A new collection in the "Red Hot" series benefiting AIDS research is due next month. Dark Was the Night promises two CDs curated and compiled by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, who contribute their own "So Far Around the Bend" and a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Was Young When I Left Home." Like previous Red Hot releases, the lineup is topnotch with notables Sufjan Stevens, Yo La Tengo, Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, Cat Power, Iron & Wine, the Kronos Quartet, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. A number of intriguing collaborations highlight the set, including Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch, Dirty Projectors and David Byrne, the Books and Jose Gonzalez, Blonde Redhead and Devestations, and Feist with Ben Gibbard.
Television Alert
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Musiq Soulchild on Wednesday, Lady Antebellum on Thursday, and the bird & the bee on Monday; The Late Show with David Letterman boasts Of Montreal on Thursday, Todd Rundgren on Friday, and Andrew Bird on Tuesday; Jimmy Kimmel Live hosts Boz Scaggs on Tuesday overnight; and catch Fall Out Boy live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien Wednesday evening and Live With Regis & Kelly on Thursday morning.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, January 27
Afro Samurai: The Resurrection - original television soundtrack (Wu Music Group) presented by The RZA, with guests Rugged Monk, Rah Digga, Boy Jones, and Sly Stone
Lily Allen - "The Fear" (Regal) import-only single
the bird & the bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future (Blue Note) offering the bonus "totally rude remix" of "Polite Dance Song" with the digital purchase of the album
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - "Gunpowder" (Lost Highway) available only as a digital download or a 10-inch vinyl EP, this is swampy, sassy, old-school funk from the backwoods juke joint your momma warned you about, as sweaty and greasy as James Brown fronting a Mississippi Delta-bound Funkadelic
Cotton Jones - Paranoid Cocoon (Suicide Squeeze Records) new from Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw of Page France
dälek - Gutter Tactics (Ipecac)
Diagonal - Diagonal (Rise Above) organ-driven psychedelic wig-out that straddles free-form jazz and cubic King Crimson chases
Pat DiNizio - Pat DiNizio/Buddy Holly (Koch) love letter to the roots-of-rock icon, covering 11 of Holly's best, including a doo-wop spin on "That'll Be the Day" and inventive string arrangements by Charles Calello
Diplo - Decent Work for Decent Pay: Collected Works, Volume One (Big Dada/Ninja Tune) compilation with remixes of songs by M.I.A., Daft Punk, Spank Rock, and Hot Chip
Fleet Foxes - "Mykonos" (Bella Union) import-only single
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino) also available in a "special edition" featuring a hardback book, six bonus seven-inch singles, a dub mix of the entire album, and a documentary DVD
Damon Fowler - Sugar Shack (Blind Pig) sporting a rockin' cover of Merle Haggard's "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" by the slide guitarist
Andy Friedman - Weary Things (City Salvage Records) a famed cartoonist with work appearing in The New York Times and The New Yorker, the Brooklyn-based singer sets a sad tone with "I Miss Being Broken, Lowdown, & Alone" and rocks the house with the George Thorogood boogie of "Locked Out of the Building"
From Jupiter - No, Seriously (Third Eye) produced by Mudrock, this is high energy punk-pop from former members of Class Clown
Future of the Left - Last Night I Saved Her from Vampires (4AD) live album
The Guggenheim Grotto - Happy the Man (United For Opportunity Records) second album from the Dublin duo, recently capturing the number-one spot on iTunes Folk Chart
Hoobastank - For (N)ever (Island) featuring the single "My Turn"
Lars Horntveth - Kaleidoscopic (Smalltown Supersound) masterful, adventurous 37-minute composition by The National Band and Jaga Jazzist founder, using the 41 members of the Latvian National Orchestra to paint this slow motion "Alice in Wonderland" wandering stroll
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark EP (Parlophone) limited-edition CD of three songs re-crafted with Robert Wyatt and a remix of "One Pure Thought" by Geese
Kid Sister - Dream Date (Downtown)
LeATHERMOUTH - XO (Epitaph) with guest Frank lero of My Chemical Romance
The Mickeys - Walk Along (RiverBeat Music) sophomore release from the identical twins, covering Tom Petty's lullaby "Alright for Now"
Kylie Minogue - Boombox: The Remix Album 2000-2008 (Astralwerks) with knob-twiddling courtesy of the Chemical Brothers, Fischerspooner, Knuckleheadz, and Sebastien Leger
My Chemical Romance - "Desolation Row" (Reprise) 12-inch vinyl picture-disc advance single from the Watchmen soundtrack, covering Bob Dylan and backed by a track from Tyler Bates' film score
My Morning Jacket - Live at the Palms (iTunes exclusive) six-track digital-only EP
Nickel Eye - The Time of the Assassins (Ryko) new solo album from Strokes bassist Nikolai Fraiture, with guest pianist Regina Spektor and the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Nick Zinner on guitar, closing out with a cover of Leonard Cohen's "That's No Way to Say Goodbye"
Of Montreal - The Jon Brion Remix EP (Polyvinyl) five-track CD EP featuring an acoustic version of "First Time High" and extended and instrumental versions of "Gallery Piece"
Mark Olson & Gary Louris - Ready for the Flood (New West) a perfect harmony reunion produced by The Black Crowes' Chris Robinson, this is the first new music from the Jayhawks co-founders in more than 10 years - setting out across America next month
The Alan Parsons Project - Pyramid, Eve, The Turn of a Friendly Card, Ammonia Avenue, Stereotomy, and Gaudi (Arista Legacy) remastered reissues, featuring bonus demos, alternative vocals, and overdubbed rarities, including a "more cowbell" mix of "Games People Play"
Kenneth Pattengale - Storied Places (Milan) flickering in the candlelight of Lyle Lovett, James Taylor, and the Guthries, these clever, seductive, and relaxed songs evoke the cool, sly lean of Tom Waits
Rhythm Angels - Girls Like Us (High Horse) easy-going, harmonic debut from the female acoustic duo, highlighted by the haunting "If I Had a Gun"
Sepultura - A-LEX (Steamhammer/SPV) CD or two-LP set inspired by Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange
Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream (Columbia) "deluxe edition" featuring a bonus behind-the-scenes DVD
Volcano Suns - All Night Lotus Party and The Bright Orange Years (Merge) remastered reissues
Tyrone Wells - Remain (Universal Republic) pensive pop from the Spokane singer/songwriter who has found his work featured in episodes of television's One Tree Hill, Rescue Me, and The Ghost Whisperer
various artists - Johnny Cash Remixed (Compadre) previously only available digitally, the CD features a Pete Rock remix of "Folsom Prison Blues," Alabama 3's take on "Leave That Junk Alone," and Snoop Dogg adding some flavor to QDT Music's remix of "I Walk the Line"
various artists - Just Like Heaven: A Tribute to the Cure (American Laundromat) reinterpretations of 16 classics, highlighted by "The Lovecats" by Tanya Donelly, "Friday I'm In Love" by Dean & Britta, and "Let's Go to Bed" by Cassettes Won't Listen
