18
Apr
2007
Patti Smith and Lou Reed - two grandparents of punk - have seriously mellowed out and are releasing surprisingly mature new works next week.
In the world of outsider audio and what's dubbed "incredibly strange music," one lone, haunted figure stands tall above the rest: Joe Meek, turning the traditional studio-recording environment of the 1960s upside down in England with flair, obsession, and wackiness that crossed elements of Ed Wood with Phil Spector. As a clever boy who dissected radios and other early electronics, Meek turned his creative energy into a career as an independent producer free of the stodgy, copycat, high-fidelity desires of in-house record-company studios.
XTC co-founder Andy Partridge gets his freak wiggle on next week in a loose, layered, free-form two-CD set that reunites him with an old mate from his heady new-wave days. Released on his own boutique label, Ape House Records, Monstrance is an improvised, instrumental three-man roundtable, with original XTC keyboardist Barry Andrews and the drummer from his own Shriekback concoction, Martyn Barker.
Turntable purists have a friend in Coldplay, as next week the band releases an import-only box set of singles on vinyl but not CD. Entitled simply The Singles 1999-2006, the 15 seven-inch records in the Parlophone project feature plenty of live B sides and the hard-to-find Blue Room EP split into two singles.
Bringing back memories of the warm scent from an Easy Bake Oven, Cake is prepping a new CD that features "scratch and sniff" fun in the disc's limited edition. Releasing B-Sides & Rarities on their own at (
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters is making a rare soundtrack appearance later month, contributing a new, original song - "Hello (I Love You)" - to the New Line soundtrack to The Last Mimzy. The sci-fi tale of siblings finding a strange box of toys opens later this month, with a score by Lord of the Rings composer Howard Shore.
It's all kilts, libraries, and rock 'n' roll in a new disc that pairs hip Scottish musicians and hip Scottish writers. Next week Chemikal Underground Records releases Ballads of the Book, a CD conceived by Roddy Woomble of Idlewild after working with author Edwin Morgan on the band's Remote Part album. While I must admit I'm not familiar with the literary pedigrees of each of these 18 collaborations, the music side of the page includes Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band, Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap, Norman Blake, King Creosote, The Trashcan Sinatras, and Vashti Bunyan.
Two hit CDs from last year are getting the expanded "deluxe edition" reissue treatment this Tuesday. Warner Bros. Records hopes customers come 'round a second time for the Goo Goo Dolls' Let Love In, now featuring a bonus live DVD and acoustic versions of "Better Days" and "We'll Be Here (When You're Gone)." An avalanche of goodies makes Beck's The Information three-disc reissue worth spending time with, featuring tracks only found as international B sides; a CD of remixes by Bumblebeez, Jamie Lidell, and David Andrew Sitek of TV on the Radio; and a DVD of all Beck's homemade videos for the album, as well as Michel Gondry's video for "Cell Phone's Dead."
All hail the great soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone! Not familiar? I'll bet a few bars of the themes from The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly or Once Upon a Time in the West are all you'll need to connect to his hypnotic genius, and you're in good company. Next Tuesday Sony Music's classical division will release a new tribute album, We All Love Ennio Morricone, featuring artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion,and Yo-Yo Ma alongside pop stars covering some of his most memorable tunes. Five years in the making to clear through all the multi-label paperwork, highlights include Quincy Jones & Herbie Hancock putting a new face on "The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly," Roger Waters' take on "Lost Boys Calling," Bruce Springsteen's run through "Once Upon a Time in the West," and Metallica putting "The Ecstasy of Gold" from The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly through its crucible.Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts
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