· 'Tis the season for publishing companies to offer up a tall stack of terrific music-oriented books - easy to wrap as gifts, and deeper than the E! True Hollywood Story. Backbeat Books has just issued Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock 1970-1982, now featuring a bonus 24-track CD of interviews with Stiv Bators, Gary Numan, XTC, Oingo Boingo, DEVO, The Cult, and many more with the author, George Gimarc. This new expanded edition nearly tops 750 pages as a day-by-day history of surprising anecdotes, recording-session info, tour dates, and press scoops concerning every band that ever mattered from the era, and them some. What's so amazing is how fresh everything was back then, as punk broke down the walls of music and commerce, and there were still new sounds and styles to be created. For those who remember pouring over issues of England's NME or Sounds magazines and dreaming of the unimaginable concerts listed weekly in their back pages, opening this book anywhere and poking a digit on the page is a serious "wow" moment, peppered with album and single cover art, gig posters, buttons, and newspaper ads.

· The tasty Warman's brand has issued another small but mighty book in its Field Guide series, but unlike the bird and wildlife guides of the past, these one-inch-thick pocket pals are all about identifying the rarest species of rock 'n' roll animal and his elusive droppings. At over 500 pages, the new KISS Collectibles Field Guide is a glossy, extensively researched tour of more than 1,500 listings, including Johnny Lightning cars, pajamas, neckties, international magazines, and every unique variation of records and CDs released worldwide. Not known for saying no to a crazy promotional novelty, the band's memorabilia history is revealed in a bonus interview with band manager Bill Aucoin.

· A nifty gift for the working musician on your list is Fox Tax Service's Creative Tax Planner, posing as a black-leather, three-ring, zippered day planner but focused on collecting all those pesky details such as advertising and touring expenditures, the rent for band rehearsal space, and other pluses and minuses of making a business out of your art. Written and designed specifically to guide musicians and artists on how they can get organized and get refunds, the tips and entry pages are laid out so smoothly that even all those years of daydreaming in math class over your band's bitchin' logo won't come back to haunt you. Are all your receipts in a jumble of quarter-inch jacks and duct tape? No problem, as half the smartly styled "man-purse" is a zip-tight compartment for all such papers, separating then like a giant coupon organizer.

· Next week's column will feature more required rock 'n' roll reading, with Tom Petty, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, and the search for Kurt Cobain's Stratocaster!

Television Alert:

This evening The White Stripes drop by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; The Tonight Show with Jay Leno hosts Brian Wilson on Tuesday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien rolls the Magic Numbers this evening overnight, Billy Joel on Thursday overnight, The White Stripes on Friday overnight, and Patti Smith on Tuesday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly boasts Juliette & the Licks this evening overnight, Liz Phair on Thursday overnight, David Gray on Monday overnight, and O.A.R. on Tuesday overnight; Jimmy Kimmel Live presents Beck on Friday overnight and Floetry on Monday overnight; and Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is James Blunt.

New Releases Coming Tuesday, July 19:

... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.


Tori Amos - The Original Bootlegs (Epic) collecting six live concert CDs from her recent spring and fall solo tours in a new box set, with lots of interesting cover choices, from A Flock of Seagulls' "I Ran" and Aerosmith's "Dream On" to Jules Shear's "All Through the Night" and Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer"

Jon Anderson & Guests - In Elven Lands: The Fellowship (United States of Distribution) long-awaited release of these sessions from 1999, as the Yes founder created vinya songs for the linyenwa souls gathered around the tree of J.R.R. Tolkien, sung in Elvish, English, and early Anglo-Saxon - including a cover of Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore"

Kevin Ayers - The BBC Sessions 1970-1976 (Hux) two-CD set featuring guests Elton John, Andy Summers, Robert Wyatt, Lol Coxhill, and Mike Oldfield

Bauhaus - Shadow of Light/Archive (Beggars Banquet) first time on DVD for these two previously VHS-only titles

Pier Bucci - Familia (Crosstown Rebels) debut of percolating minimalist techno from Chile

Cat Power - "The Greatest" (Matador) new seven-inch single

Eminem - Curtain Call: The Hits (Interscope) with two new songs

Ben Folds - Live in Perth (Epic) DVD of his two-night stand at Kings Park in Australia with the 83-piece Western Australia Symphony Orchestra

Funkmaster Flex - Funkmaster Flex Car Show (Koch) CD and DVD package with guests Mike Jones, David Banner, Cam'ron, Sheek Louch, and Paul Wall

The Gunshy - Souls (Latest Flame) whisky toasts and nicotine-stained last gasps in the melancholy smog of American Gothic confessions, darkly lit in the vein of Tom Waits and Shane McGowan

Jazzanova - Remixes 2002-2005 (Sonar Kollektiv) reworkings from the Berlin DJ collaborative

Billy Joel - My Lives (Columbia Legacy) four-CD-plus-DVD box set packed with rarities, including a duet with Elton John on "You May Be Right," the Vietnam-vet version of "Goodnight Saigon," and the original "Piano Man" demo

Korn - See You on the Other Side (Virgin) featuring the single "Twisted Translator"

Kraftwerk - Minimum Maximum (Astralwerks) two-DVD live set from the group's recent world tour, also available in a deluxe edition "laptop-computer styled box" with two bonus CDs and a hardbound 88-page book featuring photos, stage design, and tour info

Ray LaMontagne - Live from Bonnaroo 2005 (RCA) EP featuring the previously unreleased "Empty"

New Order - Singles (Rhino) two-CD set featuring a remix of "Temptation" by Secret Machines

New York Dolls - All Dolled Up (Music Video Distributors) DVD featuring early video footage shot by rock photographer Bob Gruen

P.O.D. - Testify (Atlantic) with guests Gwen Stefani, Matisyahu, B-Real of Cypress Hill, and Jonathan Davis of Korn

Shooting at Unarmed Men - Soon There Will Be Shooting at Unarmed Men (Too Pure) new from Jon Chapple of Mclusky

Sonic Youth - Koncertas Stan Brakhage Prisiminimui (SYR/Smells Like Records) live with percussionist Tim Barnes at this benefit concert for the Anthology Film Archives in 2003

The White Stripes - "Walking With a Ghost" (V2) CD EP featuring the title track by Tegan & Sara, and four live selections

various artists - Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album 2005 (Nonesuch) raising funds for Habitat for Humanity, the 16 tracks feature Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, Randy Newman, Dr. John, and the Wild Magnolias

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