25
Sep
2001
· This coming Monday, October 1, the TNT cable channel will broadcast the much-anticipated John Lennon tribute concert live from New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The event was originally scheduled for this past week, but the horrific events of September 11 put the honor on hold, and it has now emerged with additional artists and renamed Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words & Music, Dedicated to New York City & Its People.
Hosted by actor Kevin Spacey with musical director Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, the celebration of Lennon's message of life and dignity could not come at a more significant time. Artists scheduled to perform the Lennon song that's touched them the most include Lou Reed, Beck, Moby, Alanis Morissette, Cyndi Lauper, Dave Matthews, the Isley Brothers, Marc Anthony, Nelly Furtado, Shelby Lynne, Stone Temple Pilots, and Yolanda Adams. The concert's revenues will benefit a number of charity and relief efforts.
· While pondering a fresh position as musical free agent after its recent separation from the major-label stables, Wilco isn't letting fans pine away for the band's finished yet unreleased new album. The set, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, is available free for the listening on the band's official Web site (http://www.wilcoweb.com). A streamed version of the album in its entirety is offered up for your extended visit. The band also launched a 13-date U.S. tour this past Friday that will run through the first week in October.
· Billy Bragg & His Blokes can be found this coming Tuesday in good company, singing songs for children, in Daddy O Daddy: The Rare Family Songs of Woody Guthrie. The Rounder Records set features songs including "Little Sack of Sugar," "Want to Watch Me Grow," and "Tippy Tap Toe" performed by Taj Mahal, Syd Straw, Cissy Houston (Whitney's mother), Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and former Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman Kim Wilson.
· The fantastic Poptones label from the UK has just released a stellar seven-inch single from the new group Sing-Sing. The band features former Lush guitarist/songwriter Emma Anderson and will issue the debut album The Joy of Sing-Sing later this year.
· This week, one of the most scandalous moments in musical-collage/art-damage history promises to sneak back into hip record stores. Journey back with me, please, to the dada daze of the cultural subversive-audio-manipulation "group" Negativeland, issuing a radical brand of radio hijinks and "found" recordings on the then-powerful SST label. In 1991, the band released the U2 CD extended-play single, never knowing the firestorm of lawsuits and backbiting that would follow. The CD featured the soon-to-be-notorious mix of a dub version of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," kazoo, and an uncensored bootleg recording of American Top 40's Casey Kasem ranting and raving, "That's the letter U and the number two." The sublime juxtaposition of the super-smooth Kasem in full meltdown, letting loose a stream of goofy profanities, over the song's tearful dedication to a little dead dog in Cincinnati named Snuffles is pure prankster magic. Enter the lawyers and, well, game over - except for shelling out deep cash for one on Ebay that survived the court-ordered recall and destruction of all known copies. Now 10 years later, Negativeland's label, Seeland Records, has announced that a mysterious production of brown-wrapper CDs are floating in the mist, entitled These Guys Are from England & Who Gives a Shit, promising the re-introduction of this and other suppressed material. After the Napster unraveling, who says that Seeland's founding motto - "Copyright infringement is your best entertainment value" - wasn't eerily prophetic?
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Train tonight; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts rapscallions Tenacious D tonight and Elton John on Monday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien features guest Robert Earl Keen on Friday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn host hot UK duo Turrin Brakes on Monday overnight; and Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is Alicia Keys.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, October 2:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
ABC - Lexicon of Love (Mercury) expanded reissue of this lush new-wave classic heartbreaker
Alta May - We as in Us (Glazed) featuring former members of The Fluid, Spell, and Cold Crank
Angelic Upstarts - Live from the Justice League (TKO) recorded earlier this year and featuring covers of songs by The Clash and Sham 69
Victoria Beckham - Victoria Beckham (Virgin) debut solo album from the former Posh Spice
Beenie Man - Youth Quake (Artist's Only)
Boilermaker - Leucadia (Better Looking Records)
Bully - original motion picture soundtrack (OCF Entertainment) music from the new Larry Clark film featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard, Sen Dog, Ghetto Inmates, Fatboy Slim, and Tricky
Chimaira - Pass Out of Existence (Roadrunner) featuring Jason Hager of Ascension
Dinosaur Jr. - Ear Bleeding Country (Rhino) best-of collection
DJ Irene - Globalhouse Diva 2: Live n Ibiza (Strictly Hype)
Donovan - Greatest Hits Live (Varese Sarabande) all acoustic from Vancouver in 1986
Erase Erratta - Other Animals (Troubleman) from San Francisco
Flyte Reaction - Sensilla (Woronzow/Rubric) domestic release on Bevis Frond's UK label
Garbage - Beautiful Garbage (Interscope)
Graham Central Station - The Jam: Larry Graham & The Graham Central Station (Rhino) best-of from the funk bass master
Pat Haney - Ghost of Things to Come (Freefalls) tremendous second album from this Americana troubadour
Billie Holiday - Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (Columbia Legacy) 10-CD box set packaged like a 78-RPM record album covering the years 1933-1944
Ja Rule - Pain Is Love (Def Jam)
Elton John - Songs from the West Coast (Universal) with collaboration with longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin and guest Rufus Wainwright
Machine Head - Supercharger (Roadrunner)
Medicine Ball - Fresh Ape (Rubric) homespun punk psychedelica from Providence, Rhode Island
Oysterhead - The Grand Pecking Order (Elektra) long-awaited monster-jam trio consisting of Les Claypool of Primus, Trey Anastasio of Phish, and Stewart Copeland of The Police
Red Monkey - Gunpowder, Treason, & Plot (Troubleman)
Reds - It's About Time (Rip Off)
The Rembrandts - Lost Together (J-Bird) all new from the duo best known for their Friends TV show theme
Reubans Accomplice - I Blame the Scenery (Better Looking Records)
Rocket - 7 Miles High (Catapult)
Seaworthy - The Ride (Jetset) solo side project from Josh Mckay of Macha
Soilent Green - A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down (Relapse) hard and heavy Louisiana sludge metal
Tina & The Total Babes - She's So Tuff (Sympathy for the Record Industry) featuring Tina Lucchesi, drummer of The Trashwomen and the Bobbyteens
various artists - Say It Loud! Black Music in America (Rhino) soundtrack to the documentary series
various artists - Sexykinkyjazzysmooth: A Tribute to Prince (Vitamin) with lounge kings Gringo Floyd, Jim McMillen, and Solomon Burke Jr.
various artists - Third Eye Open: A String Tribute to Tool (Vitamin)
· While pondering a fresh position as musical free agent after its recent separation from the major-label stables, Wilco isn't letting fans pine away for the band's finished yet unreleased new album. The set, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, is available free for the listening on the band's official Web site (http://www.wilcoweb.com). A streamed version of the album in its entirety is offered up for your extended visit. The band also launched a 13-date U.S. tour this past Friday that will run through the first week in October.
· Billy Bragg & His Blokes can be found this coming Tuesday in good company, singing songs for children, in Daddy O Daddy: The Rare Family Songs of Woody Guthrie. The Rounder Records set features songs including "Little Sack of Sugar," "Want to Watch Me Grow," and "Tippy Tap Toe" performed by Taj Mahal, Syd Straw, Cissy Houston (Whitney's mother), Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and former Fabulous Thunderbirds frontman Kim Wilson.
· The fantastic Poptones label from the UK has just released a stellar seven-inch single from the new group Sing-Sing. The band features former Lush guitarist/songwriter Emma Anderson and will issue the debut album The Joy of Sing-Sing later this year.
· This week, one of the most scandalous moments in musical-collage/art-damage history promises to sneak back into hip record stores. Journey back with me, please, to the dada daze of the cultural subversive-audio-manipulation "group" Negativeland, issuing a radical brand of radio hijinks and "found" recordings on the then-powerful SST label. In 1991, the band released the U2 CD extended-play single, never knowing the firestorm of lawsuits and backbiting that would follow. The CD featured the soon-to-be-notorious mix of a dub version of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," kazoo, and an uncensored bootleg recording of American Top 40's Casey Kasem ranting and raving, "That's the letter U and the number two." The sublime juxtaposition of the super-smooth Kasem in full meltdown, letting loose a stream of goofy profanities, over the song's tearful dedication to a little dead dog in Cincinnati named Snuffles is pure prankster magic. Enter the lawyers and, well, game over - except for shelling out deep cash for one on Ebay that survived the court-ordered recall and destruction of all known copies. Now 10 years later, Negativeland's label, Seeland Records, has announced that a mysterious production of brown-wrapper CDs are floating in the mist, entitled These Guys Are from England & Who Gives a Shit, promising the re-introduction of this and other suppressed material. After the Napster unraveling, who says that Seeland's founding motto - "Copyright infringement is your best entertainment value" - wasn't eerily prophetic?
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Train tonight; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts rapscallions Tenacious D tonight and Elton John on Monday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien features guest Robert Earl Keen on Friday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn host hot UK duo Turrin Brakes on Monday overnight; and Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is Alicia Keys.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, October 2:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
ABC - Lexicon of Love (Mercury) expanded reissue of this lush new-wave classic heartbreaker
Alta May - We as in Us (Glazed) featuring former members of The Fluid, Spell, and Cold Crank
Angelic Upstarts - Live from the Justice League (TKO) recorded earlier this year and featuring covers of songs by The Clash and Sham 69
Victoria Beckham - Victoria Beckham (Virgin) debut solo album from the former Posh Spice
Beenie Man - Youth Quake (Artist's Only)
Boilermaker - Leucadia (Better Looking Records)
Bully - original motion picture soundtrack (OCF Entertainment) music from the new Larry Clark film featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard, Sen Dog, Ghetto Inmates, Fatboy Slim, and Tricky
Chimaira - Pass Out of Existence (Roadrunner) featuring Jason Hager of Ascension
Dinosaur Jr. - Ear Bleeding Country (Rhino) best-of collection
DJ Irene - Globalhouse Diva 2: Live n Ibiza (Strictly Hype)
Donovan - Greatest Hits Live (Varese Sarabande) all acoustic from Vancouver in 1986
Erase Erratta - Other Animals (Troubleman) from San Francisco
Flyte Reaction - Sensilla (Woronzow/Rubric) domestic release on Bevis Frond's UK label
Garbage - Beautiful Garbage (Interscope)
Graham Central Station - The Jam: Larry Graham & The Graham Central Station (Rhino) best-of from the funk bass master
Pat Haney - Ghost of Things to Come (Freefalls) tremendous second album from this Americana troubadour
Billie Holiday - Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (Columbia Legacy) 10-CD box set packaged like a 78-RPM record album covering the years 1933-1944
Ja Rule - Pain Is Love (Def Jam)
Elton John - Songs from the West Coast (Universal) with collaboration with longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin and guest Rufus Wainwright
Machine Head - Supercharger (Roadrunner)
Medicine Ball - Fresh Ape (Rubric) homespun punk psychedelica from Providence, Rhode Island
Oysterhead - The Grand Pecking Order (Elektra) long-awaited monster-jam trio consisting of Les Claypool of Primus, Trey Anastasio of Phish, and Stewart Copeland of The Police
Red Monkey - Gunpowder, Treason, & Plot (Troubleman)
Reds - It's About Time (Rip Off)
The Rembrandts - Lost Together (J-Bird) all new from the duo best known for their Friends TV show theme
Reubans Accomplice - I Blame the Scenery (Better Looking Records)
Rocket - 7 Miles High (Catapult)
Seaworthy - The Ride (Jetset) solo side project from Josh Mckay of Macha
Soilent Green - A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down (Relapse) hard and heavy Louisiana sludge metal
Tina & The Total Babes - She's So Tuff (Sympathy for the Record Industry) featuring Tina Lucchesi, drummer of The Trashwomen and the Bobbyteens
various artists - Say It Loud! Black Music in America (Rhino) soundtrack to the documentary series
various artists - Sexykinkyjazzysmooth: A Tribute to Prince (Vitamin) with lounge kings Gringo Floyd, Jim McMillen, and Solomon Burke Jr.
various artists - Third Eye Open: A String Tribute to Tool (Vitamin)
