One
of the most beloved albums of the 1970s, Billy
Joel's
The Stranger,
get a labor-of-love reissue next week from Columbia Records' Legacy
imprint. Celebrating 30 years since its original release and double
Grammy win, the remastered edition is available in a book-style case
boasting a live CD recorded at Carnegie Hall from June 1977, and in a
special limited edition featuring a bonus DVD with promotional videos
for the album's title track and "Just the Way You Are," and 10
songs filmed for the BBC's Old
Grey Whistle Test
television show from the following March. Also looking back with a
"bottle of red, and a bottle of white" is a 30-minute documentary
on the DVD with Joel and producer Phil Ramone.
Yaz has reunited and will embark on a new tour this month in Las Vegas. Mute Records has collected both of its dance-floor party smashes, Upstairs at Eric's and You & Me Both, in a new four-disc box set, In Your Room, due this coming Tuesday. The remastered collection features 5.1-channel mixes to really get the room spinning, B sides, interviews, videos, and other treats. Also up is a domestic release of vocalist Alison Moyet's release from last year, The Turn, on the Decca label. Taking a bit of an >dith Piaf touch with tango rhythms and accordion waltzes, the album features three songs from her role in the stage play Smaller.
This coming Tuesday brings the soundtrack CD to the third season of Showtime's Weeds. While Randy Newman turns in his take on the show's opening theme, Malvina Reynolds' "Little Boxes," alongside tracks from The Dresden Dolls, Ween, and Great Lake Swimmers, a digital-only collection of 10 other versions of the theme song is also available from Lionsgate Records. Calling it the Little Boxes Dimebag, other artists putting their spin on the 1962 "new classic" include Billy Bob Thornton & the Boxmasters, Englebert Humperdinck, Rise Against, Kinky, Goat, and Angelique Kidjo.
Speaking of covers, 10 years ago when Me First & the Gimme Gimmes recorded the Have Another Ball! covers collection, a fistful of tracks from those original sessions was left on the shelf. Next week Fat Wreck Chords releases those "lost" tributes in Have Another Ball! The Unearthed A-Sides Album. AM radio pop standards include Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs," Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl" and John Denver's "Country Roads."
Television Alert
The Late Show with David Letterman welcomes Donna Summer tonight and Kid Rock on Monday; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson hosts John Hiatt on Thursday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly features Local H this evening and Cloud Cult on Thursday overnight; and The Ellen DeGeneres Show chats with Heart on Monday.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, July 8
A3 - Hits & Exit Wounds (One Little Indian) known as the Alabama 3 in their native England, this career retrospective is highlighted by their hit theme for The Sopranos, "Woke Up This Morning"
American Teen - original motion picture soundtrack (Almost Gold) with new music by The Ting Tings, Black Kids, and MGMT
Architecture in Helsinki - Places Like This (Polyvinyl) CD EP featuring Max Tundra and El Guincho remixes, and a cover of IQ's "Beef in Box"
Joseph Arthur - Foreign Girls (Lonely Astronaut) final CD in his four-EP series
Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell: Deluxe Edition (Epitaph) expanded reissue from last year, featuring a bonus seven-song acoustic CD EP and a DVD documentary
The Baseball Project - Volume1: Frozen Ropes & Dying Quails (Yep Roc) new from the all-star team of Steve Wynn of Dream Syndicate, Linda Pitmon of Golden Smog, Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, and Peter Buck of R.E.M., singing the praises of Ted Williams, Satchel Paige, Curt Flood, and Big Ed Delahanty
Beck - Modern Guilt (Geffen) produced by Danger Mouse, the 10-track album clocks in at about 30 minutes and features guest Cat Power on "Walls"
Black Devil Disco Club - Eight Oh Eight (Lo Recordings) six-track CD EP of trippy, down-the-rabbit-hole disco beats and underwater nightmare tour guides
The Black Ghosts - The Black Ghosts (I Am Sound) with guest Damon Albarn of Blur
David Bowie - Live in Santa Monica '72 (Virgin/EMI) long-out-of-print reissue of his first live American radio performance, featuring material from the Ziggy Stardust album and covers of the Velvet Underground's "Waiting for the Man" and Jacques Brel's "My Death"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Anti) recently awarded Best Album at the 2008 MOJO Honors in London, this special edition comes housed in a 46-page hardback book with photos and handwritten lyrics and a bonus three-inch CD single
Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (Vice) "fancier deluxe edition" of this dance-floor monster, featuring five videos and a second disc of pumping remixes by Crookers, Laidback Luke, MSTRKRFT, and Lifelike
Damon & Naomi - More Sad Hits (20/20/20) remastered reissue from 1992 from the Galaxie 500 co-founders
Dearestazazrl - Be Mine (One Eleven) progressive flights of fancy featuring opera-trained vocalist Peter Armstrong
Donna the Buffalo - Silverlined (Sugar Hill) with guests Béla Fleck, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, and Claire Lynch of the Front Porch String Band
Emarosa - Relativity (Rise Records) featuring Jonny Craig of Dance Gavin Dance
Feral Children - Second to Last (Sarathan) full-length debut from the Seattle band, featuring enigmatic songs "Jaundice Giraffe" and "Baby Joseph Stalin"
Albert Hammond Jr. - ¿Como Te Llama? (Black Seal/RCA) stunning, quizzical sophomore solo album from The Strokes guitarist, with guest pianist Sean Lennon and a string quartet
(Hed) P.E. - The DIY Guys (Suburban Noize) live CD and DVD set, with three bonus studio tracks
Beau Jennings - Beau Jennings & the Holy Tulsa Thunder (Murkville) solo debut from the Cheyenne frontman, backed by Ryan Lindsey of Starlight Mints and members of Sufjan Stevens' touring band
Matt Keating - Quixotic (Kealon) fantastic two-CD set from the terrific singer/songwriter, turning in 23 new songs that roll out like a comforting road trip with an old friend
The Melvins - Nude with Boots (Ipecac) with guitarist Jared Warren and drummer Cody Willis of Big Business
Mindless Self indulgence - "Pay For It"/"(It's Got) Issues"/"On It" (The End) three separate CD singles with remixes by KMFDM, Rhys Fulber, and VNV Nation
Moss - Sub Templum (Rise Above) thunderous, slow-rolling doom for lighting death-metal funeral pyres
Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis - Two Men with the Blues (Blue Note)
New Guitar Summit - Shivers (Stoney Plain) relaxed boogie-jazz guitar bliss from Jay Geils, Gerry Beaudoin, and Duke Robillard, with guest Randy Bachman on two Mose Allison covers
Sebadoh - Bubble & Scrape (Domino/Sub Pop) reissue from 1993, expanded to 32 tracks over two CDs, featuring a lengthy booklet and an acoustic demo of "Soul & Fire"
Ron Sexsmith - Exit Strategy of the Soul (Yep Roc) recorded in London and Havana, featuring his solo take on "Brandy Alexander," a song he co-wrote with Feist last year
Son Ambulance - Someone Else's Déjà Vu (Saddle Creek) like a modern day Paul Simon songbook of bus-window melodies, this dreamy, sunny indie pop from Joseph Knapp features members of The Faint and Tilly & the Wall
Street Dogs - State of Grace (Hellcat) featuring the song "The General's Boombox," in homage to Joe Strummer
Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances (Troubleman Unlimited) highly recommended, this young, energetic, and raw quintet channels The Clash and The Pogues with a touch of The Boss
Totimoshi - Milagrosa (Volcom) produced by Page Hamilton of Helmet
Ian Walsh - Please Remember (Plus 5 Records) 19-year-old surfer and Berklee College of Music student's debut, with guests from The Crash Motive
Wild Sweet Orange - We Have Cause to Be Uneasy (Canvasback)
Edgar Winter - Rebel Road (Airline) all new with guests Clint Black and Slash
Wire - Object 47 (Pink Flag) all new
