Abkco Records has just released a killer accompanying CD to Showtime's Californication. Originally available through iTunes in three "track packs," the 20-track disc collects songs by Bob Dylan, Peeping Tom, Harvey Danger, and The Heavy, a Paul Oakenfold remix of The Doors' "L.A. Woman," and a healthy dose of covers. The show is known for slipping unusual cover versions into the background, and the album is highlighted by takes on the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by Tommy Stinson & Friends, Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" by Gus Black, Elton John's "Rocket Man" by My Morning Jacket, and Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed," Cheap Trick's "Surrender," and Warren Zevon's "Don't Let Us Get Sick" by co-star Madeleine Martin. A digital edition adds six more tracks, and the soundtrack CD will also be found inside the first-season DVD set, due next week.
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Priscilla Ahn tonight and American Idol winner David Cook on Thursday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Jakob Dylan tonight and Emmylou Harris on Thursday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien boasts Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings this evening overnight; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson presents John Hiatt on Tuesday overnight; and Tavis Smiley sits down with Alanis Morissette on Thursday.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, June 17:
Allá - Es Tiempo (Crammed Disc) Latin psychedelic pop influenced buy Motown and Kraut-rock
The Anix - Demolition City (Chamberlain) sweaty synthesizer ballads with a healthy nod to Depeche Mode and The Cure
The Bangkok Five - We Love What Kills Us (Long Live Crime) sung in both English and Spanish
Bauhaus - In the Flat Field (Vinyl 180/Virtual Label) 180-gram audiophile reissue from 1980, also available in a deluxe edition featuring a white-vinyl 12-inch EP of singles
Buckethead - From the Coop (Avabella) the mysterious six-string shredder's first demo recordings from 1988, with early peeks at the genesis of "Hog Bitch Stomp" and "Scraps"
Buddahead - Ashes (Fear of Cheese Records) sophomore CD from Iran-born, London-raised Raman Kia, tenderly swaying in the emotive fields of Coldplay and The Church
Children of the Sixth Root Race - Songs from the Source (Drag City) long-lost issue straight from the commune in these 1973 recordings by the hippie "family" of Jim Baker/Father Yod/YaHoWah, a former Marine, New Age restaurateur, and spiritual leader
Chromeo - Fancy Footwork: Deluxe Edition (Vice) featuring a bonus disc of videos and remixes by DFA, Lifelike, Crookers, and MSTRKRFT
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death & All His Friends (Capitol) produced by Brian Eno; the cover art is Eugene Delacroix's 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People
Bobby Cole - Between Two Worlds (Dietetic Records) retro-pop wonderment backed by Dennis Diken of The Smithereens and Graham Maby of Joe Jackson fame
Derby - Posters Fade (Green Submarine) gorgeous, harmonic trio from Portland overflowing with memorable hooks and feel-good whimsy
Elanta - The Strong One (VP Records) featuring the Jamaican hit "Warrior Love"
Jason Falkner - Bedtime with the Beatles, Part Two (Adrenaline) lullaby renditions of "Penny Lane," "Goodnight," "I Will," and more by the former member of Jellyfish, The Grays, and the Three O'Clock
Grupo Fantasma - Sonidos Gold (Aire Sol/High Wire) fantastic 22-piece Latin orchestra from Austin, Texas, hot off a two-month residency at Prince's 3121 nightclub in Las Vegas last year and backing the purple one this year at Coachella; featuring the legendary Maceo Parker blowing saxophone on "Gimme Some" and Parliament Funkadelic's Greg Boyer playing trombone on "Rumba y Guaganco"
Heybale! - The Last Country Album (Shuffle 5) honky-tonk dream team, featuring pianist Earl Poole Ball and Redd Volkaert and covers of Willie Nelson's "Mr. Record Man" and Tom T. Hall's "That's How I Got to Memphis"
Mick Hucknall - Tribute to Bobby (Rhino) loving tribute to Bobby "Blue" Bland by the Simply Red vocalist, covering hits "I Pity the Fool," "Cry, Cry, Cry," and "Chains of Love"
Judas Priest - Nostradamus (Columbia) two-CD concept album with random copies at Best Buy containing free tickets to this summer's tour
King Khan & the Shrines - The Supreme Genius of King Khan & the Shrines (Vice) featuring a 60-year-old drummer, a French rockabilly saxophonist, and a boss-hoss horn section
Loto Ball Show - Levy on the Eyeway (Gifted Children) new from the former Phantom Limbs vocalist
The Offspring - Ignition and Smash (Epitaph) reissues from 1992 and 1994, remastered with new 24-page booklets
The Offspring - Rise & Fall, Rage & Grace (Columbia) also available in a vinyl edition with a bonus digital download
The Orb - The Dream (Six Degrees) with guest Steve Hillage of Gong
Ozric Tentacles - Sunrise Festival (Snapper) celebrating the band's 25th anniversary in this live CD recorded last year; also captured on a bonus DVD with guests Merv Peplar of Eat Static and original keyboardist Joie Hinton
Rob Roy Parnell - Let's Start Something (Blue Rocket) harmonica-fueled, road-house boogie-woogie blues backed by members of Delbert McClinton's band, featuring a cool cover of Percy Mayfield's "Loose Lips"
Katy Perry - One of the Boys (Capitol) featuring the single "I Kissed a Girl"
Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual (We Are Free) lively, chaotic Baltimore foursome wrestled down into a genie's magic bottle by J. Robbins
Poultry Geist: Night of the Chicken Dead - music from and inspired by the motion picture (Troma Records) CD /DVD set featuring music by The Dwarves, Calamari Safari, and Zombina & the Skeletones
Kirsten Price - Guts & Garbage (KPI Recordings) with music featured on television's Cashmere Mafia and The L-Word, this big-voiced, sassy-swagger debut features production by Raphael Saadiq of Tony! Toni! Toné!
Busta Rhymes - Blessed (Flipmode/Interscope) with guests Linkin Park on "We Made It"
Ride the Boogie - Ride the Boogie (Longhair Illuminati) featuring Adam Tymn of Vaux and Glenn Pinson of Places to Park, this satisfying, electrified enigma trips, skips, and dips with a T.Rex groove and a slick-tongued coolness
Todd Sickafoose - Tiny Resistors (Cryptogramophone) with guests Ani DiFranco and Andrew Bird
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (Drag City) with songs lyrically referencing a poem by Emily Dickinson, a speech by Teddy Roosevelt, the book of Isaiah, and a Yiddish proverb, the CD's booklet features the 16 guitar chords you'll need to play every song
Sister Hazel - Before the Amplifiers, Live Acoustic (Coakin' Poets/Rock Ridge) recorded this past January in Atlanta in an intimate room with 100 fans; 16 songs are beautifully stripped down with powerful results
Mark Stewart - Edit (Crippled Dick Hot Wax/SPV) magnificent return of the dubby funk master
Twilight Sad - Here, It Never Snowed (Fat Cat) CD EP featuring a cover of Daniel Johnson & Jad Fair's "Some Things Last a Long Time"
Twine - Violets (Ghostly International) atmospheric swells and icy cinematic collages richly colored by found-audio samples, with guest Alison Shaw of the Cranes
UB40 - TwentyFourSeven (Dep International/Virgin) swan-song album for vocalist Ali Campbell, with guests Maxi Priest and members of Arrested Development
Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue: Legacy Edition (Caribou/Epic Legacy) expanded two-CD reissue from 1977
Hans York - Young Amelia (Hagzagar Music) in one of the most beautiful acoustic albums in memory, the German-born multi-instrumentalist leads his collective through soaring, poetic, inspiring originals that glide gently to the soul like falling leaves
