Bringing back memories of the warm scent from an Easy Bake Oven, Cake is prepping a new CD that features "scratch and sniff" fun in the disc's limited edition. Releasing B-Sides & Rarities on their own at (http://www.cakemusic.com) and bypassing a record-label deal, the CD features two crazy covers: Kenny Rogers' and the First Edition's "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" and Barry White's "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up." One more cover is featured on the limited edition's bonus disc: a live stab at Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" with guest Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips. Budding video directors are encouraged to submit an original visual accompaniment to the "War Pigs" cover, with the band ponying up a $1,000 prize.
Speaking of covers, two new jazz artists lay hands on unimaginable territory in new CDs next week. Blue Note Records artist Robert Glasper lets a little hip hop sneak into his classy In My Element set, featuring late producer J Dilla in "J Dillatude" and a must-hear mash-up of Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place" and Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage." Another stunning pianist, Rachel Z, releases Dept. of Good & Evil on the Savoy Jazz imprint, drawn from her 100-date world tour playing new originals and a host of radical interpretations of pop and goth-friendly favorites. Almost unrecognizable in their tumbling melody lines and climbing scales, can you pick out by ear The Police's "King of Pain," Death Cab for Cutie's "Soul Meets Body," Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Maps"?
Television Alert:
The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Aqualung tonight, Joss Stone on Monday, and Lucinda Williams on Tuesday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien boasts The Shins this evening overnight, Pete York on Friday overnight, Jesse Malin on Monday overnight, and Lindsey Buckingham on Tuesday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson features John Mellencamp on Monday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly talks to the animals with Grizzly Bear on Thursday overnight and Deerhoof on Friday overnight; and Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is Snow Patrol.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, March 20:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Strange Form of Life" (Drag City) the fourth CD EP from The Letting Go album, with bonus Daytrotter sessions recorded in Rock Island and the single's CD-ROM video
Bill Callahan - "Diamond Dancer" (Drag City) stepping out from behind the mask of Smog, this terrific new two-track CD single comes in advance of his upcoming album, Woke on a Whaleheart
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - The Abattoir Blues Tour (Mute) two-CD/two-DVD set from 2004 dates
Cibo Matto - Pom Pom: The Essential Cibo Matto (Rhino) featuring a previously unreleased Dan the Automator remix
Cyann & Ben - Sweet Beliefs (Ever) third album by the reverent, misty, and trippy Parisian quartet
The Decemberists - Kill Rock Stars Presents The Decemberists: A Practical Handbook (Kill Rock Stars) DVD documentary with collected videos
Depeche Mode - Construction Time Again and Black Celebration (Rhino) expanded CD/DVD reissues
EL-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead (Definitive Jux) with guests Cat Power, Trent Reznor, Aesop Rock, and the Mars Volta
Electric Light Orchestra - Balance of Power (Epic Legacy) expanded reissue from 1986 with seven bonus B sides and mixes
Finger Eleven - Them Vs. You Vs. Me (Wind-Up) on tour now with Evanescence
John Frusciante - Ataxia II (Record Collection) Greek for "disorder," this second CD follows 2004's release from the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist's short-lived band with Joe Lally of Fugazi
Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, & Ray Price - Last of the Breed (Lost Highway) 22 songs over two CDs from these Country Music Hall of Famers, on tour now with Asleep at the Wheel backing the trio live
Hail Social - Modern Love & Death (hailsocial.com) fresh yet nostalgic indie pop for sunshine rollerskating and strobe-light suburban cruising
Hot Rod Circuit - The Underground Is a Dying Breed (Immortal) on tour next month with Limebeck, and all summer on the Vans Warped Tour
I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends (Mute) 29-piece collective from Sweden
The Innocence Mission - We Walked in Song (Badman) 11 new haunting, fragile, ice-melting songs from Karen Peris
The Jerky Boys - Sol's Rusty Trombone (Laugh.com) get yer Jerky ringtones, numb nuts!
Mary Karlzen - The Wanderlust Diaries (Dualtone) with guest Robert Reynolds of the Mavericks
Killing Joke - Inside Extremities Mixes, Rehearsals, & Live (Candlelight) two-CD set featuring a complete concert from 1991
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (DFA/Capitol) featuring the song "North American Scum"
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Living with the Living (Touch & Go) featuring a bonus CD EP in the first pressing
Low - Drums & Guns (Sub Pop) back with producer Dave Fridmann, stretching their slow-core wings and slipping deep inside the machine with wicked loops and splintered, shuffling beats
Luna Halo - Luna Halo (American) Nashville rockers with a Brit-pop feel, featuring the punchy single "Kings & Queens"
Jesse Malin - Glitter in the Gutter (Adeline/Warner Bros.) with guests Ryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen, and Josh Homme
Stephen Marley - Mind Control (Tuff Gong/Universal) with guests Ben Harper and Mos Def
Maylene & the Sons of Disaster - II (Ferret Music) heavy metal meets history, as the songs are inspired by the Prohibition-era mayhem of Ma Barker and her boys
Jimmy McIntosh - Orleans to London (Arizona Club) with guests Ronnie Wood and Ivan Neville
Stephanie McKay - Tell It Like It Is (Astralwerks) anticipated new CD from the Bronx vocalist, with producer Geoff Barrow of Portishead
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic) with new guitarist Johnny Marr of The Smiths
OTEP - The Ascension (Capitol) featuring a cover of Nirvana's "Breed"
Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks) fantastic third album from Noah Lennox of Animal Collective, utilizing new layers of samplers and other electronica to craft enigmatic indie "hymns"
Lee "Scratch" Perry - The Upsetter Selection: A Lee Perry Jukebox (Trojan) 45 tracks over two CDs
The Poison Arrows - Straight Into the Drift (File 13 Records) CD EP from Justin Sinkovich of Atombombpocketknife
Radical Face - Ghost (Morr Music) home-grown solo project from Ben Cooper, jumping off from the idea that houses hold memories and crafting songs that reveal imaginary residents
Secretary Bird - Secretary Bird (In De Goot/Seaward Records) new from Mike Semple of the Friends of Dean Martinez and Giant Sand, with guest Eric Avery of Jane's Addiction
Sister Vanilla - Little Pop Rock (Chemikal Underground) it's a family affair with Jim and William Reid of Jesus & Mary Chain, with sister Linda on vocals
Sterling - Cursed (File 13 Records) low rolling thunderstorm for the mind in these three instrumental tracks, two of which clock in at 13 minutes
Joss Stone - Introducing Joss Stone (Virgin) her third album; featuring Lauryn Hill, Common, and Raphael Saadig
Tracy Thorn - Out of the Woods (Astralwerks) all new from the Everything but the Girl vocalist, with guest Massive Attack
The Tossers - Agony (Victory) Irish revelry from Chicago's South Side, whipping fiddle and tin whistle into a mosh frenzy
The Zincs - Black Pompadour (Thrill Jockey)
