I'm loving every raindrop of sound in Raul Malo's new covers collection, You're Only Lonely. Due this coming Tuesday on the eclectic Sanctuary Records imprint, the Mavericks vocalist evokes a forgotten, crushed-velvet Roy Orbison world, spellbinding in his rich, golden tone and slow-dance restraint. And what could be more perfect than the lush brush of producer Peter Asher, a boy wonder in the '60s as half of Peter & Gordon and a master producer in the '80s with Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, and 10,000 Maniacs? I found myself deeply moved with melancholy nostalgia with each listen, remembering the heyday of AM radio, when everyone - from the farmer chewing on a thin green stalk to the housewife in the big city setting the table - was humming along to the same, infectious melody. The song choices are impeccable, from J.D. Souther's title track to Randy Newman's "Feels Like Home" to a bonus duet with Martina McBride. Other highlights include The Bee Gees' "Run to Me," Harry Nilsson's "Remember," and the most haunting rendition of Willie Nelson's "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground" I've ever heard. This is turn-down-the-lights music, serious baby-making stuff.
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Tom Petty on Thursday, Taking Back Sunday on Monday, and Los Lonely Boys on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Pink on Thursday, Sam Roberts on Friday, and Tapes 'N Tapes on Tuesday; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson boasts Jewel on Friday overnight and the return of The Buzzcocks on Monday overnight; Jimmy Kimmel Live unearths the Jurassic 5 on Friday overnight and the Flaming Lips on Monday overnight; The Henry Rollins Show gets intimate with The New York Dolls this weekend; and VH1's Decades Rock Live this weekend honors Elvis Costello with Fiona Apple, Death Cab For Cutie, and Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, July 18:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
1986 - Nihilism Is Nothing to Worry About (Palentine) smart, catchy indie rock, featuring the melodious slacker stance of "Better When You're Stoned"
Black Dice - "Manoman" (DFA) 12-inch vinyl companion piece to Gore, an art book of collaged photography by Jason Frank Rothenberg, and featuring a poster designed by Bjorn Copeland
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - "Cursed Sleep" (Drag City) new single from the upcoming album Then the Letting Go
James Dean Bradfield - The Great Western (Columbia) import-only new CD from the member of the Manic Street Preachers
Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians - Stranger Things (Fantasy)
Burn In Silence - Angel Maker (Prosthetic) produced by Unearth guitarist Susi
Cactus - V (Escapi Music) all new from Jimmy Kunes of Savoy Brown and master drummer Carmine Appice
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man - original motion picture soundtrack (Verve Forecast) with Beth Orton, U2, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, The Handsome Family, and Rufus & Martha Wainwright
Flogging Molly - Whiskey on a Sunday (Side One Dummy) DualDisc CD featuring a globe-hopping documentary DVD on the flip side
Michael Franti - I Know I'm Not Alone (Anti) documentary DVD from his trip to Baghdad, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank
Michael Franti - Yell Fire! (Anti) with guests Pink and Sly & Robbie
Gaelic Storm - Bring Yer Wellies (Lost Again) known best as the band that lifted Rose to the tips of her toes in the film Titanic; this is their fifth album of pub songs for Irish pirates and salty scallywags
Martin Gordon - How Am I Doing So Far? (Radiant Future) 20-track anthology of clever, theatric British pop from the former Sparks bassist, featuring four previously unreleased songs, covering the Beatles' "Every Little Thing She Does" and a funky romp through "Love Power" from Mel Brooks' The Producers
Bruce Hornsby - Intersections 1985-2005 (RCA Legacy) four-CD box set, featuring his take on Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" on the bonus DVD
Joan of Arc - Eventually, All at Once (Record Label) all new, available on CD and LP
Joan of Arc - The Intelligent Design of Joan of Arc (Polyvinyl) collection of outtakes and rarities
Jurassic 5 - Feedback (Interscope) with guests Mos Def and the Dave Matthews Band; also available in a special two-LP vinyl edition
The Knife - Silent Shout (Mute) icy techno percolation from Sweden
Steve Lawler - Viva (Ministry of Sound) three-CD set chronicling his three-day stint at the Miami Winter Music Conference
Toby Lightman - Bird on a Wire (Lava/Atlantic) with guest Wendy Melvoin of Wendy & Lisa
Breanna Lynn - Siren (Black Onyx) debut from this 19-year-old singer/songwriter, produced by hit-maker Gardner Cole
Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites (Columbia) domestic issue of this big hit in Denmark, on tour this year with Broken Social Scene and Bloc Party
Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther (Bella Union) second album from the Denton, Texas, quintet, invited to tour with the Flaming Lips in Europe earlier this year after Wayne Coyne saw them perform at SXSW
Motor - Klunk (NovaMute) throbbing, strobe-light abandon, dusted and thrusted in the hypnotic first single "Black Powder" and featuring Douglas McCarthy of Nitzer Ebb on "1 X 1"
The New York Dolls - One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This (Roadrunner) with guests Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Bo Diddley, and Iggy Pop
Tom Petty - Highway Companion (American) four-star return, in trio with multi-instrumentalist Mike Campbell and ELO's Jeff Lynne
Puffy AmiYumi - Splurge (Tofu) with guests Dexter Holland of The Offspring, Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish, and Jon Spencer of Blues Explosion
Scritti Politti - White Bread, Black Beer (Nonesuch) the first new music from Green Gartside in seven years
Slow Motion Reign - Slow Motion Reign (Serjical Strike) produced by label honcho Serj Tankian of System of a Down
Spoon - Telephoto and Soft Effects (Merge) two-CD reissue of these rare early recordings, with the bonus video "Not Turning Off"
Strange Fruit Project - The Healing (Om) deep-groove and deep-thought hip-hop soul with guests Little Brother, Erykah Badu, and Thesis
Thor - Devastation of Musculation (Smog Veil) all new from the Norse god of metal
Umbrellas - Illuminare (Militia Group) heard previously in television's Alias and Grey's Anatomy, this is heartbreaking, spinning electronic pop for 1980s daydreamers
Venus Hum - The Colors in the Wheel (Nettwerk)
Paul Weller - Catch Flame! (Yep Roc) from The Jam founder
Pharrell Williams - In My Head (Star Trak/Interscope)
Roddy Woomble - My Secret Is My Silence (Pure) import-only solo album from the Idlewild vocalist
U-Turns - Death of Garage Rock (Norton) seven-inch single of sessions from 1966, featuring a cover of The Beatles' "I'm Down"
various artists - Blues All Over the World (Putumayo) proof positive that everyone feels the blues; globe trotting from Taiwan and Argentina to India and the USA, with Taj Mahal collaborating with the Culture Musical Club of Zanzibar
various artists - Musical Tree Vol. 1: Delicious Berries (Recordhead) compilation of local Indiana indie rock featuring Margot & The Nuclear So & Sos, Emperor Penguin, The Winechuggers, and 16 more
