· Rob Zombie's back with The Devil's Rejects, a sequel to his recent B-movie gore-fest House of 1,000 Corpses. Due next week, the film's soundtrack on the Hip-O Records imprint features hits from the James Gang, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Three Dog Night, Kitty Wells, Buck Owens, and David Essex. More twisted delights for the horror buff are around the corner in Tuesday's release of Misfits Meet the Nutley Brass: Fiend Club Lounge, a wild instrumental ride that takes 11 Misfits classics and reinterprets them in a space-age bachelor-pad/lounge groove.
· My pick of the week is The Art of Virtue from Adrienne Young and her band, Little Sadie, a warm and tender bluegrass-tinged collection of songs that draws much of its inspiration from Benjamin Franklin's book of the same name. Franklin's ultimate self-help guide looked to perfect one's life by observing and keeping track of daily goals and failures in 13 areas of the human condition - sincerity, cleanliness, chastity, and temperance, to name a few. Young's new CD (released next week) is all about those everyday choices, coming naturally to the committed organic gardener whose last CD contained a packet of seeds.
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno serves up Black Eyed Peas on Friday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Sleater-Kinney on Monday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien welcomes Dwight Yoakam this evening overnight, Moby on Monday overnight, and Duran Duran on Tuesday overnight; Jimmy Kimmel Live boasts The Futureheads this evening overnight and Billy Idol on Thursday overnight; Austin City Limits features The Jayhawks and Gillian Welch this weekend; and Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is Queens of the Stone Age.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, June 28:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
A - Teen Dance Ordinance (London) import only
A Band of Bees - Free the Bees (Astralwerks) featuring two bonus tracks on the American issue
Beck - Guero (Geffen) special DualDisc version
Bizzare - Hannicap Circus (Sanctuary Urban) solo album from the D12 member, with guests Eminem and OutKast's Big Boi
Tomas Bodin - I Am (Inside Out) new from The Flower Kings keyboardist
Cassidy - I'm a Hustla (Full Surface/J Records) with guest Mary J. Blige
Bill Charlap - Bill Charlap Plays George Gershwin (Blue Note)
The Clayton Brothers - Back in the Swing of Things (Hyena)
Bruce Cockburn - Sunwheel Dance, Circles in the Sun, and Big Circumstance (Rounder) expanded reissues from 1971, 1977, and 1989
Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin (Victory) featuring the bonus DVD The Victory Show Vol. 4
Dukes of Hazzard - original television soundtrack (Volcano/Legacy) CD reissue featuring "Gold Ol Boys" by Waylon Jennings
Electric Light Orchestra - All Over the World: The Very Best of (Epic Legacy)
Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian (Metal Blade) reissue from 1986, expanded to two CDs and a DVD
Goat - All My Friends (Judgement Entertainment) with guests Chris Whitley and T-Bone Wolk
The Greencards - Weather & Water (Dualtone) fresh bluegrass on tour now with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, and featuring "What You Are" by Patti Griffin
James William Hindle - Town Feeling (Badman) with guests from Espers and Curritick Co.
Hopewell - Hopewell & the Birds of Appetite (Tee Pee) fronted by Jason Russo, formerly of Mercury Rev
Steve Howe - Spectrum (Inside Out) new genre-sweeping solo album from the Yes, Asia, and GTR guitarist with bassist Tony Levin
Infusion - Six Feet Above Yesterday (Thrive) stateside release of this Australian hit debut
Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, & Santana - A Night at the Family Dog (Eagle Rock) DVD filmed in 1970, featuring rare footage of Ron "Pigpen" McKernan
Ricki Lee Jones - Dutchess of Coolville: An Anthology (Rhino) three-CD set featuring a disc of live tracks and rarities
Kraftwerk - Minimum Maximum (Astralwerks) special four-LP vinyl box set of this all-new live set, recorded during last year's tour of Europe
Ladybug Mecca - Trip the Light Fantastic (Nu Paradigm) new solo album from the Digable Planets member
A Life Once Lost - Hunter (Ferret Music) new metal-core from Philadelphia
Long Beach Shortbus - Flying Ship of Fantasy (Long Beach) featuring members of Sublime, Falling Idols, and the Long Beach Dub Allstars
Longwave - There's a Fire (Red Ink/RCA ) produced by John Leckie
Loquat - It's Yours to Keep (Jackpine Social Club)
Mathematics - The Problem (Nature Sounds) new from the Wu Tang Clan DJ featuring all his bandmates
Mayday - Bushido Karaoke (Saddle Creek) featuring members of Cursive, Head of Femur, and Lullaby for the Working Class
Pat McGee Band - Save Me (Kirtland) with a bonus five-track acoustic CD EP
Erin McKeown - We Will Become Like Birds (Nettwerk) recorded at Piety Street Recording, a former mental institution
David Mead - Wherever You Are (Eleven Thirty) six-track CD EP
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - original motion picture soundtrack (Lakeshore) featuring a cover of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Atreyu
Joan Osbourne - One of Us (Artemis)
David Pajo - Pajo (Drag City) new from the Slint, Tortoise, and Zwan guitarist
Michael Penn - Mr. Hollywood Jr. 1947 (Mimeograph/SpinART) with guests Aimee Mann and The Jayhawk's Gary Louris
The Posies - Every Kind of Light (Rykodisc) all new
Mike Portnoy - Prime Cuts (Magna Carta) anthology from the Liquid Tension Experiment drummer
T. Raumschmiere - "Sick Like Me" (Mute) new single
Scary Kids Scaring Kids - The City Sleeps in Flames (Immortal) look for bonus EP and DVDs at select retailers
Shindig - When Words Aren't Enough (Undecided) acoustic CD EP from Richie Ray
The Soviettes - LP III (Fat Wreck) featuring the roller-derby anthem "Roller Girls"
Sonny Stitt - Just the Way It Was: Live at the Left Bank (Hyena)
String Cheese Incident - One Step Closer (SCI Fidelity) featuring a bonus behind-the-scenes DVD in the first pressing
Throw Rag - 13 Ft. & Rising (BYO) with guests Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys
TSAR - Band-Girls-Money (TVT) hot buzz on this glam-pop heard now in advertisements for Napster and Nestle Crunch bars
Patricia Vonne - Guitars & Castanets (CoraZong) hot off the big screen in Sin City in the role of Dallas, this seductive beauty spins a slick Tex-Mex mix with guests Charlie Sexton and Jon Dee Graham
Jeff Wayne - Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of War of the Worlds (Columbia Legacy) timed for the new film version staring Tom Cruise, this "rock-opera" reissue from 1978 features Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues, and actor Richard Burton
Keller Williams - Sight (Sci-Fidelity) DVD filmed at Mr. Smalls in Pittsburgh
World Leader Pretend - Punches (Warner Bros)
Ying Yang Twins - U.S.A.: United State of Atlanta (TVT) with guests Anthony Hamilton and Lil Jon
Adrienne Young - The Art of Virtue (Addiebelle/Ryko)