• For a number of years now the CMH Records imprint has churned out a bizarre array of tribute CDs under the "A Bluegrass Tribute to" banner, serving up a down-home finger-pickin' twist on artists including Metallica, the Dave Matthews Band, and Cat Stevens. Don't look for the label to stop soon, as next month it offers another unimaginable choice with Blue Safari: A Bluegrass Tribute to Air. Featuring the mandolin, fiddle, and banjo talents of Old School Freight Train, these good ol' boys must be sipping from a strange moonshine still to venture into the electronic melodies of "Kelly Watch the Stars" and other synth gems from the French duo. CMH's sister label, Vitamin Records, is also doing what it does best, with upcoming "String Quartet Tribute" CDs honoring Tupac Shakur and Massive Attack.
• Speaking of Shakur, on December 14 Interscope Records goes back to the grave for the seventh time with the release of Loyal to the Game. Produced by Eminem, the set fills 16 tracks with Shakur's previously unreleased vocal verses, mixing the dead artist in "collaboration" with 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Obie Trice, Young Buck, and more, including Eminem himself. Outside of the sheer crass commercialism of the yuletide timing of this production, the release is whipping up much drama over the alleged manipulation of Shakur's words into new associations via studio trickery.
• With Pete Yorn leading off his recent two-CD live album with a Junior Kimbrough cover, it's no secret that the Mississippi blues legend has quite a fan base among other musicians. Next month Fat Possum Records collects 15 of them on a new tribute, Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough. Some of the stars contributing their takes include Mark Lanegan, Cat Power, Spiritualized, Blues Explosion, and the Black Keys, with both the Heartless Bastards and Jim White turning in their own versions of "Done Got Old."
• This week Radiohead releases a highly anticipated, ambitious video project entitled The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. The 110-minute DVD collects 24 short film videos created by both fans and professionals to music primarily from the Hail to the Thief album, molded into the structure of four episodes of "Radiohead TV." The band never got to take over the airwaves, but from the DVD's online trailer, the teasers of wild animation, claymation, live performances, and lo-fi film work are mesmerizing and wickedly imaginative, in a delicious Pee Wee's Playhouse-meets-Eraserhead vibe. ... Next week: my picks for the coolest Christmas music for the hippest of holiday cribs!
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Rod Stewart tonight, Damien Rice on Friday, Kevin Spacey on Monday, and Maroon 5 on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Sum 41 tonight and Lyle Lovett on Thursday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien features The Hives this evening overnight; The Late Late Show gets serious with Henry Rollins this evening overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly sits down with Badly Drawn Boy this evening overnight and De La Soul on Friday overnight; and Jimmy Kimmel Live boasts R.E.M. this evening overnight, Los Lonely Boys on Friday overnight, Crossfade on Monday overnight, and John Mayer on Tuesday overnight.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, December 7:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change
Cam'ron - Purple Haze (Diplomats/Roc-A-Fella) featuring a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and guests Kayne West and Twista
Eric Clapton - Sessions for Robert J (Duck/Reprise) CD/DVD package featuring guitarist Doyle Bramhall II in acoustic settings
The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys (Fiction/Elektra/Rhino) expanded deluxe-edition re-issue from 1979, featuring a 20-track second disc of demos, outtakes, and live tracks
Mike Doughty - Skittish and Rockity Rock (ATO) two-on-one re-issue of this album and six-song EP from the Soul Coughing founder
Esthero - We R in Need of a Musical Revolution (Reprise) CD EP
John Frusciante - Curtains (Record Collection) new solo album from the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist
Geto Boys - War & Peace (Rap-A-Lot) all new
The Great Unknowns - Presenting The Great Unknowns (Daemon) wide open and as restless as its name, this gorgeous, country-tinged Americana features the terrific "When I Was Your Girl"
The Hideous Sun Demons - The Hideous Sun Demons (Magna Carta) instrumental jams from David Lee Roth's touring band
Kyle Hollingsworth - Never Odd or Even (Sci Fidelity) solo debut from the String Cheese Incident keyboardist, with guest Joshua Redman on saxophone, kicking it with an upbeat, jazzy funk that blends the vibe of David Byrne & Brian Eno's "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" and a psychedelic Elmore Leonard adaptation soundtrack
Hoodoo Gurus - Mach Schau (Evangeline) domestic issue of this Australian hit
House of Flying Daggers - original motion picture soundtrack (Sony Classical) featuring vocalist Kathleen Battle with composer Shigeru Umbayashi
Lemony Snicket - original motion picture soundtrack (Columbia) score by Thomas Newman
Lindsay Lohan - Speak (Casablanca) featuring the single "Rumors"
MC5 - Are You Ready to Testify? The Live Bootleg Anthology (Castle) three-CD set
Morrissey - You Are the Quarry (Attack) deluxe-edition re-issue expanded to two CDs, featuring nine bonus tracks, a photo gallery from his recent sold-out tour, and a DVD of his appearances this past summer on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
Mud - Time & Again: Private Stock Collection (Castle) two-CD set
Ocean's Twelve - original motion picture soundtrack (Warner Bros) with tracks by David Holmes, Yellow Hammer, and Roland Vincent
William Shatner - The Transformed Man (Geffen) re-mastered re-issue of this wild stinker from 1968
Slim Thug - Already Platinum (Geffen) solo debut from the Swisha House crew member, with production by the Neptunes
soulDecision - Shady Satin Drug (Sextant) featuring the funky, hook-laden hit "Cadillac Dress," this Canadian pop quartet sizzles under the production of Nile Rodgers on four songs
Gwen Stefani - Love, Angel, Music, Baby (Interscope) limited-edition picture-disc LP format
Rod Stewart - One Night Only! Live at the Royal Albert Hall (J Records) DVD with guests Ron Wood and Chrissie Hynde
A Very Long Engagement - original motion picture soundtrack (Nonesuch) score by Angelo Badalamenti
The White Stripes - Under Blackpool Lights: Live (V2) DVD filmed at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England
• Speaking of Shakur, on December 14 Interscope Records goes back to the grave for the seventh time with the release of Loyal to the Game. Produced by Eminem, the set fills 16 tracks with Shakur's previously unreleased vocal verses, mixing the dead artist in "collaboration" with 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Obie Trice, Young Buck, and more, including Eminem himself. Outside of the sheer crass commercialism of the yuletide timing of this production, the release is whipping up much drama over the alleged manipulation of Shakur's words into new associations via studio trickery.
• With Pete Yorn leading off his recent two-CD live album with a Junior Kimbrough cover, it's no secret that the Mississippi blues legend has quite a fan base among other musicians. Next month Fat Possum Records collects 15 of them on a new tribute, Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough. Some of the stars contributing their takes include Mark Lanegan, Cat Power, Spiritualized, Blues Explosion, and the Black Keys, with both the Heartless Bastards and Jim White turning in their own versions of "Done Got Old."
• This week Radiohead releases a highly anticipated, ambitious video project entitled The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. The 110-minute DVD collects 24 short film videos created by both fans and professionals to music primarily from the Hail to the Thief album, molded into the structure of four episodes of "Radiohead TV." The band never got to take over the airwaves, but from the DVD's online trailer, the teasers of wild animation, claymation, live performances, and lo-fi film work are mesmerizing and wickedly imaginative, in a delicious Pee Wee's Playhouse-meets-Eraserhead vibe. ... Next week: my picks for the coolest Christmas music for the hippest of holiday cribs!
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Rod Stewart tonight, Damien Rice on Friday, Kevin Spacey on Monday, and Maroon 5 on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts Sum 41 tonight and Lyle Lovett on Thursday; Late Night with Conan O'Brien features The Hives this evening overnight; The Late Late Show gets serious with Henry Rollins this evening overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly sits down with Badly Drawn Boy this evening overnight and De La Soul on Friday overnight; and Jimmy Kimmel Live boasts R.E.M. this evening overnight, Los Lonely Boys on Friday overnight, Crossfade on Monday overnight, and John Mayer on Tuesday overnight.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, December 7:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change
Cam'ron - Purple Haze (Diplomats/Roc-A-Fella) featuring a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and guests Kayne West and Twista
Eric Clapton - Sessions for Robert J (Duck/Reprise) CD/DVD package featuring guitarist Doyle Bramhall II in acoustic settings
The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys (Fiction/Elektra/Rhino) expanded deluxe-edition re-issue from 1979, featuring a 20-track second disc of demos, outtakes, and live tracks
Mike Doughty - Skittish and Rockity Rock (ATO) two-on-one re-issue of this album and six-song EP from the Soul Coughing founder
Esthero - We R in Need of a Musical Revolution (Reprise) CD EP
John Frusciante - Curtains (Record Collection) new solo album from the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist
Geto Boys - War & Peace (Rap-A-Lot) all new
The Great Unknowns - Presenting The Great Unknowns (Daemon) wide open and as restless as its name, this gorgeous, country-tinged Americana features the terrific "When I Was Your Girl"
The Hideous Sun Demons - The Hideous Sun Demons (Magna Carta) instrumental jams from David Lee Roth's touring band
Kyle Hollingsworth - Never Odd or Even (Sci Fidelity) solo debut from the String Cheese Incident keyboardist, with guest Joshua Redman on saxophone, kicking it with an upbeat, jazzy funk that blends the vibe of David Byrne & Brian Eno's "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" and a psychedelic Elmore Leonard adaptation soundtrack
Hoodoo Gurus - Mach Schau (Evangeline) domestic issue of this Australian hit
House of Flying Daggers - original motion picture soundtrack (Sony Classical) featuring vocalist Kathleen Battle with composer Shigeru Umbayashi
Lemony Snicket - original motion picture soundtrack (Columbia) score by Thomas Newman
Lindsay Lohan - Speak (Casablanca) featuring the single "Rumors"
MC5 - Are You Ready to Testify? The Live Bootleg Anthology (Castle) three-CD set
Morrissey - You Are the Quarry (Attack) deluxe-edition re-issue expanded to two CDs, featuring nine bonus tracks, a photo gallery from his recent sold-out tour, and a DVD of his appearances this past summer on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
Mud - Time & Again: Private Stock Collection (Castle) two-CD set
Ocean's Twelve - original motion picture soundtrack (Warner Bros) with tracks by David Holmes, Yellow Hammer, and Roland Vincent
William Shatner - The Transformed Man (Geffen) re-mastered re-issue of this wild stinker from 1968
Slim Thug - Already Platinum (Geffen) solo debut from the Swisha House crew member, with production by the Neptunes
soulDecision - Shady Satin Drug (Sextant) featuring the funky, hook-laden hit "Cadillac Dress," this Canadian pop quartet sizzles under the production of Nile Rodgers on four songs
Gwen Stefani - Love, Angel, Music, Baby (Interscope) limited-edition picture-disc LP format
Rod Stewart - One Night Only! Live at the Royal Albert Hall (J Records) DVD with guests Ron Wood and Chrissie Hynde
A Very Long Engagement - original motion picture soundtrack (Nonesuch) score by Angelo Badalamenti
The White Stripes - Under Blackpool Lights: Live (V2) DVD filmed at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England
