The Multiple Cat, The Secret of the Secret of the Multiple Cat

During the mid- to late '90s, Pat Stolley's band The Multiple Cat released four albums, a multitude of singles, and a remix album. The Secret of the Secret of the Multiple Cat is a retrospective that makes use of songs from that period.

Retrospectives are made to show what made a band important. Yet often what made a band important was having those songs appear on a particular album at a particular time. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" wasn't an important song simply because it was great, but because it appeared on the bestselling A Night at the Opera.

By the time the trumpets enter the picture halfway through the opening track of Tenki's new EP, the listener has been enveloped by atmosphere. On top of muted drums and guitar come layers of gentle keyboards - and are those voices harmonizing with the organ? Hints of gull-like string sounds suggest the ocean.

The trumpets turn everything upside down, adding a mariachi flavor. Then the guitar gets agitated and begins to bellow over the trumpet, and the whole thing builds to a climax before eventually calming itself down.

Avast, maties! Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski and his star, Johnny Depp, have come together to executive-produce a new high-seas project aimed at us music-loving landlubbers. Built around the notion of contemporary interpretations of the classic seafaring song, the pair shanghaied Hal Willner as the captain of this ship, resulting in this week's release of Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, & Chanteys on the Anti Records imprint. Contributions on this two-CD set include Sting, Nick Cave, Byran Ferry, Lou Reed, Bono, Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Joseph Arthur, Stan Ridgway, Jolie Holland, Jarvis Cocker, Bill Frisell, Baby Gramps, Lucinda Williams, and - dig this - actor John C. Reilly and gonzo artist Ralph Steadman.

Two long-lost musical entities, bestowed with cult status in their eclectic corners of the rock universe, offer up all-new recordings next week - the first music either has recorded and released in more than 25 years. Australian punks had their earliest heroes in the Radio Birdman, surviving four years together in the late 1970s. After reuniting in 1996 for their homeland's Big Day Out festival, and with SubPop Records' recent "Essential" collection introducing the band to the digital generation, an American tour begins later this month in support of their new Zeno Beach CD on the Yep Roc label.