· The audio alchemists of Negativland have done it again, challenging listeners with an electronic cacophony to accompany their latest "art damage" project, entitled Death Sentences of the Polished & Structurally Weak.
Stepping away from the band's endearing mix of mad-lab-mischievous juxtaposition and radio-jamming anarchy, this new project is more art than melody, but like the car crashes it peers into, you can't turn away from the carnage. Housed in a beautiful 64-page glossy color booklet modeled after the owner's manuals found in new cars, this new endeavor started with member Richard Lyons' trip to a California auto graveyard in search of spare parts. Serendipity mixed with horror when he came upon a car he had previously owned, now mangled by the Jaws of Life that perhaps freed its previous occupants from a ghastly crash. Searching through its crushed interior and the carcasses of other auto-yard wrecks, Lyons found handfuls of eerie ephemera - love letters, shopping lists, photographs, parking tickets, collection-agency pursuits, and other strands of the lives of these car owners. These letters and other found documents are beautifully reproduced next to the mutilated cars they were found in and serve as the inspiration for new recordings, a sort of "music to die by at 80 miles per hour." Look for this odd egg on the band's own Seeland Records imprint.
· This Tuesday Island Records is releasing Cruel Smile, a new collection of Elvis Costello rarities hot on the trail of his recent When I Was Cruel album. Highlights include live recordings from this past summer of "Almost Blue," "Watching the Detectives," and "Uncomplicated," alongside studio recordings from Paris and San Francisco's KFOG-FM, and remixes by Costello's producer moniker "The Imposter."
· Two new CDs have intrigued my cover-lovin' soul. This Tuesday the American Recordings and Lost Highway labels join forces to issue a new album from Johnny Cash, entitled The Man Comes Around. The album is the fourth solo set on Rick Rubin's American imprint, and like the previous albums, it features Cash covering songs that are difficult to associate with his dark and powerful delivery. Must-hear gems on this new set include his take on Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," the Beatles' "In My Life," and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," as well as standards such as "Danny Boy" and "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." Also tickling my cover fancy is Ivy's latest, Guestroom, an all-cover CD that takes the sultry New York City trio through spins on personal picks from many eras and styles. Highlights include their spin on The Cure's "Let's Go To Bed," the Ronettes' "Be My Baby," Steely Dan's "Only a Fool Would Say That," the House of Love's "I Don't Know Why I Love You," and Serge Gainsbourg's "L'Anamour" - perfect for the sexy voice of native Parisian Dominique Durand. Other artists covered on the Minty Fresh Records set include The Go-Betweens, Papas Fritas, and Orange Juice.
Televsion Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Beck this evening, Erykah Badu on Friday, Elvis Costello on Monday, and Lifehouse on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts India.Arie this evening and Avril Lavigne on Tuesday; and Late Night with Conan O'Brien features Coldplay on Thursday overnight and Peter Gabriel on Friday overnight.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, October 1:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever - original motion picture soundtrack (Varese Sarabande) with BT, Crystal Method, and Curve
The Blow - Bonus Album (K Records)
Franklin Bruno - A Cat May Look at a Queen (Absolutely Kosher) featuring a cover of Jerry Vale's "Two Purple Shadows"
D+ - Mistake (K Records)
Dennis Driscoll - Voices in the Fog (K Records)
EE - For 100 We Try Harder (Asian Man) featuring Seam guitarist Soo Young Park
The Flaming Lips - The Day They Shot a Hole in the Jesus Egg (Restless) two-CD collection of the band's In a Priest Driven Ambulance album from 1991 with bonus tracks
Floetry - Floetic (Dreamworks) new from the London duo of Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart, featuring a cover of Michael Jackson's "Butterflies"
Good Charlotte - The Young & The Hopeless (Daylight/Epic)
Heroine Sheiks - Siamese Pipe (Rubric) new from former Cows front man Shannon Selberg
Catherine Irwin - Cut Yourself a Switch (Thrill Jockey) new solo album from the Freakwater member
Jim Yoshii Pileup - Homemade Drugs (Absolutely Kosher)
Rilo Kiley - The Execution of Things (Saddle Creek)
Mark Knopfler - The Ragpicker's Dream (Warner Bros) the third solo album from the Dire Straits founder
Diana Krall - Live in Paris (Verve) featuring the jazz vocalist's covers of Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" and Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You"
Lo-Hi - Say It More (Tiger Style) new from Martin Owens of Speedball Baby and Hollis Queens and Jens Jurgensen of Boss Hog
Miguel Migs - Colorful You (Astralwerks) new soulful house from the world-class DJ
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle Be Unbroken Volume III (Capitol)
Kim Richey - Rise (Lost Highway) her fourth album
LeAnn Rimes - Twisted Angel (Curb)
Chris Rock - Bring the Pain (Dreamworks) DVD re-issue of this HBO concert with bonus animation and interviews
Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher (Warp) odds-and-sods collection featuring a cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and a bonus 45-minute live disc from last year's Fuji Festival
Stavesacre - Stavesacre (Nitro) featured on this past summer's Vans Warped Tour
Matthew Sweet - The Understand: The Early Recordings (Hip-O) 22 tracks of demos and rarities
Themselves - The No Music (Anticom) spaced-out hip-hop crackling with aggression from Doseone of Clouddead
Jenny Toomey - Tempting (Misra) re-interpreting material by Frank Bruno with members of Calexico
Weather Report - Live & Unreleased (Columbia Legacy) covering the classic lineup of 1975 to 1983
· This Tuesday Island Records is releasing Cruel Smile, a new collection of Elvis Costello rarities hot on the trail of his recent When I Was Cruel album. Highlights include live recordings from this past summer of "Almost Blue," "Watching the Detectives," and "Uncomplicated," alongside studio recordings from Paris and San Francisco's KFOG-FM, and remixes by Costello's producer moniker "The Imposter."
· Two new CDs have intrigued my cover-lovin' soul. This Tuesday the American Recordings and Lost Highway labels join forces to issue a new album from Johnny Cash, entitled The Man Comes Around. The album is the fourth solo set on Rick Rubin's American imprint, and like the previous albums, it features Cash covering songs that are difficult to associate with his dark and powerful delivery. Must-hear gems on this new set include his take on Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," the Beatles' "In My Life," and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," as well as standards such as "Danny Boy" and "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." Also tickling my cover fancy is Ivy's latest, Guestroom, an all-cover CD that takes the sultry New York City trio through spins on personal picks from many eras and styles. Highlights include their spin on The Cure's "Let's Go To Bed," the Ronettes' "Be My Baby," Steely Dan's "Only a Fool Would Say That," the House of Love's "I Don't Know Why I Love You," and Serge Gainsbourg's "L'Anamour" - perfect for the sexy voice of native Parisian Dominique Durand. Other artists covered on the Minty Fresh Records set include The Go-Betweens, Papas Fritas, and Orange Juice.
Televsion Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Beck this evening, Erykah Badu on Friday, Elvis Costello on Monday, and Lifehouse on Tuesday; The Late Show with David Letterman hosts India.Arie this evening and Avril Lavigne on Tuesday; and Late Night with Conan O'Brien features Coldplay on Thursday overnight and Peter Gabriel on Friday overnight.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, October 1:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever - original motion picture soundtrack (Varese Sarabande) with BT, Crystal Method, and Curve
The Blow - Bonus Album (K Records)
Franklin Bruno - A Cat May Look at a Queen (Absolutely Kosher) featuring a cover of Jerry Vale's "Two Purple Shadows"
D+ - Mistake (K Records)
Dennis Driscoll - Voices in the Fog (K Records)
EE - For 100 We Try Harder (Asian Man) featuring Seam guitarist Soo Young Park
The Flaming Lips - The Day They Shot a Hole in the Jesus Egg (Restless) two-CD collection of the band's In a Priest Driven Ambulance album from 1991 with bonus tracks
Floetry - Floetic (Dreamworks) new from the London duo of Marsha Ambrosius and Natalie Stewart, featuring a cover of Michael Jackson's "Butterflies"
Good Charlotte - The Young & The Hopeless (Daylight/Epic)
Heroine Sheiks - Siamese Pipe (Rubric) new from former Cows front man Shannon Selberg
Catherine Irwin - Cut Yourself a Switch (Thrill Jockey) new solo album from the Freakwater member
Jim Yoshii Pileup - Homemade Drugs (Absolutely Kosher)
Rilo Kiley - The Execution of Things (Saddle Creek)
Mark Knopfler - The Ragpicker's Dream (Warner Bros) the third solo album from the Dire Straits founder
Diana Krall - Live in Paris (Verve) featuring the jazz vocalist's covers of Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" and Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You"
Lo-Hi - Say It More (Tiger Style) new from Martin Owens of Speedball Baby and Hollis Queens and Jens Jurgensen of Boss Hog
Miguel Migs - Colorful You (Astralwerks) new soulful house from the world-class DJ
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Will the Circle Be Unbroken Volume III (Capitol)
Kim Richey - Rise (Lost Highway) her fourth album
LeAnn Rimes - Twisted Angel (Curb)
Chris Rock - Bring the Pain (Dreamworks) DVD re-issue of this HBO concert with bonus animation and interviews
Squarepusher - Do You Know Squarepusher (Warp) odds-and-sods collection featuring a cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and a bonus 45-minute live disc from last year's Fuji Festival
Stavesacre - Stavesacre (Nitro) featured on this past summer's Vans Warped Tour
Matthew Sweet - The Understand: The Early Recordings (Hip-O) 22 tracks of demos and rarities
Themselves - The No Music (Anticom) spaced-out hip-hop crackling with aggression from Doseone of Clouddead
Jenny Toomey - Tempting (Misra) re-interpreting material by Frank Bruno with members of Calexico
Weather Report - Live & Unreleased (Columbia Legacy) covering the classic lineup of 1975 to 1983
