· Watch your step this Tuesday, as Warner Bros. Records drops the debut CD from Late Night with Conan O'Brien canine puppet superstar Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Two album titles are reported at press time, from the Frank Sinatra-inspired Come Poop with Me or perhaps the Stevie Wonder-influenced Songs in the Key of Poop, with just-as-irreverent song titles such as "Benji's Queer" and "Little Roundworm."
· If you've been missing that haunting groove so seductively woven by Morphine's shadowy sax lines, look no further to drink again from this dark well. The Accurate Records label has just released Black Feather Wings from Bourbon Princess, a.k.a. singer, songwriter, and fretless bassist Monique Ortiz. A moody, delicate album, the set is features former Morphine saxophonist Dana Colley and feels like a continuation of his previous band's dreamy, rolling delights.
· A new label is mad about the 1980s and is poised to re-issue handfuls of long-lost jewels in the coming months. This new entity, dubbed Superfecta Records, debuts this Tuesday with its release of Del Amitri's self-titled album from 1985. A big hit on college radio of the day, this jangle-pop gem features new liner notes and four bonus tracks, including a cover of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl." Also due Tuesday is its expanded domestic release of a best-of set from Cabaret Voltaire, entitled The Original Sound of Sheffield '83/'87. Drenched in the electronic tones of the day, the 10 tracks are all extended or 12-inch re-mixes certain to bring back memories of dark nights spinning above new-wave dance floors. Later this year the label will roll out CDs from Flesh for Lulu, The Colourfield, and a special re-issue of the Bachelor Party soundtrack with unreleased songs by R.E.M., Oingo Boingo, and The Alarm.
· Speaking of the 1980s, Charlotte Caffey of The Go Go's and That Dog singer Anna Waronker have created the music for a new off-Broadway stage production on the life of porn star Linda Lovelace. Look for Lovelace: The Musical to star Family Ties star Tina Yothers.
· Also giving a nod to the stage is the upcoming Wig in a Box set from Off Records, featuring star takes on tracks from the smash musical Hedwig & The Angry Inch. Some of the contributors lined up so far include The Breeders, Rufus Wainwright, Bob Mould, Yo La Tengo, They Might Be Giants, and Sleater-Kinney with B-52's vocalist Fred Schneider.
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Jimmy Buffett tonight, Third Eye Blind on Thursday, Jewel and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham on Friday, and Jack Johnson on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Todd Rundgren tonight, Kelly Clarkson on Thursday, and John Mellencamp on Monday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien features Neil Finn of Crowded House and Split Enz on this evening overnight, The Other Ones on Thursday overnight, and Rosanne Cash on Tuesday overnight; Jimmy Kimmel Live gets Disturbed on Thursday overnight and Queens of the Stone Age on Friday overnight; and Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is 50 Cent.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, June 3:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change
!!! - Me & Giuliani Down by the School Yard (Touch & Go) pronounced "Chk-Chk-Chk"
Aceyalone - Love & Hate (Rumm/Deconstruction) with guests Casual and Abstract Rude
Armor for Sleep - Dream to Make Believe (Equal Vision) from New Jersey
Brendan Benson & The Wellfed Boys - Metarie Extended Player (Star Time) five-track EP featuring a cover of Paul McCartney's "Let Me Roll It"
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It in People (Arts & Crafts) domestic release, just named Best Alternative Album at Canada's Juno Awards
Dominic Chianese - Ungrateful Heart (Grandstand) collection of Italian classic standards by The Sopranos' Uncle Junior
Bruce Cockburn - You've Never Seen Everything (Cooking Vinyl) with guests Sam Phillips, Emmylou Harris, and Jackson Browne
The Cure - Trilogy (Eagle) live two-DVD set documenting last year's three-night concert performance of the entire Pornography, Disintegration, and Blood Flowers albums
Dead Meadow - Shivering King & Others (Matador)
Gord Downie - Battle of the Nudes (Zoe/Rounder) new solo album from the Tragically Hip vocalist
Dust to Dust - Sick (Psyclone Records) 12 tracks on the band's new artist-owned label
Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart - Never Gonna Let You Go (Evolver) debut studio album from the husband/wife duo, with two tracks co-written with Steve Earle
eels - Shootenanny! (DreamWorks) with guest Lisa Germano
Enon - In This City (Touch & Go) seven-track EP featuring re-mix and instrumental delights
Dave Gahan - Paper Monsters (Mute/Reprise) debut solo album from the Depeche Mode vocalist
Buddy Guy - Blues Singer (Silvertone/Jive) all-acoustic with guests B.B. King and Eric Clapton
Hoods - Pray for Death (Victory) featuring cover art by Sean Taggart
Junkie XL - Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin (Roadrunner) two-CD set with one disc themed an upbeat 3 p.m., and a second disc themed a chilled-down 3 a.m.
Chris Lee - Cool Rock (Misra) with guest Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth
John Mellencamp - Trouble No More (Columbia) featuring his anti-war track "To Washington"
Jacqui Naylor - Shelter (Ruby Records/Sunnyside) the third album from this jazz vocalist, featuring a must-hear cover of the Rolling Stones' "Miss You"
None More Black - File Under Black (Fat Wreck) featuring Jason Shevchuck of Kid Dynamite
Britta Phillips & Dean Wareham - L'Avventura (Jetset) new from the Luna bandmates, featuring covers of Opal's "Hear the Wind Blow," The Doors' "Indian Summer," Madonna's "I Deserve It," and Buffy St. Marie's "Moonshot"
Saliva - Saliva (Rumm) re-issue of the group's 1993 debut
Souls She Said - Rub the Sleep Out (Lookout) five-track EP featuring former members of The Icarus Line and Ink & Dagger
Stereophonics - You Gotta Go There to Come Back (V2)
Strung Out - Live in a Dive (Fat Wreck) featuring cover and comic-book art by singer Jason Cruz
Sugar Ray - In Pursuit of Leisure (Lava) with a cover of Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out with Him?"
Devin Townsend - Terria (Inside Out) domestic re-issue with a bonus CD live from Tokyo
various artists - Liberation (Fat Wreck) PETA benefit featuring Goldfinger's "F**k Ted Nugent"
various artists - YES New York (Wolfgang Morden) named in tribute to the 1978 NO New York compilation, this blistering state-of-the-neighborhood address from the NYC underground features Radio 4, Ted Leo, Longwave, The Natural History, The Walkmen, and a special live-from-Iceland recording of the The Strokes' "New York City Cops"
Gillian Welch - Soul Journey (Acony) produced by David Rawlings, and opening for Norah Jones this month