The grand experiment that rocked the music industry in October comes full circle this week, as Radiohead issues the physical version of its acclaimed In Rainbows across the planet on a variety of record labels. Issued here December 31 on the ATO Records imprint as a standard CD, the project is also available in an import-only "special edition disc box" featuring a two-LP vinyl set, a bonus CD, elaborate artwork, and photos in a hardback book and slipcase. For those who coughed up whatever they thought was fair for the album as a download, DJ/producer Ampline is offering up a tasty treat next week in Rainayz Remixes - a download of In Rainbows remixes available free if you prove with your e-mail receipt that you participated in the groundbreaking "pay what you like" online release.
Call it crazy or call it bold, but the German company Optimal Media Production has announced a new music format. With sales of singles in the UK actually up about 13 percent last year, and the desire to release songs that can't be easily uploaded and shared freely over the Internet, the company launches the VinylDisc format later this month with the Fightstar single "Deathcar." The five-inch "VD" features a CD EP on one side, and - dig this - a vinyl flip side. You know, with those circular groove thingies that a turntable needle rides 'round and 'round in. Limited to about three minutes on the vinyl side, only 3,000 copies will be produced, going down in history as a terrific new idea or a hideous last-ditch gimmick.
The rambunctious, righteous purveyors of early rock-and-roll debauchery, Norton Records, have kept an eternal flame for vinyl with their outpouring of seven-inch singles that make jukeboxes across the world shake, rattle, and roll. Further shunning the compact disc, the label is offering a download-only release of 45 tracks as a crash course in "the now sound" for the uninitiated. For about 20 bucks, the "label with the able stable" offers up I Hate CDs: Norton Records 45 Singles Collection Vol. 1, featuring a killer song list from The Dictators, The Ramones, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, The Sonics, Andre Williams, and Big Star, alongside wild rarities such as Don "Pretty Boy" Covay's kinky "Switchin' in the Kitchen" and Hasil Adkins' hunchin' classic "Chicken Shake."
With HBO's The Wire returning this Sunday for its final season, this coming Tuesday, Nonesuch Records is releasing two accompanying soundtracks CDs, The Wire ... & All the Pieces Matter and Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks from The Wire. Highlighted by multiple versions of the show's theme song, "Way Down in the Hole," performed by The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Neville Brothers, and the Baltimore band of teenagers Domaje, the CDs boast extensive essays on the series and dialogue bits. Other music on the first CD includes Michael Franti's "Oh My God," The Pogues' "The Body of an American," and Paul Weller's "I Walk on Gilded Splinters." while the second features hip underground bands from the Baltimore area.
Television Alert:
With Worldwide Pants' request to cross the picket lines this week with The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and The Late Show with David Letterman, late-night television may soon return with new programming. If it all goes as hoped, look for Letterman to feature Shooter Jennings this evening and Lupe Fiasco on Friday.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, January 8:
Bjork - "Declare Independence" (One Little Indian) The third 12-inch and CD single from her recent Volta album, featuring remixes by Ghostdigital and Matthew Herbert, and the Michel Gondry-directed video on the CD/DVD
Johnny Cash - The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show (Columbia Legacy) 16 performances selected from his variety show that ran from 1969 to 1971, featuring Neil Young performing "The Needle & the Damage Done" and Joni Mitchell's duet with Cash on "Long Black Veil"
Eddie & The Subtitles - "American Society" (Frontier) seven-inch single with a B-side cover of "Louie Louie"
Chase Frank - Midnight Manor (Chase Frank) three-track CD EP from this classically trained artist who swaps her piano and cello for a guitar in the vein of PJ Harvey
The Glazers - The Glazers (Rip Off) seven-inch single, with 200 copies pressed on red vinyl
Andy Hall - Sound of the Slide Guitar (Sugar Hill) solo delights from the Infamous Stringdusters' master of Reso-Phonic guitar, featuring stunning, syrupy original bluegrass jams and covers of the traditional "Deep Elem Blues" and Norman Blake's "Green Light on the Southern/Bony Crossing the Alps"
Ill Niño - Enigma (Cement Shoes) featuring the curiously titled Kellogg's Bombs & Cracker Jacks.
Lady Tigra - Please Mr. Boom Box (Hightscore) the pinkberries pop star is back with collaborators Mr. Hahn, MC Lytle, and Berko
Left Lane Cruiser - Bring Yo Ass to the Table (Alive) two-man snortin' blues insanity from Fort Wayne, Indiana
Marah - Angels of Destruction (Yep Roc) with new pianist Christine Smith
Medeski Martin & Wood - Let's Go Everywhere (Little Monster) children's CD featuring their spin through "Hickory Dickory Dock"
Kate Nash - Made of Bricks (Geffen) domestic issue of this UK hit
Northstar - Broken Parachute (Speak Music) CD EP featuring alternative versions, demos, and an acoustic cover of Jawbox's "Chesterfield Kings"
Reverend Organdrum - Hi-Fi Stereo (Yep Roc) new from the Reverend Horton Heat's smokin' new trio
Out to Lunch - Excuse Me While I Do the Boogaloo (Accurate) percolating instrumental jazz from this international collective that simply nails the space between smooth night grooves and sophisticated flights of funk
Robin Trower & Jack Bruce - Seven Moons (V-12 Records) all new collaboration - their first since 1981 - on Trower's new artist-owned label
Sia - Some People Have Real Problems (Hear Music) new from the Zero 7 vocalist and housed in a nifty CD package packed with a fistful of art cards, offering a gorgeous cover of The Kinks' "I Go to Sleep," guest vocalist Beck on two tracks, and actor Giovanni Ribisi on "Death by Chocolate"
Amanda Shaw - Pretty Runs Out (Rounder) label debut from the 16-year-old Cajun fiddle sensation, featuring a cover of Diane Warren's "I Don't Want to Be Your Friend"
Smashing Pumpkins - American Gothic (iTunes exclusive) four-track acoustic EP
Testament - Demonic and The Gathering (Prosthetic) CD reissues from 1997 and 1999
Frank Turner - Campfire Punkrock (Welcome Home Records) formerly of the Million Dead, this dynamite seven-track CD EP revels in the spirit of Billy Bragg and other British political muckrakers, nailing the Thatcher era and pining for Nashville
various artists - The Rock-A-Round: Hair-Raising 1958-60 Rock n' Roll from the Vaults of Atlanta's National Recording Corporation (Norton) featuring wild tracks from Joe South, Rod Willis, Paul Peek, and Link Wray & the Raymen
various artists - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Revisited (Parlophone) import-only re-creation tribute to the classic album, featuring The , The Zutons, Oasis, Travis, and The Magic Numbers
