Mark your calendars and beg your local record store to hold you a copy of the June 6 NME magazine, as that week's issue will come with a limited-edition white-wax seven-inch of The White Stripes' new single, "Icky Thump." While the UK retail CD and seven-inch single bear the rare B sides "Catch Hell Blues" and "Baby Brother," respectively, the NME bonus bears an artistic, etched flip side instead of another song.
Fistfuls of cool new DVD titles with a musical beat are ready rock your 5.1-channel surround-sound system and entertain your eyes. This coming Tuesday Eagle Rock Entertainment releases the DVD companion to last month's Live in Glasgow CD from iconic rock vocalist Paul Rodgers. Filmed last year with guitarist Howard Leese of Heart and drummer Ryan Hoyle of Collective Soul, Rodgers' backing band features a player to look out for: 17-year-old guitar wizard Kurtis Dengler. Bonus goodies include interviews with fans and an acoustic solo run through "Sunshine."
Also due Tuesday from Eagle Rock is UB40's Live at Montreux 2002 DVD, featuring the band's stamp on two soul classics: The Temptations' "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and Al Green's "Here I Am (Come & Take Me)."
Armchair travel via your TV gets hip in Time Out books' and Deaf Dumb & Blind Recordings' new The Other Side series of DJ-driven mix CDs with documentary DVDs. Like having a generous friend in a foreign metropolis who knows all the coolest nightlife, shopping, and dining spots under the radar of stodgy travel guides, these walking-tour DVDs take the viewer into the authentic heart of a city with beats to boot. New York and Paris have previously been exposed in the series, with the recent release of Berlin by curator Ellen Allien and her selection of David Bowie, Wayne County & the Electric Chairs, and Miss Kitten on the CD side, and Peanut Butter Wolf's journey through his haunts of Los Angeles, with songs selected from the Sun Ra Arkestra, Cybertron, and the Freestyle Fellowship.
London and Bristol, England, are the background stars of Plexifilm's recent release of Radio on on DVD. The Christopher Petit film features beautiful black-and-white photography of the bleary United Kingdom of 1979, the first on-screen performance by Sting, and a spot-on soundtrack featuring Kraftwerk, Lene Lovich, Devo, Robert Fripp, and Ian Dury. Bonus material includes a remixed soundtrack with sound designer Bruce Gilbert of Wire, and footage of scene locations 20 years later.
It'll Be Better Tomorrow, a documentary on the dark author (and addict) Hubert Selby Jr., was a big hit at Sundance a few years back and has now made it DVD on MVD Visual, packed with more than three hours of bonus interviews. Narrated by a man who knows the needle well, Robert Downey Jr., the film features a wild array of actors, actresses, authors, and filmmakers, along with rockers Lou Reed, Henry Rollins, and Anthony Kiedis.
Television Alert:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Fiction Plane tonight and Dwight Yoakam on Friday; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson hosts Patti Smith on Thursday overnight; Last Call with Carson Daly presents Ben Kweller this evening and Satellite Party on Friday overnight; Jimmy Kimmel Live features Alexa Ray Joel on Thursday overnight; The Henry Rollins Show on IFC features musical guest Billy Bragg this weekend.
New Releases Coming Tuesday, May 29:
... and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change.
The Actual - In Stitches (Soft Drive) debut release on Scott Weiland's new boutique label
American Catapult - Trees of Mystery (Further South/Cooking Vinyl) open-road, windows-down favorites, soaring in the pocket of The Bottle Rockets and R.E.M.
Barzin - "Just More Drugs" (Monotreme Records) five-song CD EP featuring radio sessions, a cover of Tindersticks' "Mistakes," and a video of "Leaving Time"
Battles - Mirrored (Warp) fantastic, nervous fantasia from this instrumental Brooklyn quartet of studio alchemists, keeping their cauldron simmering with the conducting staff of Frank Zappa, the upside-down drip of Salvador Dali, and the cartoon cacophony of Raymond Scott
Boy in Static - Violet (Mush) cavernous, intimate electronic pop by multi-instrumentalist Alexander Chen
Les Claypool - Fancy (Prawn Song) solo live concert DVD, filmed last summer with guests Paolo Baldi of Cake, Skerik of Critters' Buggin', and the delightful Gabby La La
Coyote Bones - Gentlemen on the Rocks (Coco Art) featuring guests from The Faint, Bright Eyes, and Azure Ray
Danzig - The Lost Tracks of Danzig (Evilive) two-CD set featuring the acoustic "Come to Silver," originally written for Johnny Cash, and must-hear covers of T.Rex's "Buick Mackane," David Bowie's "Cat People," and The Germs classic "Caught in My Eye"
Destructo Swarmbots - Clear Light (Public Guilt Records) four ambient nightmares from this Queens, New York, collective
Dinosaur Jr. - Live from the Middle East (Image Entertainment) DVD filmed in 2005 with guests Mike Watt and Thurston Moore
I Roy - Gussie Presenting I Roy (Trojan/Sanctuary) reissue from 1973 with 12 bonus tracks
Lotus - Escaping the Sargasso Sea (Sci Fidelity) two-CD set
The Moonbabies - Moonbabies at the Ballroom (Hidden Agenda) spaced-out duo from Sweden, slipping into a morphine orbit
Johnette Napolitano - Scarred (Hybrid) four-star solo CD from the unforgettable voice of Concrete Blonde, currently the go-to gal for superstar songwriting collaborations; featuring 10 new originals and killer covers of the Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties" and Coldplay's "The Scientist"
Never Again - Against the Rest (Razor & Tie) featuring two songs with Ryan Rockwell of the Black Tie Bombers
Rebuilding the Rights of Statues - Cut Off! (Tag Team) seven-track CD EP from these arty Beijing post-punks, with guest keyboardist Brian Eno
Retconned - Unhappenings (Stickfigure) percolating, experimental electronic flip-book frontin' from itchy, twitchy robot seducer Jonathan Lukens
Satellite Party - Ultra Payload (Columbia) released in an all-green recycled paper package, this anticipated new CD from Perry Farrell and Nuno Bettencourt incorporates previously unreleased vocal recordings from Jim Morrison into a new concoction, "Woman in the Window," and features guests Peter Hook of New Order and John Frusciante and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times (The End Records) prog-ish, synapse-stroking, theatric rock opera of the mind using eerie homemade and vintage instruments
Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior (Shout Factory) political, all electric, and all new, featuring guest harmonies by Judith Owen
various artists - Magna Carta Guitar Greats: Volume 1 (Magna Carta)
various artists - Metal Mania: Stripped on the Strip (Sidewinder) DVD filmed at Hollywood's Key Club, with acoustic performances from Great White, Dokken, Tesla, and Queensryche
various artists - Real Life Permanent Dreams: A Cornucopia Of British Psychedelia 1965-1970 (Castle) import-only labor of love boasting 99 tracks over four CDs, with hits and rarities from The Nice, The Incredible String Band, Eire Apparent, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, The Yellow Bellow Room Boom, Paper Blitz Tissue, and more
