Two long-lost musical entities, bestowed with cult status in their eclectic corners of the rock universe, offer up all-new recordings next week - the first music either has recorded and released in more than 25 years. Australian punks had their earliest heroes in the Radio Birdman, surviving four years together in the late 1970s. After reuniting in 1996 for their homeland's Big Day Out festival, and with SubPop Records' recent "Essential" collection introducing the band to the digital generation, an American tour begins later this month in support of their new Zeno Beach CD on the Yep Roc label.
The songwriter behind the classics "Eve of Destruction" and "Secret Agent Man," as well as tracks recorded by The Turtles, Jan & Dean, and The Searchers, is back next Tuesday with a new album featuring an enticing list of guest stars including Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals. Coming out of seclusion with these new Nashville sessions, master songwriter P.F. Sloan returns with Sailover, featuring new songs and new recordings of his work made famous by other artists. With guest vocalists Buddy Miller and Frank Black, the High Tone Records CD features a duet with Lucinda Williams.
Christine Lavin is serving up a tasty new CD next week. Her One Meat Ball: The Album offers up 19 songs about food and a 96-page "cookbooklet" of recipes from the musicians themselves and Fern Gnesin, tour caterer to the stars. Starting the day with "Blueberry Pancakes" and "Maple Syrup Time" (with guest Pete Seeger and his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger), and creeping into late evening's "Mocha Java" with guitarist Alan Micelli, the Appleseed Records collection also features guests Julie Gold, Tom Paxton, actor Jeff Daniels, and the a cappella group The Accidentals.
My pick of the week is also the most infectious smash of the summer, with the Swedish trio Teddybears tearing up the dance floor with their snappy, driving beats and the sweeping energy of vintage new-wave synthesizers, bowing down to the altar of ABC, Fashion, and Heaven 17. Packed with guests, the Big Beat/Atlantic Records release next week of Soft Machine is the ultimate driving soundtrack under the lights of the big city, instantly transforming any ride into a smooth panther gliding through a Michael Mann movie, under a thousand neon lights pulsing to the beat. Recently heard in the Tab energy drink television campaign with "Cobrastyle," found on the new CD with guest Mad Cobra, other highlights include Neneh Cherry on "Yours to Keep," Iggy Pop's proud stance in "Punkrocker," and Elephant Man's dance-hall MC delight of "Are You Feelin' It?"
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Chris Isaak this evening, Soul Asylum on Thursday, and The Fray on Friday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Fatboy Slim on Thursday and Outkast on Monday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien boasts Dropkick Murphys on Thursday overnight and Belle & Sebastian on Friday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson sits down with Alice Cooper this evening overnight and The Subways on Friday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly features Aimee Mann this evening overnight, Dave Navarro on Thursday overnight, and Feist on Friday overnight; and The Henry Rollins Show's musical guest this weekend is his very own Rollins Band.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, August 22:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
ActionReaction - 3 Is the Magic Number (Hope Division/Equal Vision) featuring former members of Element 101
Against Me! - Americans Abroad: Against Me! Live in London (Fat Wreck) two-LP vinyl set or enhanced CD with a bonus video for "Problems"
Eric Bachmann - To the Races (Saddle Creek) solo debut from the Crooked Fingers founder
Ronnie Baker Brooks - The Torch (Watchdog) second-generation stormy Chicago blues featuring his father, Lonnie Brooks, and guest rapper Al Kapone on "If It Don't Make Dollars, It Don't Make Sense"
The Devil Wears Prada - Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord (Rise) Christian-friendly metalcore from Dayton, Ohio
J Dilla - The Shining (BBE) posthumous CD/DVD release with guests Guilty Simpson, Madlib, Pharaoh Monche, and Common
Dirty Dozen Brass Band - What's Going on (Shout Factory) with guests G. Love, Chuck D, and Ivan Neville
Easy Star All-Stars - Radiodread: A Complete Reggae Version of Radiohead's "OK Computer" (Easy Star) with guests Sugar Minott, Horace Andy, Frankie Paul, and Toots & the Maytals
Ellison - Say Goodnight, Sleep Alone (Carboncopy Media) from Cincinnati, Ohio
Golem - Fresh Off the Boat (JDub) gypsy folk-punk featuring guests Mike Gordon of Phish and Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls
Gov't Mule - High & Mighty (ATO)
Sophie B. Hawkins - Live: The Bad Kitty Board Mix (Trumpet Song) featuring her interpretation of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse's "Feelin' Good," from the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd
Ike Yard - 1980-82 Collected (Acute) anthology of out-of-print material by the first American band to be signed to Factory Records in its golden age
Marshall Tucker Band - Live on Long Island 4-18-80 (Shout Factory) two-CD set of the band's final performance, 10 days before Tommy Caldwell's death in an automobile accident
Monsieur Leroc - I'm Not Young, but I Need the Money (Cornerstone Ras) funky tumble down the rabbit hole, rocking crisp beats with guest vocalists Courtney Mace, 2 Mex, and AWOL One
Mouth of the Architect - The Ties That Blind (Translation Loss) progressive metal from Dayton, Ohio, featuring Brian Cook of These Arms Are Snakes
On the Last Day - Meaning in the Static (Victory) bristling, rebel-yell post-punk from Seattle
Outkast - Idlewild (LaFace/Jive) soundtrack for the duo's long anticipated Depression-era film, opening later this week
The Picture - Connect (Lovely Recordings) sexy, grinding, shadowy stalker pop bridging the Atlantic with a Brooklyn band and the deft hand of Liverpool guitarist Chris Buckle
Pixies - Acoustic: Live in Newport (Eagle Vision) DVD featuring bonus rehearsals and a mini-documentary
Primal Scream - Riot City Blues (Columbia) domestic release of this all-new UK hit
Salaryman - The Electric Forest (Twelve Inch) spacey, electronic instrumental side project of the Poster Children
Skye - Mind How You Go (Cordless) debut solo album from the former vocal siren of Morcheeba
Spencer Dickinson - The Man Who Lives to Love (Yep Roc) swampy, squawkin', buttermilk-drinking, hunch-rockin' collaboration of Blues Explosion founder Jon Spencer, the North Mississippi Allstars' Cody Dickinson, and Jim Dickinson
Beth Thornley - My Glass Eye (Stiff Hips) terrific new album from this singer/songwriter whose work has peppered many television dramas of late, featuring a cover of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby"
Tortoise - A Lazarus Taxon (Thrill Jockey) three-CD and bonus-DVD box set collecting singles, remixes, Japanese-only B sides, compilation-album rarities, and the rare Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters EP
Chad VanGaalen - Skelliconnection (SubPop) rainy-day acoustica from this talented musician, illustrator, and animator
Natalie Walker - Urban Angel (Dorado) dreamy debut of this ethereal trip-soul vocalist from Indiana, coolly shimmering under the knobs of production duo Stuhr
Walls of Jericho - With Devils Amongst Us All (Trustkill) representing Detroit on this summer's Ozzfest
M. Ward - Post-War (Merge) attic recordings with guests Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Neko Case, and Adam Selzer, and a cover of Daniel Johnson's "To Go Home"
The Weird Weeds - Weird Feelings (Sounds Are Active) taunt and sparse experimental landscapes pollinated by vocalist Sandy Ewen
