Pink Floyd and Philosophy There's something to be said for those minds that tilt sideways and see mankind through the lens of Kant, Kierkegaard and Sartre. For eight years now the academics at Chicago's Open Court Publishing have wet their quills in the zeitgeist of modern icons in their Popular Culture & Philosophy series, dismantling everything from Quentin Tarantino and Monty Python to The Sopranos and the Atkins Diet. With previous volumes on Bob Dylan, U2, and the Grateful Dead, the book series has taken on the grandest of all rock bands, lifting Pink Floyd up for pontification in Aristotle's garden. Subtitled Careful With That Axiom, Eugene!, Pink Floyd & Philosophy is a heady 300-page rush of essays by 19 department chairs, professors, and freelancers.

Also just released in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary is a new biography, Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd by Mark Blake. From almost a hundred exclusive new interviews with friends, family, and those involved with every aspect of recording and touring, the full tale is told with a fresh perspective, culminating in the band's stunning 2005 performance in Hyde Park. Look for the 418-page hardcover from the Thunder's Mouth Press.

William Shatner is returning to stereo speakers near you. Backed by The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra with music by David Itkin, the Jewish Music Group has announced the release next month of Exodus: An Oratorio in Three Parts.

Next Tuesday Be Your Own Pet is serving up a series of limited-edition seven-inch singles, a week in advance of the group's upcoming album Get Awkward.

 

Television Alert

 

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno hosts Willie Nelson tonight, Herbie Hancock Thursday, The Hives Friday, and Sheryl Crow on Monday; The Late Show with David Letterman boasts British Sea Power on Tuesday; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tames Grizzly Bear on Thursday overnight; and Jimmy Kimmel Live features Coheed & Cambria this evening, Simple Plan on Thursday, and Cobra Starship on Tuesday overnight.

 

New Releases Coming Tuesday, March 11:

 

Kevin Ayers - The Unfairground (Gigantic) highly anticipated new album from the former member of Soft Machine, packed with guests Phil Manzanera, Hugh Hopper, and members of Teenage Fanclub, Architecture in Helsinki, and the Ladybug Transistor

The Black Hollies - Casting Shadows (Ernest Jennings) retro freak-beat bliss with the Rye Coalition's Jon Gonnelli and Herb Wiley on twin guitar

Cassettes Won't Listen - Small Time Machine (Cassettes Won't Listen) riding the huge buzz of his heavily download free covers EP, the melodic, laid-back electronic one-man-band Jason Drake offers up a free new remix each week, via his MySpace page

Carl Craig - Sessions (!K7 Records) two-CD career anthology of original compositions, remixes, and rare tracks

Del the Funky Homosapien - 11th Hour (Definitive Jux) all new with help from Opio of Souls of Mischief, KU, and J-Zone

Foals - "Cassius" (Transgressive) import-only CD single in advance of their upcoming Sub Pop release, Antidotes

Evangelista - Hello Voyager (Constellation) with guest Bonnie Raitt

Excepter - Debt Dept (Paw Tracks)

Fat Joe - The Elephant in the Room (Imperial) with guests Rick Ross, Fabolous, and Diddy

Dave Gahan - Hourglass: Remixes (Mute/Virgin) vinly-only DJ edition with mix masters Booka Shade, T. Raumschmiere, Kap10Kurt, and Onur Ozer, featuring a bonus CD tucked inside with three more tracks

PJ Harvey - "The Devil" (Island) performing later this month on Nigel Godrich's television experiment From the Basement; this import-only CD and seven-inch single features the B side "Liverpool Tide"

Collin Herring - Past Life Crashing (Collin Herring) the singer/songwriter's third album, reverberating from a few hard years since 2005's The Other Side of Kindness

Ill Niño - Enigma (Cement Shoes) recently on tour with Soil, Bury Your Dead, and Boboflex

Jaymay - Autumn Fallin' (Blue Note) all new after her residency at NYC's Living Room and touring with Elvis Perkins, Okkervil River, Bright Eyes, and Jose Gonzales

Junkie XL - Booning Back at You (Artwerk/Nettwerk) with guest vocalist Lauren Rockit on a cover of Siouxsie & the Banshees' "Cities in Dust"

Justice of the Unicorns - Angels with Uzis (Little Lamb) opening with an innocent calliope pipe organ and drifting into Apocalypse Now territory, this acid-folk collective under the crooked staff of Rusty Dungan delivers wonderful chills

Last November - Over the Top or Under the Weather (Southern Tracks) from Atlanta

Charles Lloyd - Rabo De Nube (ECM) turning 70 years old this week, his new CD was recorded live last year in Europe

The Morning Benders - "Waiting for a War" (+! Records Club) limited-edition seven-inch single

Van Morrison - Keep It Simple (Lost Highway) domestic issue of this UK chart-topper of 11 new songs

Saving Abel - Saving Abel (Virgin) featuring the single "Addicted"

Shawn Mullins - honeydew (Vanguard) a dozen new songs filled with character stories, cinematic images, tasty players, and guests Kasey Chambers and Francine Reed

The Photographic - Picture of a Changing World (Galaxia) whisper-to-a-waterfall instrumental duo from Louisville

The Presidents of the United States of America - These Are the Good Times People (Fugitive/EMI) look out for the video for the first single, "Mixed Up S.O.B.," directed by "Weird Al" Yankovic

Tristan Prettyman - Hello (Virgin) on tour now with G. Love & Special Sauce

Pride Tiger - The Lucky Ones (Caroline) featuring three former members of 3 Inches of Blood, this debut is high-fivin' basement party rock with its soul in the '70s

Saosin - Come Close (Capitol) live CD and DVD featuring the bonus acoustic rarity "Mookie's Last Christmas"

Snoop Dogg - Ego Trippin' (Doggystyle/Geffen) with producers DJ Quik, The Neptunes, and Teddy Riley

Judy Wexler - Dreams & Shadows (Jazzed Media) dynamite jazz vocalist selecting treasures by Blossom Dearie, Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello, and Victor Young

Wolfkin - Brand New Pants (Crunchy Frog)

Why? - Alopecia (Anticon)

The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle: 40th Anniversary Edition (Repertoire) import-only two-CD set with both mono and stereo versions and six bonus tracks

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