Forget all that Austin Powers nonsense and get truly psychedelic this coming Tuesday, as Snapper Records is releasing a rare, seminal documentary of the swinging London scene of the late 1960s. Now on DVD for the first time, Pink Floyd London 1966-1967 captures the band at its creation, with rare footage taken from Peter Whitehead's film Tonite Let's All Make Love in London. The sights and swirls of this "new Elizabethan" youth culture glow with blurred neon trails and slow-motion wig-outs under the colored lights and strobes. Abuzz with the sexual and pop-art revolutions, these club kids still danced to live music (!), with young men in suits trying to keep up with gyrating miniskirts and other groovy accoutrements on the dance floor. A friend of the band from Cambridge, Whitehead invited the then-unsigned group to a three-hour recording session - the band's very first - in hopes of producing original music for his film. Letting the cameras run in the recording studio, the band performs its first recorded version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and the new improvisational music for the session, entitled "Nick's Boogie." Another highlight is the band's performance at the "14-Hour Technicolor Dream" at Alexandria Place, documenting what is believed to be the night John Lennon met Yoko Ono. As a bonus, commentators Whitehead, Mick Jagger, artist David Hockney, and actor Michael Caine speak extensively about the swinging London underground of the day. More Pink Floyd rarities are found in another DVD just released by Basho Records and Eclectic DVD. A hard-to-find film from 1968, The Committee is a surreal black-and-white nugget of paranoia, featuring an emotionless, wandering young man who is chosen to participate in a "committee" at a tranquil, mysterious campus, doing as he is told, "to keep the system going." Staring Paul Jones of Manfred Mann as the young hitchhiker, the film's score was written and performed by Pink Floyd, never before released before in any format. One segment of the film is a tripped-out must-see - a metallic-masked Arthur Brown sporting an on-fire headpiece, freaking out a living-room gathering with a crazy performance of "Fire."

Television Alert:

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Supergrass on Thursday, Constantine Maroulis on Friday, and Liz Phair on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman boasts Hootie & the Blowfish on Friday and Beck on Tuesday; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson features Robert Plant on Friday overnight; Jimmy Kimmel Live bows down to the Queens of the Stone Age this Friday overnight; and Austin City Limits presents Sheryl Crow this weekend.

New Releases Coming Tuesday, October 5:

... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.


Fiona Apple- Extraordinary Machine (Epic)

Andy Bell- Electric Blue (Sanctuary) new solo album from the Erasure co-founder, featuring duets with Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters and Claudia Brucken of Propaganda

The Beta Band- The Best of (Astralwerks) two-CD collection featuring live tracks recorded last year at Shepherds Bush Empire

The Beta Band- Film: The Best of (Astralwerks) companion DVD featuring four short films and the video for "Squares," inspired by the 1978 film Capricorn One

The Black Keys- Live (Fat Possum) DVD featuring a bonus video of the band's "10 AM Automatic" video, directed by comedian David Cross

James Blunt- Back to Bedlam (Custard/Atlantic) the domestic release of this smash UK hit; on tour later this month with Jason Mraz

Boduf Songs- Boduf Songs (Kranky) self-produced recordings by Mat Sweet, a hypnotic guitarist from Southampton, England, who brings to mind the daybreak quality of David Gilmour, Nick Drake, and the Durruti Column

The Chumscrubber- original motion picture soundtrack (Lakeshore) with music from Phantom Planet, Cat Power, Placebo, Rooney, and more

Deftones- B Sides & Rarities (Maverick) CD and DVD set featuring acoustic versions and covers of songs by The Cure, Helmet, Jawbox, The Smiths, and - dig this - Sade!

Mark Eitzel- Candy Ass (Cooking Vinyl) in collaboration with Calexico on "Praskovia"

Melissa Etheridge- Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled (Island) featuring a cover of Tom Petty's "Refugee"

The Fall- Fall Heads Roll (Narnack) new studio album also available in two LP formats - a 180-gram audiophile pressing and a cool marble-vinyl edition

Franz Ferdinand- You Could Have It So Much Better (Domino/Epic) also available in DualDisc, look for limited pressings to feature a bonus three-track CD EP highlighted by an acoustic version of "What You Meant"

Paula Frazer- Leave the Sad Things Behind (Birdman) third solo album from the former Tarnation vocalist

Goal!- original motion picture soundtrack (Big Brother) featuring a previously unreleased Oasis track and a remix by UNKLE

Jimmy Eat World- The Stay On My Side EP (Interscope) five tracks including a cover of Heatmiser's "Half Right"

Curt Kirkwood- Snow (Little Dog) solo debut from the Meat Puppets founder

Steve Lawler- Lights Out 3 (Global Underground) two CDs of his trademark "twisted house" sound, mixing tracks by Nick K, Swain & Snell, Suicide Sports Club, and more

Lichens- The Psychic Nature of Being (Kranky) solo experimental recordings by Robert Lowe, recently joining the group TV on the Radio, creating music for a modern-day, white-noise spaghetti Western

Living Things- Ahead of the Lions (Jive) debut from three brothers from St. Louis, recorded by Steve Albini

John Lydon- The Best of British £1 Notes (Virgin) anthology of tracks from Public Image Ltd. and a dance mix of the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen"

My Morning Jacket- Z(ATO/RCA) also available in a special vinyl LP issue in a gatefold sleeve featuring a bonus track

Nickelback- All the Right Reasons (Roadrunner) with guest Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top

O.A.R.- Stories of a Stranger(Lava) produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads, with guests Toby Lightman and Bernie Worrell

Sinéad O'Connor- Throw Down Your Arms (That's Why There's Chocolate & Vanilla) produced by the legendary Sly & Robbie, this new collection of reggae covers including Bob Marley's "War" and Peter Tosh's "Downpressor Man" is released on her new artist-owned label, named for a frequent expression by her late manager

Ozzy Osbourne- Under Covers (Epic) individual issue of this fourth disc in his Prince of Darkness box set, expanded with new covers of the Moody Blues' "Go Now," John Lennon's "Woman," and Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way"; look for the DualDisc to feature the storytelling revelations in "My Dinner with Ozzy"

Liz Phair- Somebody's Miracle (Capitol)

Pixies- Pixies Sell Out (Rhino Home Video) DVD compiled from performances in seven cities from last year's reunion tour

Elvis Presley- And the Rest Is History (Sony BMG Strategic) new three-CD anthology featuring a Paul Oakenfold remix of "Rubberneckin'" and the previously unreleased "I'm a Roustabout"

Talking Heads- DualDisc Brick Box (Rhino) collecting all eight of their studio albums recently expanded in these new DualDisc versions, housed in a must-see white-plastic molded case

Tiger Saw- Sing! (Kimchee) cool new collaborative project from Dylan Metrano of Newburyport, Maine, directing a lovely 15-piece choir and orchestra from the local indie-rock community, producing a joyous yet somber "musical" of the mind

The Tossers- The Valley of the Shadow of Death (Victory) Irish revival music smashed up with straight-on punk rock

various artists - I Love Guitar Wolf... Very Much (Narnack) tribute CD with cover salutes from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, J. Mascis & the Fog, Puffy Amiyumi, Porch Ghouls, and more

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