Back before Blockbuster, Netflix, and other instant-gratification services, seeking out that elusive hipster film took a lot of praying and the luck of an art-house theater in your city to satisfy one's craving. One of those great rock-and-roll films that brought the excitement of a live concert was Rude Boy from 1980, a gritty street drama mixed with live footage from The Clash in 1978 performing every song from their white-hot self-titled debut. For years, fans passed around poorly copied dubs of its 1991 VHS release or searched for a copy on eBay, but the film returns this coming Tuesday in full DVD glory. The Epic Records' Legacy imprint release is packed with bonus goodies, including BBC sessions, interviews with sex-shop-worker-turned-roadie Ray Gange and band manager Johnny Green, a gallery of photography and sketches, and the original theatrical trailer. Also extended with four deleted scenes and two songs cut from the original presentation, the DVD technology allows the viewer to play only the concert footage, uninterrupted. A mesmerizing peek into the politically volatile times of the United Kingdom in the late 1970s, this is the early history of "the only band that ever really mattered."
More CDs are hooking up with exclusive deals outside the walls of your traditional record shop. Next week Starbucks Coffee releases another disc in its Opus Collection series in Bob Marley & the Wailers: Everything Gonna Be Alright, a 17-track anthology of uplifting tracks from his first decade of recording. The Hard Rock Café is getting in the game, too, with its new SERVE CD, benefiting Artists Against Hunger & Poverty. Highlights include a "string version" of Bruce Springsteen's "Secret Garden," an acoustic mix of Aerosmith's "Jaded," a home recording from The Strokes, and a live acoustic run of Good Charlotte's "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous."
Speaking of terrific benefit CDs, on the horizon is The Colours Are Brighter, a new compilation from Rough Trade supporting Save the Children, with kid songs from the Flaming Lips, Belle & Sebastian, Snow Patrol, The Kooks, Jonathan Richman, and more.
Six-string slingers take heed: Next week sees the release of Alan Sparhawk's Solo Guitar, an experimental album from the man who, under his slow-core leadership in Low, makes every plucked note ring like an underwater bell. The Silber Records release features a must-hear cover of Van Halen's "Eruption."
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes hit-maker Pharrell Williams tonight, Everclear on Thursday, Ben Harper on Friday, and Wolfmother on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts India.Aire on Friday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien boasts Lewis Taylor on Thursday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson gets funky with the Jurassic 5 this evening overnight, Sammy Hagar on Thursday overnight, and Seether on Friday overnight; and The Henry Rollins Show features Slayer this weekend.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, July 25:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
Peter Bradley Adams - Gather Up (High Wire/Fontana) recently heard in the Cameron Crowe film Elizabethtown
Steven Bernstein & the Millennial Territory Orchestra - MTO Volume 1 (Sunnyside) formerly the music director of John Lurie's Lounge Lizards, the Spanish Fly and Sex Mob trumpeter now helms a killer nine-piece ensemble, working out midnight magic on 1920s classics and wild interpretations of The Beatles' "Cry Baby Cry," Prince's "Darling Nikki," and the Stevie Wonder hit "Signed, Sealed, Delivered"
Jimmy Buffett - Live at Wrigley Field (Mailboat) live DVD filmed last year, featuring a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" and a sizzling ukulele version of our national anthem by Jake Shimabukuro
Thomas Dybdahl - One Day You'll Dance For Me, New York City (Recall) stunning Norwegian smash hit - laid back, spiritual, and intimate in the vein of Jeff Buckley and other slow-moving awakenings
Gasoline Heart - You Know Who You Are (Mono Vs Stereo) recorded by Steve Albini, this new project from Louis Defabrizio rocks like a rough-and-tumble Tom Petty or Ryan Adams
Golden Bear - Golden Bear (C-Side Records) Austin, Texas, debut featuring guest vocalist Pink Nasty and pedal steel guitarist Lloyd Maines on "The Saddest Songs"
Kacey Jones - Sings Mickey Newbury (IGO/Image) 15-track tribute to this American songwriting treasure
Jonus Brothers - It's About Time (Daylight/Columbia) sibling trio from New Jersey
Kill Hannah - Until There's Nothing Left of Us (Atlantic) featuring the single "Lips Like Morphine"
Kula Shaker - Revenge of the King (Alvar Music) import-only CD featuring the song "Dictator of the Free World," with its chant "You're a dic, a dic, a dictator"
Mars Lasar - Yosemite: Valley of the Giants (Gemini Sun) sweeping original music inspired by the grand national park, featuring vocalist Jennifer Spaulding on the title track
G. Love - Lemonade (Brushfire) the perfect summertime companion, with guests Blackalicious, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Donavon Frankenreiter, and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo
Messer fur Frau Muller - Triangle, Dot, & Devil (Aero CCCP) crazy Russian lounge pop that would fit well as the soundtrack to a John Waters film, featuring theremin by Lydia Kavina, the grandniece of the instrument's inventor
Jeanne Newhall - Wild Blue (Blix Street) featuring her cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart"
The Pink Spiders - Teenage Graffiti (Suretone/Geffen) produced by Ric Ocasek
Powerman 5000 - Destroy What You Enjoy (DRT) on tour now, featuring an all-new backing band for frontman Spider
Primitives - Buzz Buzz Buzz: The Complete Lazy Recordings (Castle/Sanctuary) two-CD set packed with rarities and Radio One sessions
Reel Big Fish - Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album (CD Baby Umbrella) two-CD set
Billy Sheehan - Prime Cuts (Magna Carta) best-of collection from the Mr. Big and David Lee Roth bassist, featuring his work with Niacin and a six-minute bass solo recorded live in 1994
Derek Sherinian - Blood of the Snake (Inside Out/SPV) with guests Billy Idol, Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde, Slash, and more
Skin Alley - Skin Alley and To Pagham & Beyond (Eclectic) remastered reissues of West Coast jazz-rock from 1969 and 1970, featuring expanded liner notes
Towers of London - Blood, Sweat, & Towers (TVT) the welcome return of rawk from this hedonistic quintet that struts the same alleys as Guns 'N Roses, Slade, and the Sex Pistols
Vaux - Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice (VX/Outlook Music)
Daniel Wylie - The High Cost of Happiness (Neon Tetra) new solo album from the Cosmic Rough Riders founder
various artists - Monsieur Gainsbourg: Revisited (Verve Forecast) domestic release of this killer tribute with Portishead, Franz Ferdinand, Cat Power, Marc Almond, Tricky, Placebo, Kid Loco, Sly & Robbie, Michael Stipe of R.E.M., and many more bowing down to the late French icon, translated into English, so we can understand every simmering lyric
