· Cover craziness abounds with a pair of terrific new releases. This past month Chicago's punk and cornpone label, Bloodshot Records, celebrated its 100th release of authentic independent country. As a treat to the fans, the label culled its vaults for an appropriate thank-you, and the result is one of the most captivating collections I've heard in a while. Representing the breadth of its stable of artists, the 18-track Making Singles, Drinking Doubles CD features long-out-of-print singles, hard-to-find EP tracks, and previously unreleased gems of lonesome pine, saucy vocal vixens, and amen-fevered roadhouse roots R&B. Clever covers run thick, with highlights including the Waco Brothers' spin on Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come" and Rex Hobart & The Misery Boys' take on Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," perfectly suited to pedal steel guitar because "every cowboy sings a sad, sad song." Other hard-to-believe must-hear tracks include the yodeling wail of Moonshine Willy and vocalist Kim Docter on XTC's "Complicated Game," the Meat Purveyors' upbeat country skittle through a medley of Madonna's "Lucky Star," "Burning Up," and "Like a Virgin," and the laid-back and syrupy guitar funk of the Volebeats covering Funkadelic's classic mind-expanding "Maggot Brain."

· Light the candles and draw the shades closed, as this Tuesday the Instinct label releases a seven-track EP by the cello fronted Rasputina. Entitled The Lost & Found: 2nd Edition, the CD features dark and gloomy cover versions of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," Pat Benatar's "Fire & Ice," the Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties" and - dig this - the traditional children's song "This Little Piggy."

Television Alert:

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Elton John tonight, 30 Seconds to Mars on Friday, and India.Arie on Tuesday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien hosts Sean Paul on Friday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn features Slobberbone on Friday overnight, The D4 on Monday overnight, and Moby on Tuesday overnight; and Last Call with Carson Daly offers up the incredible Sugarcult on Friday overnight, Sparta on Monday overnight, and The Donnas on Tuesday overnight.

New Releases Coming Tuesday, January 21:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change

Ancient Greeks - The Song Is You (Flameshovel)

Brokeback - Looks at the Bird (Thrill Jockey)

Richard Buckner - Richard Buckner (Overcoat) re-issue of this rare album from 1996

Burnside Project - The Networks, the Circuits, the Steams, the Harmonies (Bar None) indie rock spinning two turntables and a microphone

Cargo Cult - Strange Men Bearing Gifts (Touch & Go) CD re-issue from members of The Jesus Lizard and the Big Boys back in 1985

The Clean - Anthology (Merge) two-CD set from this influential New Zealand band

Crooked Fingers - Red Devil Dawn (Merge) third album from this alias of Eric Bachmann of Archers of Loaf

Daredevil - original motion picture soundtrack (Wind Up) with the lead single "Won't Back Down" by Fuel

The Delgados - Hate (Beggars Banquet)

D. Henry Fenton - Autumn Sweet (Laughing Outlaw) Australian singer-songwriter now based in North Carolina

Future Bible Heroes - The Lonely Robot (Instinct) with re-mixes by Client, Rob Rives, and Soft Cell

Green on Red - Gas Food Lodging/Green on Red (Restless) two 1980s masterpieces of the "paisley underground" on one re-issue CD with bonus tracks

Groove Armada - Love Box (Jive Electro) with guests the Nappy Roots and Neneh Cherry

Jeff Hanson - Son (Kill Rock Stars)

Happy Apple - Youth Oriented (Sunnyside) critically acclaimed new jazz from the Twin Cities

Holopaw - Holopaw (SubPop) new from Gainesville, Florida

The Immortal Lee County Killers II - Love Is a Charm of Powerful Trouble (Estrus)

The International Noise Conspiracy - Bigger Cages, Longer Chains (Burning Heart/Epitaph) featuring a spoken-word segment by political pundit Noam Chomsky

King Missile III - The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (Instinct)

Kinski - Airs Above Your Station (SubPop) label debut for this instrumental rock quartet, also available as a two-LP vinyl set on the Strange Attractors Audio House imprint

Laida - Lost in Space (Beggars Banquet)

The Mendoza Line - If They Knew This Was the End (Bar None) re-issue of the group's debut album with bonus tracks

Sport Murphy - Uncle (Kill Rock Stars) a personal musical response to the loss of his brother in the September 11 terrorist attacks

Negative Approach - Tied Down (Touch & Go) CD re-issue from the early 1980s featuring John Brannon of the Laughing Hyenas

No Trend - Tritonian Nash-Vegas Polyester Complex (Touch & Go) CD re-issue of Washington, D.C., hardcore from the early 1980s

P.J. Olsson - Beautifully Insane (Columbia) currently on tour as an acoustic opening act for Bob Geldof

Perpetual Groove - Sweet Oblivious Antidote (Harmonized) favorite of the Jambase.com reader's poll

Robert Pollard - Motel of Fools (Fading Captain) new from the Guided by Voices leader

The Sea & Cake - One Bedroom (Thrill Jockey) featuring a cover of David Bowie's "Sound & Vision"

Slick 57 - The Ghost of Bonnie Parker (Laughing Outlaw)

True Love Always - Clouds (Teenbeat)

various artists - Mollie's Mix Compilation (Kill Rock Stars) 21-track super-budget-priced CD sampler with The Bangs, Comet Gain, Sleater-Kinney, The Gossip, Gravy Train, and more

various artists - Wanna Buy a Carprak? (Carpark Records) label sampler of new tracks and QuickTime videos from Dinky, Greg Davis, Takagi Masakatsu, Jake Mandell, and more

various artists - Inspiration (Sunnyside) 22 master harmonica performances by Magic Dick of the J. Geils Band, Toots Thielemans, Sonny Terry, Big Walter Horton, Larry Adler, and more

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