This Tuesday Michelle Shocked accomplishes a mighty feat with her very own Mighty Sound Records label - releasing three individual new CDs on the same day. Each album is a treat on its own merits, yet they tie together nicely for Shocked, who has come a long way since her picnic-bench-and-a-Walkman sessions in 1986.
First up is Don't Ask Don't Tell, a straight-ahead rock album, showcasing a real lyrical talent and reflective wisdom. Smart, soulful, lush, spooky, and deep, one hot spot is the slick telling of a fox-and-rabbit tale in "Don't Ask," with Rich Armstrong painting a slithering chill in muted trumpet swells. Shocked reveals her dramatic command of Spanish in Mexican Standoff, a bilingual salsa of sad horns and cantina heartbreak. Partially produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, the rich CD features guests Pete Thomas of Elvis Costello's Attractions and Max Baca of Los Super Seven. My favorite is the third CD, the blissful Got No Strings and its 10 new interpretations of Walt Disney classics in a Western-swing style. From the peppy "Give a Little Whistle" to the moonglow still of "When You Wish Upon a Star," each song is a security blanket of kindness, served with the twang of Western hospitality. Other highlights include the upturned Crayola box of "Spectrum" and the sage advice of "Bare Necessities" from 1967.
· Beatles fanatics who go out scouting Saturday-morning garage sales in search of elusive vintage collectibles shouldn't forget a new collector's guide, Warman's Beatles Field Guide. While compact in size, at just over four by five inches and an inch think, this tidy tome from KP Books is a colorful wonderland of all things Fab Four to covet. Packed with cover sleeves to rare seven-inch singles, label-art deviations, and photographs of rare toys and novelties, the guide gives detailed background information, dollar values, and how to spot a counterfeit - with 14 pages alone devoted to the minute details in pressings of 1964's Introducing the Beatles LP.
Television Alert:
The Late Show with David Letterman welcomes the Shout Out Louds tonight and Foo Fighters on Monday; The Tonight Show with Jay Leno hosts Kelly Osbourne on Friday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien serves up Black Eyed Peas on Friday overnight and Brendan Benson on Monday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson boasts Angie Stone on Friday overnight and Kaiser Chiefs on Tuesday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly chats up Ben Folds this evening overnight and American Hi-Fi on Thursday overnight; Jimmy Kimmel Live features the John Butler Trio on Tuesday overnight; and the Today show's summer concert series wakes up with the Backstreet Boys on Friday morning.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, June 14:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
The 101ers - Elgin Avenue Breakdown: Revisited (Astralwerks) first-time issue of these original sessions from Joe Strummer's pre-Clash pub-rock band
Backstreet Boys - Never Gone (Jive) with guests Boyz II Men
Ben Human - The Out of Towner (Unique) autobiographical solo project from Ben Addison, formerly of Corduroy
Bosque Brown - Bosque Brown Plays Mara Lee Miller (Burnt Toast) fragile, sleepy-eyed vocalist stirring that Texas lonesome pine
Campbell Brothers - Can You Feel It? (Rope-a-Dope) smokin', scorching blues-rock boogie fueled by lap and pedal-steel guitars; featuring a cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and producer/guest organist John Medeski
Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell - Begonias (Yep Roc) terrific duets collection with a classic country soul, featuring covers of Percy Sledge's hit "Warm & Tender Love" and the Ray Charles & Betty Carter nugget "Please Break My Heart"
Cipher - Children of God's Fire (Uprising) political nu-metal with guest MF Doom on "Verse Vs. the Virus"
Harry Connick, Jr. - Occasion (Rounder) collection of duos with Branford Marsalis
Ry Cooder - Chavez Ravine (Nonesuch) character-driven musical history of the vibrant Chicano community razed in the 1950s to create Dodger Stadium
Dark New Day - Twelve Year Silence (Warner Bros.) featuring former members of Stereomud, Sevendust, and Skrape; on tour now with Seether and Crossfade
Dressy Bessy - Electrified (Transdreamer) ultra-cool indie glee from Denver, also available on vinyl LP
Embrace - Out of Nothing (Lava) domestic release of this UK smash, produced by Youth and sporting the single "Gravity," written by Chris Martin of Coldplay
Fat Joe - All or Nothing (Atlantic) with guest Nelly on "Get It Poppin'"
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor (RCA) two-CD set with guests Norah Jones and John Paul Jones
Funeral for a Friend - Hours (Atlantic) also available in a CD-plus-DVD package
Robert Gordon- Satisfied Mind (Koch) new album featuring covers of songs by Jerry Reed, The Hollies, and Don Gibson
Hopewell - Hopewell & the Birds of Appetite (Tee Pee) fronted by Jason Russo, formerly of Mercury Rev
Indigo Girls - Rarities (Epic) featuring a remix by Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, covers of The Clash's "Clampdown" and the Grateful Dead's "Uncle John's Band," and guests Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Ani DiFranco
Eric Johnson - Bloom (Favored Nations) featuring a cover of Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages," and guests Adrian Legg and Shawn Colvin
Janis Joplin - Pearl: Legacy Edition (Columbia Legacy) expanded to two CDs with live tracks from the 1970 Festival Express Canadian tour
Kid Icarus - The Metal West (Summersteps) the group's third album of fuzzy, wind-out pop psychedelia
Gabby La La - Be Careful What You Wish for (Prawn Song)
Daniel Lanois - Rockets (daniellanois.com) collection of live and studio outtakes
Life of Agony - Broken Valley (Epic) performing on this summer's upcoming Gigantour with Megadeth
Lungfish - Feral Hymns (Dischord) celebrating 17 years together
Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill: Acoustic (Maverick) available exclusively at Starbucks now through the month of July
No Use For a Name - Keep Them Confused (Fat Wreck) featured on the main stage of this year's Vans Warped Tour
Orange Peels - Circling the Sun (Parasol) the group's third album of sweeping, sunny, glittery pop
The Pernice Brothers - Discover a Lovelier You (Ashmont) with guests Ric Menck and Blake Hazard
Pras - Win, Lose, or Draw (Universal) second solo album from the Fugees co-founder, featuring a cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for"
Saint Etienne - Tales from Turnpike House (Mantra/Sanctuary) featuring guest vocalist David Essex, and a bonus six-track CD in the first 1,000 copies of what's leaked to be "parent-friendly children's songs" such as "Let's Build a Zoo" and "Night Owl"
Static-X - Start a War (Warner Bros) with new guitarist Koichi Fukuda
The Tears - Here Come the Tears (Independiente) import-only CD debut from Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler of Suede
Vetiver - Between (DiCristina Stair Builders) five-track CD EP featuring a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Save a Place"
Carl Weingarten - Local Journeys (Multiphase) ethereal instrumental guitar work with bassist Michael Manring
Lizz Wright - Dreaming Wide Awake (Verve Forecast) featuring guest Bill Frisell and covers of The Youngblood's "Get Together," Neil Young's "Old Man," the Beatles' hit "A Taste of Honey"
Dwight Yoakam - Blame the Vain (Via/New West)
various artists - 4 Women No Cry (Monika) fantastic debut of this new annual series exposing four female artists to the world, this time from Buenos Aires, Vienna, Paris, and Tblisi
· Beatles fanatics who go out scouting Saturday-morning garage sales in search of elusive vintage collectibles shouldn't forget a new collector's guide, Warman's Beatles Field Guide. While compact in size, at just over four by five inches and an inch think, this tidy tome from KP Books is a colorful wonderland of all things Fab Four to covet. Packed with cover sleeves to rare seven-inch singles, label-art deviations, and photographs of rare toys and novelties, the guide gives detailed background information, dollar values, and how to spot a counterfeit - with 14 pages alone devoted to the minute details in pressings of 1964's Introducing the Beatles LP.
Television Alert:
The Late Show with David Letterman welcomes the Shout Out Louds tonight and Foo Fighters on Monday; The Tonight Show with Jay Leno hosts Kelly Osbourne on Friday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien serves up Black Eyed Peas on Friday overnight and Brendan Benson on Monday overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson boasts Angie Stone on Friday overnight and Kaiser Chiefs on Tuesday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly chats up Ben Folds this evening overnight and American Hi-Fi on Thursday overnight; Jimmy Kimmel Live features the John Butler Trio on Tuesday overnight; and the Today show's summer concert series wakes up with the Backstreet Boys on Friday morning.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, June 14:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
The 101ers - Elgin Avenue Breakdown: Revisited (Astralwerks) first-time issue of these original sessions from Joe Strummer's pre-Clash pub-rock band
Backstreet Boys - Never Gone (Jive) with guests Boyz II Men
Ben Human - The Out of Towner (Unique) autobiographical solo project from Ben Addison, formerly of Corduroy
Bosque Brown - Bosque Brown Plays Mara Lee Miller (Burnt Toast) fragile, sleepy-eyed vocalist stirring that Texas lonesome pine
Campbell Brothers - Can You Feel It? (Rope-a-Dope) smokin', scorching blues-rock boogie fueled by lap and pedal-steel guitars; featuring a cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and producer/guest organist John Medeski
Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell - Begonias (Yep Roc) terrific duets collection with a classic country soul, featuring covers of Percy Sledge's hit "Warm & Tender Love" and the Ray Charles & Betty Carter nugget "Please Break My Heart"
Cipher - Children of God's Fire (Uprising) political nu-metal with guest MF Doom on "Verse Vs. the Virus"
Harry Connick, Jr. - Occasion (Rounder) collection of duos with Branford Marsalis
Ry Cooder - Chavez Ravine (Nonesuch) character-driven musical history of the vibrant Chicano community razed in the 1950s to create Dodger Stadium
Dark New Day - Twelve Year Silence (Warner Bros.) featuring former members of Stereomud, Sevendust, and Skrape; on tour now with Seether and Crossfade
Dressy Bessy - Electrified (Transdreamer) ultra-cool indie glee from Denver, also available on vinyl LP
Embrace - Out of Nothing (Lava) domestic release of this UK smash, produced by Youth and sporting the single "Gravity," written by Chris Martin of Coldplay
Fat Joe - All or Nothing (Atlantic) with guest Nelly on "Get It Poppin'"
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor (RCA) two-CD set with guests Norah Jones and John Paul Jones
Funeral for a Friend - Hours (Atlantic) also available in a CD-plus-DVD package
Robert Gordon- Satisfied Mind (Koch) new album featuring covers of songs by Jerry Reed, The Hollies, and Don Gibson
Hopewell - Hopewell & the Birds of Appetite (Tee Pee) fronted by Jason Russo, formerly of Mercury Rev
Indigo Girls - Rarities (Epic) featuring a remix by Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, covers of The Clash's "Clampdown" and the Grateful Dead's "Uncle John's Band," and guests Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and Ani DiFranco
Eric Johnson - Bloom (Favored Nations) featuring a cover of Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages," and guests Adrian Legg and Shawn Colvin
Janis Joplin - Pearl: Legacy Edition (Columbia Legacy) expanded to two CDs with live tracks from the 1970 Festival Express Canadian tour
Kid Icarus - The Metal West (Summersteps) the group's third album of fuzzy, wind-out pop psychedelia
Gabby La La - Be Careful What You Wish for (Prawn Song)
Daniel Lanois - Rockets (daniellanois.com) collection of live and studio outtakes
Life of Agony - Broken Valley (Epic) performing on this summer's upcoming Gigantour with Megadeth
Lungfish - Feral Hymns (Dischord) celebrating 17 years together
Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill: Acoustic (Maverick) available exclusively at Starbucks now through the month of July
No Use For a Name - Keep Them Confused (Fat Wreck) featured on the main stage of this year's Vans Warped Tour
Orange Peels - Circling the Sun (Parasol) the group's third album of sweeping, sunny, glittery pop
The Pernice Brothers - Discover a Lovelier You (Ashmont) with guests Ric Menck and Blake Hazard
Pras - Win, Lose, or Draw (Universal) second solo album from the Fugees co-founder, featuring a cover of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for"
Saint Etienne - Tales from Turnpike House (Mantra/Sanctuary) featuring guest vocalist David Essex, and a bonus six-track CD in the first 1,000 copies of what's leaked to be "parent-friendly children's songs" such as "Let's Build a Zoo" and "Night Owl"
Static-X - Start a War (Warner Bros) with new guitarist Koichi Fukuda
The Tears - Here Come the Tears (Independiente) import-only CD debut from Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler of Suede
Vetiver - Between (DiCristina Stair Builders) five-track CD EP featuring a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Save a Place"
Carl Weingarten - Local Journeys (Multiphase) ethereal instrumental guitar work with bassist Michael Manring
Lizz Wright - Dreaming Wide Awake (Verve Forecast) featuring guest Bill Frisell and covers of The Youngblood's "Get Together," Neil Young's "Old Man," the Beatles' hit "A Taste of Honey"
Dwight Yoakam - Blame the Vain (Via/New West)
various artists - 4 Women No Cry (Monika) fantastic debut of this new annual series exposing four female artists to the world, this time from Buenos Aires, Vienna, Paris, and Tblisi
