Lee Ranaldo (of Sonic Youth fame) gets an honorable mention here for Countless Centuries Fled into the Distance. It almost won the pick of the week but since it's only being released on vinyl LP, it didn't seem quite right for this list. On the other hand, all the cool people are buying turntables these days...

Tom Johnson's Tasters Choice: Penguin Cafe Orchestra - When In Rome
There's never a correct genre to classify this group under - they're not classical, they're not rock, and they're certainly not shitty so they don't qualify for the "new age" label under which they generally get stuck. Chamber-rock? I don't know. I'll quote the All Music Guide because they sum them up perfectly: "The Penguin Cafe Orchestra creates dreamlike music. It is beautiful, yet illogical, unpredictable, and often bizarre." Yep.

Think strings and guitars playing something like folky classical and jazz combined with a touch of Phillip Glass. I only focus here on When In Rome, their live album, but the majority of their catalog is getting re-released today via a strange new "1-bit" remaster treatment that is sure to be very kind to this gorgeous music, packaged in digipaks that replicate the original artwork that has not been well-represented in the CD era. If I hadn't already pre-ordered so damn much other stuff this week (thanks, U2 and NIN) you can be sure I'd have at least a few of these on their way to me. Or maybe all of them. Oh well, that's what crappy release weeks like next week are for, right?

Here are all of this week's new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide

Black Kids
Partie Traumatic
Ag/Columbia
New Wave/Post-Punk Revival, Indie Rock

David Bowie
Live in Santa Monica '72
EMI
Pop/Rock, Glam Rock, Album Rock, Hard Rock, Experimental Rock, Prog-Rock/Art Rock, Proto-Punk

CSS
Donkey
Sub Pop
Indie Electronic, Indie Rock

Miley Cyrus
Breakout
Disney
Teen Pop, Dance-Pop

Nine Inch Nails
The Slip
Null Corporation
Industrial Metal, Alternative Metal, Industrial, Alternative Pop/Rock

U2
Boy [Deluxe Edition]
Island/Interscope/Universal
College Rock, Album Rock, Post-Punk, Pop/Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock

Paul Weller
22 Dreams
Island
British Trad Rock, Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter

The Avett Brothers
The Gleam II
Ramseur
Progressive Folk, Alternative Folk, Progressive Country, Alternative Country

Black Sabbath
The Rules of Hell
Rhino/Warner Bros.
Album Rock, Heavy Metal

Bodies of Water
A Certain Feeling
Secretly Canadian
Indie Pop

Buffalo Killers
Let It Ride
Alive
Indie Rock, Neo-Psychedelia

Burning Spear
The Best of Burning Spear [VCT]
Virgin
Political Reggae, Roots Reggae

Candlebox
Into the Sun
Silent Majority
Alternative Pop/Rock, Post-Grunge

Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning
Something for All of Us...
Arts & Crafts
Indie Rock, Post-Rock/Experimental

Eliza Carthy
Dreams of Breathing Underwater
Topic
Contemporary Folk, British Folk, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter

Gloria Cheng
Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky & Lutoslawski
Telarc
Modern and Contemporary Piano Music

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Déjà Vu Live
Reprise/Wea
Pop/Rock, Folk-Rock, Singer/Songwriter

Chris Difford
The Last Temptation of Chris
Airline/Stiff
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter

Dr. Dog
Fate
Park the Van
Pop Underground, Indie Rock, Indie Pop

Gustavo Dudamel
Fiesta
Deutsche Grammophon
Modern and Contemporary Orchestral Music

Trevor Dunn
Four Films
Tzadik
Experimental Rock, Original Score, Film Music, Soundtracks

Helena Espvall/Masaki Batoh
Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh
Drag City
Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Neo-Psychedelia, Indie Rock

Faun Fables
A Table Forgotten
Drag City
Acid Folk, Neo-Traditional Folk, Indie Rock, Folk-Rock, Goth Rock

¡Forward, Russia!
Life Processes
Cooking Vinyl
Indie Rock

Noel Gourdin
After My Time
Epic
Contemporary R&B, Neo-Soul

Antony Gray
Brahms: Late Piano Works
ABC Classics
Romantic Piano Music

Buddy Guy
Skin Deep
Silvertone/Zomba
Modern Electric Chicago Blues, Electric Chicago Blues, Chicago Blues, Modern Electric Blues

Hell Rell
Black Mask Black Gloves
Babygrande
East Coast Rap

High Places
03/07 - 09/07
Thrill Jockey
Indie Electronic, Indie Pop

Benji Hughes
A Love Extreme
New West
Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Indie Pop

Janis Ian
Best of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Collection
Cooking Vinyl
Contemporary Folk, Folk-Rock, Singer/Songwriter

Individuals
Fields/Aqua Marine
Bar/None
Power Pop, New Wave, Jangle Pop

Syleena Johnson
I Am Your Woman: The Best of Syleena Johnson
Sony Legacy
Neo-Soul, Contemporary R&B, Urban

Angelika Kirchlager
My Heart Alone: Favorite Opera Arias and Duets
Sony Classical
Romantic, Post-Romantic and Modern Opera Arias

Shannon Lee
Introducing Shannon Lee
Telarc
Baroque, Romantic, Post-Romantic and Modern Violin Music

Jon Peter Lewis
Break the Silence
Cockaroo/Adrenaline
Pop Idol, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock

Low vs Diamond
Low vs Diamond
Epic/Red
Indie Rock

Mars
Mars LP
No More
No Wave

Maria Muldaur
Yes We Can!
Telarc
Folk-Blues, Acoustic Blues, Jazz Blues

One Day as a Lion
One Day as a Lion
Anti
Rap-Metal, Alternative Metal, Post-Hardcore

Original Soundtrack
The Rocker
Columbia
Film Music, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Hair Metal, Soundtracks, Heavy Metal

Pacific!
Reveries
Pacific/Dolores
Indie Electronic, Swedish Pop/Rock, Indie Pop

Stephen Pearcy
Under My Skin
Airline
Hard Rock

Pepper
Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations
Law
Alternative Pop/Rock, Third Wave Ska Revival, Contemporary Reggae, Punk-Pop

The Rumble Strips
Girls and Weather
Universal/Island
Indie Rock

Bon Scott
Early Years 1967-1972
See for Miles
Hard Rock, Acid Rock, Pub Rock, Psychedelic

Shaggy
The Best of Shaggy
Virgin
Ragga, Club/Dance, Dancehall, Contemporary Reggae, Reggae-Pop

Christopher Titus
Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding
Comedy Central
Standup Comedy, Observational Humor

Peter Tosh
Best of Peter Tosh [VCT]
Virgin
Political Reggae, Roots Reggae

Ike Turner
Classic Early Sides 1952-1957
JSP
R&B, Jump Blues, Electric Blues

U2
October [Deluxe Edition]
Island/Interscope/Universal
College Rock, Album Rock, Post-Punk, Pop/Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock

U2
War [Deluxe Edition]
Island/Interscope/Universal
College Rock, Album Rock, Pop/Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Post-Punk

Various Artists
Bluegrass: Independent Label Sides 1951-1954
JSP
Bluegrass, String Bands