16
Sep
2003
· With the mountain of new releases this coming week, it's hard to pick a single favorite, so I offer up two albums that I simply can't pry from my stereo. Old-school legends Jack Grisham and TSOL are back with Divided We Stand on the Nitro Records imprint, a rich, melodic pop-punk masterpiece.
Cocked back with howling guitar riffs, throbbing bass lines, and rich textures, the new album is lush and dramatic in the vein of the Stranglers, U2, Boomtown Rats, Jane's Addiction, and the Lords of the New Church. In a strangely delightful note, the always-political frontman Grisham is currently a candidate for California governor (http://www.grishamforgovernor.com), promoting health-care entitlement and immigrant rights.
· Also turned up louder with each listen this week is Show Me Your Tears from Frank Black & The Catholics, another dark collection of honky-tonk heartbreakers, drunk and swinging rages, back-porch acoustic pickers, and seductive mental tangos. A master songwriter, Black takes cues from Lou Reed, Nick Cave, and Leonard Cohen and is reunited with fellow former Pixie Joey Santiago, Wall of Voodoo's Stan Ridgway, and Van Dyke Parks as special guests.
· More "golden tickets" are floating about in two of this Tuesday's new releases. The Chemical Brothers are awarding a full trip to see them DJ in New York City this New Year's Eve if your copy of the new Singles 93-03 contains a lucky certificate. The golden theme riffs within the music as well, as the two-CD set features a new collaboration with the Flaming Lips entitled "The Golden Path."
· Stepping up a few notches is the prize promised by Shady/Interscope Records and the debut of rapper Obie Trice. Three golden tickets have been randomly inserted in the album, Cheers, awarding each winner a trip to Detroit to hang with Eminem in the studio while he records his new album. ... Alice Cooper is dipping into some surprising fresh blood with his new album, The Eyes of Alice Cooper, as all the songs were co-written with Alice in Chains guitarists Eric Dover and Ryan Roxie. The Eagle Records release also features drummer Eric Singer of KISS and special guest guitarist Wayne Kramer of the MC5 on "Detroit City."
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Beyonce Knowles tonight, Erykah Badu on Thursday, The Bangles on Friday, and the Blue Man Group on Monday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts The Star Spangles on Thursday and Dashboard Confessional on Friday; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn features Leona Naess this evening overnight, The Cure on Thursday overnight, Seal on Friday overnight, and The Bangles on Monday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly sits down with the Kings of Leon on Friday overnight and Goldfrapp on Tuesday overnight; and Saturday Night Live's musical guests this weekend are the Foo Fighters & Britney Spears.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, September 23:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change
The Bangles - Doll Revolution (Koch) domestic release of this new album, featuring a cover of Elvis Costello's "Tear Off Your Own Head," and a bonus DVD in the first pressing
Blood Drained Cows - 13 (Triple X) new from Angry Samoans co-founder Gregg Turner and produced by Andy Shernoff of the Dictators, featuring covers of Roky Erickson's "White Faces" and The Nightcrawlers' "Little Black Egg"
Johnny Cash - Live Recordings from the Louisiana Hayride (Scena Records) debut of this new legacy series from the 50,000-watt broadcasts of KWKH in Shreveport in the 1950s and 1960s
Biffy Clyro - The Vertigo of Bliss (Beggars Banquet) proudly bragging that the entire studio album was recorded in one day
Elvis Costello - North (Deutsche Grammophon) new ballads with Imposters' keyboardist Steve Nieve, the Brodsky Quartet, and saxophonist Lee Konitz
Steve Earle - Just an American Boy: An Audio Documentary (Artemis) two-CD companion to the film by director Amos Poe, featuring a cover of Nick Lowe's "What's So Funny About Peace, Love, & Understanding"
Europa 51 - Abstractions (Lo Recordings/Bubblecore) new from Simon Johns and Andy Ramsay of Stereolab, featuring a bonus 25-minute short film
The Fire Theft - The Fire Theft (Rykodisc) new from three former members of Sunny Day Real Estate
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros.) special DVD-Audio collector's edition release of this stunner from last year, loaded with bonus tracks, documentaries, and a sneak look at the band's upcoming Christmas On Mars film project
Emmylou Harris - Stumble into Grace (Nonesuch) with guests Linda Ronstadt, Jane Siberry, and Luscious Jackson's Jill Cuniff
Joe Henry - Tiny Voices (Anti/Epitaph)
Integrity - To Die for (Deathwish) eight new songs from these Cleveland hardcore giants
The Kerosene Brothers - Choose Your Own Title (Audium) featuring sons of "Dueling Banjos" composer Don Reno, these players later became Hayseed Dixie
Kill Bill - original motion picture soundtrack (Maverick) with Nancy Sinatra, Charlie Feathers, Isaac Hayes, and Al Hirt
Sondre Lerche - Don't Be Shallow (Astralwerks) on tour now with Liz Phair, this EP collects live tracks and B sides
Limp Bizkit - Results May Vary (Interscope) with guests Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Page Hamilton of Helmet, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry, also available with a bonus 35-minute DVD, giving fans an advance whiff of the band's upcoming four-hour home video Poop
Matmos - The Civil War (Matador) with guests David Grubbs of Gastr del Sol and Mark Lightcap of Acetone mixing odd found-audio samples with folk bluegrass beats
Dave Matthews - Some Devil (RCA) solo debut with guest Trey Anastasio of Phish, featuring a bonus CD EP of soundboard tracks in the first pressing
The Mavericks - The Mavericks (Sanctuary) all new with guest Willie Nelson on a cover of the Hollies' "The Air That I Breathe"
Nickleback - The Long Road (Roadrunner)
Peaches - Fatherf*cker (XL/Beggars Banquet) featuring guest Iggy Pop and a cool sample of Joan Jett
Duke Robillard - Exalted Lover (Stony Plain) new from the W.C. Handy Award-winning "Blues Guitarist of the Year"
Kenny Rogers - Back to the Well (Dreamcatcher) featuring guest Alison Krauss
Michelle Shocked - Short Sharp Shocked (Mighty Sound) two-CD re-issue featuring a bonus disc of 22 previously unreleased demos, concerts, and radio sessions
Six Feet Under - Bringer of Blood (Metal Blade) with a bonus DVD featuring "SFU Underground," a metal documentary by filmmaker Deron Grams
Street Dogs - Savin Hill (Crosscheck) new from Mike McColgan and Jeff Erna, formerly of Dropkick Murphys, with special guest Dickie Barret of Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Teenage Fanclub - Four Thousand, Seven Hundred, & Sixty-Six Seconds: A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub (Jetset) 21-track compilation
Television - Marquee Moon, Adventure, and Live at the Old Waldorf (Rhino) expanded re-issues from 1977 and 1978, and a live performance from 1979
Billy Bob Thornton - The Edge of the Worlds (Sanctuary) with guests Tommy Shaw of Styx, Joe Walsh, and Warren Zevon
Rusty Truck - Broken Promises (Coda Terra) with guests Lenny Kravitz, Gillian Welch, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, T-Bone Burnett, Sheryl Crow, and Willie Nelson lending a hand to rock photographer Mark Seliger's debut
The Twilight Singers - "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" (Birdman) new CD single from the Greg Dulli collective covering the Nina Simone classic
Rufus Wainwright - Want One (DreamWorks) with guests Levon Helm of The Band and Charlie Sexton
· Also turned up louder with each listen this week is Show Me Your Tears from Frank Black & The Catholics, another dark collection of honky-tonk heartbreakers, drunk and swinging rages, back-porch acoustic pickers, and seductive mental tangos. A master songwriter, Black takes cues from Lou Reed, Nick Cave, and Leonard Cohen and is reunited with fellow former Pixie Joey Santiago, Wall of Voodoo's Stan Ridgway, and Van Dyke Parks as special guests.
· More "golden tickets" are floating about in two of this Tuesday's new releases. The Chemical Brothers are awarding a full trip to see them DJ in New York City this New Year's Eve if your copy of the new Singles 93-03 contains a lucky certificate. The golden theme riffs within the music as well, as the two-CD set features a new collaboration with the Flaming Lips entitled "The Golden Path."
· Stepping up a few notches is the prize promised by Shady/Interscope Records and the debut of rapper Obie Trice. Three golden tickets have been randomly inserted in the album, Cheers, awarding each winner a trip to Detroit to hang with Eminem in the studio while he records his new album. ... Alice Cooper is dipping into some surprising fresh blood with his new album, The Eyes of Alice Cooper, as all the songs were co-written with Alice in Chains guitarists Eric Dover and Ryan Roxie. The Eagle Records release also features drummer Eric Singer of KISS and special guest guitarist Wayne Kramer of the MC5 on "Detroit City."
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Beyonce Knowles tonight, Erykah Badu on Thursday, The Bangles on Friday, and the Blue Man Group on Monday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts The Star Spangles on Thursday and Dashboard Confessional on Friday; The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn features Leona Naess this evening overnight, The Cure on Thursday overnight, Seal on Friday overnight, and The Bangles on Monday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly sits down with the Kings of Leon on Friday overnight and Goldfrapp on Tuesday overnight; and Saturday Night Live's musical guests this weekend are the Foo Fighters & Britney Spears.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, September 23:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change
The Bangles - Doll Revolution (Koch) domestic release of this new album, featuring a cover of Elvis Costello's "Tear Off Your Own Head," and a bonus DVD in the first pressing
Blood Drained Cows - 13 (Triple X) new from Angry Samoans co-founder Gregg Turner and produced by Andy Shernoff of the Dictators, featuring covers of Roky Erickson's "White Faces" and The Nightcrawlers' "Little Black Egg"
Johnny Cash - Live Recordings from the Louisiana Hayride (Scena Records) debut of this new legacy series from the 50,000-watt broadcasts of KWKH in Shreveport in the 1950s and 1960s
Biffy Clyro - The Vertigo of Bliss (Beggars Banquet) proudly bragging that the entire studio album was recorded in one day
Elvis Costello - North (Deutsche Grammophon) new ballads with Imposters' keyboardist Steve Nieve, the Brodsky Quartet, and saxophonist Lee Konitz
Steve Earle - Just an American Boy: An Audio Documentary (Artemis) two-CD companion to the film by director Amos Poe, featuring a cover of Nick Lowe's "What's So Funny About Peace, Love, & Understanding"
Europa 51 - Abstractions (Lo Recordings/Bubblecore) new from Simon Johns and Andy Ramsay of Stereolab, featuring a bonus 25-minute short film
The Fire Theft - The Fire Theft (Rykodisc) new from three former members of Sunny Day Real Estate
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Warner Bros.) special DVD-Audio collector's edition release of this stunner from last year, loaded with bonus tracks, documentaries, and a sneak look at the band's upcoming Christmas On Mars film project
Emmylou Harris - Stumble into Grace (Nonesuch) with guests Linda Ronstadt, Jane Siberry, and Luscious Jackson's Jill Cuniff
Joe Henry - Tiny Voices (Anti/Epitaph)
Integrity - To Die for (Deathwish) eight new songs from these Cleveland hardcore giants
The Kerosene Brothers - Choose Your Own Title (Audium) featuring sons of "Dueling Banjos" composer Don Reno, these players later became Hayseed Dixie
Kill Bill - original motion picture soundtrack (Maverick) with Nancy Sinatra, Charlie Feathers, Isaac Hayes, and Al Hirt
Sondre Lerche - Don't Be Shallow (Astralwerks) on tour now with Liz Phair, this EP collects live tracks and B sides
Limp Bizkit - Results May Vary (Interscope) with guests Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Page Hamilton of Helmet, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry, also available with a bonus 35-minute DVD, giving fans an advance whiff of the band's upcoming four-hour home video Poop
Matmos - The Civil War (Matador) with guests David Grubbs of Gastr del Sol and Mark Lightcap of Acetone mixing odd found-audio samples with folk bluegrass beats
Dave Matthews - Some Devil (RCA) solo debut with guest Trey Anastasio of Phish, featuring a bonus CD EP of soundboard tracks in the first pressing
The Mavericks - The Mavericks (Sanctuary) all new with guest Willie Nelson on a cover of the Hollies' "The Air That I Breathe"
Nickleback - The Long Road (Roadrunner)
Peaches - Fatherf*cker (XL/Beggars Banquet) featuring guest Iggy Pop and a cool sample of Joan Jett
Duke Robillard - Exalted Lover (Stony Plain) new from the W.C. Handy Award-winning "Blues Guitarist of the Year"
Kenny Rogers - Back to the Well (Dreamcatcher) featuring guest Alison Krauss
Michelle Shocked - Short Sharp Shocked (Mighty Sound) two-CD re-issue featuring a bonus disc of 22 previously unreleased demos, concerts, and radio sessions
Six Feet Under - Bringer of Blood (Metal Blade) with a bonus DVD featuring "SFU Underground," a metal documentary by filmmaker Deron Grams
Street Dogs - Savin Hill (Crosscheck) new from Mike McColgan and Jeff Erna, formerly of Dropkick Murphys, with special guest Dickie Barret of Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Teenage Fanclub - Four Thousand, Seven Hundred, & Sixty-Six Seconds: A Short Cut to Teenage Fanclub (Jetset) 21-track compilation
Television - Marquee Moon, Adventure, and Live at the Old Waldorf (Rhino) expanded re-issues from 1977 and 1978, and a live performance from 1979
Billy Bob Thornton - The Edge of the Worlds (Sanctuary) with guests Tommy Shaw of Styx, Joe Walsh, and Warren Zevon
Rusty Truck - Broken Promises (Coda Terra) with guests Lenny Kravitz, Gillian Welch, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, T-Bone Burnett, Sheryl Crow, and Willie Nelson lending a hand to rock photographer Mark Seliger's debut
The Twilight Singers - "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" (Birdman) new CD single from the Greg Dulli collective covering the Nina Simone classic
Rufus Wainwright - Want One (DreamWorks) with guests Levon Helm of The Band and Charlie Sexton
