot-freak reverberation of "2000007," but these crazy techno beats are the real star of the show. Due stateside on BPitch Control Records, the domestic issue features a bonus track with Maximo Park, "I Can't Sleep (Without Music)."
Television Alert:
The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Daughtry tonight and Chamillionaire on Friday; The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Good Charlotte on Friday and Emmylou Harris on Monday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien boasts Lyle Lovett this evening, The Used on Friday, and James Blunt on Tuesday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson sets the table with Spoon this evening, Finger Eleven on Friday, Zap Mama on Monday, and Mandy Moore on Tuesday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly hugs up with The Teddybears on Thursday overnight; The Ellen DeGeneres Show dries the tears of crybaby Kayne West on Friday; and The Henry Rollins Show on IFC features Marilyn Manson and musical guest Peaches this weekend.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, September 18:
A Life Once Lost - Iron Gag (Ferret Music) monster riffs and tortured head-banging
Between the Buried and Me - Colors (Victory) part Pink Floyd, part Tool, and part metallic tantrum; this is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed Alaska album
James Blunt - All the Lost Souls (Custard/Atlantic) featuring songs he's been showcasing live in recent months
Cinematic - Classic Film Music Revisited (Six Degrees) bold, inspired, tumbling grooves through the soundtracks of Carrie, Ben Hur, Inherit the Wind, For a Few Dollars More, and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Clare & the Reasons - The Movie (Un Disque Frogstand) with guests Sufjan Stevens and Van Dyke Parks, this lush, heavenly debut features a seven-piece orchestra with 1940s jazz-nightclub-chanteuse soul
The Donnas - Bitchin' (Purple Feather) all new on the band's artist-owned label
Kevin Drew - Spirit If (Arts & Crafts) solo album from the Broken Social Scene co-founder
David Evans - Needy Time (Inside Sounds) tasty traditional front-porch blues, picking, plucking, and hypnotizing through sober originals and songs by Blind Lemon Jefferson and Joe Williams
Good Luck Chuck - original motion picture soundtrack (Lionsgate) featuring the title track by The Dandy Warhols and a new Flaming Lips song, "I Was Zapped by the Lucky Super Rainbow"
The Green Pajamas - Box of Secrets: Northern Gothic Season 2 (Hidden Agenda) 16 new tracks of mellow, gorgeous, psychedelic storytelling from the Pacific Northwest
Emmylou Harris - Songbird (Rhino) four-CD box set and bonus DVD featuring a duet with Elvis Costello on "Love Hurts," and rare footage from the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test and PBS's Soundstage
PJ Harvey - "When Under Ether" (Island) new single backed by the1988 rarity "Wait"
Diana Krall - The Very Best of Diana Krall (Verve) with a bonus cover of Tom Waits' "The Heart of Saturday Night"
Ben Lee - Ripe (New West) featuring the quizzical "What Would Jay-Z Do?" and guests Mandy Moore, Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, and Nenji Madden of Good Charlotte; also available on 180-gram audiophile vinyl
Pat Monahan - Last of Seven (Columbia) solo debut from the Train vocalist in duet with Brandi Carlile on "Pirate on the Run," and featuring Richie Sambora's acoustic-guitar work on "Someday"
Carolyn Mark - Nothing Is Free (Mint) backed by Neko Case guitarist Paul Rigby, the laid-back Canadian recalls the golden age of AM country radio and late-night drives
Ingrid Michaelson - Girls & Boys (Cabin 24) often heard on TV's Grey's Anatomy; her new song "The Way I Am" is featured in Old Navy's fall campaign
Ministry - The Last Sucker (13th Planet) Al Jourgensen's studio swan song with Prong guitarist Tommy Victor and Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven, and no love whatsoever for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney
New Found Glory - From the Screen to Your Stereo: Part 2 (Drive-Thru) with guest vocalists from Dashboard Confessional, Say Anything, Fall Out Boy, and Taking Back Sunday, this collection covers soundtrack hits from The Breakfast Club, Reality Bites, She's All That, Napoleon Dynamite, Pretty Woman, and more
Plastiscines - LP1 (Caroline) four hot young Parisian babes possessed with the energy of The Ramones and The B52's
Rouge Wave - Asleep at Heaven's Gate (Brushfire) with guest Matthew Caws of Nada Surf
Simon & Garfunkel - Live 1969 (Columbia Legacy) selections culled from six concerts that year, months before their breakup
KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic (Relentless/Virgin) featuring a bonus live track on the domestic issue
Voodoo Glow Skulls - Southern California Street Music (Victory) the Casillas brothers are back with an all-new album of Latino ska-punk blaring signature horns
Hope Waits - Hope Waits (Radarproof) smoky-smooth debut of sweet originals and covers of Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells," Tom Waits' "Get Behind the Mule," and the Jackie Wilson hit "I'll Be Satisfied"
various artists - Dear Mr. Fantasy: A Celebration for Jim Capaldi (Eagle Rock) two-CD live covers collection of the drummer's solo work and Traffic hits by The Jam's Paul Weller, Bad Company's Simon Kirke, Joe Walsh, Steve Winwood, Bill Wyman, and Cat Stevens
