It's the dead of winter, and there doesn't seem to be even one vaguely interesting new album.
One thing that would be halfway worthwhile is the Rhino Handmade Sweet Patootie collection of Fats Domino's late 60s recordings for Reprise. He had a minor hit covering "Lady Madonna," which is only fair as it was apparently written as something of a Fats tribute in the first place. This set also includes a recording of "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey." I'd be interested in hearing that.
Here's the complete list of this week's major new releases, courtesy AMG:
Ambrosia
Road Island
Warner Brothers
Soft Rock, Prog-Rock/Art Rock, Adult Contemporary
Aztec Camera
Love/Stray
Wounded Bird
College Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Black Mountain
Black Mountain
Jagjaguwar
Indie Rock, Stoner Metal
Harold Budd
Avalon Sutra/As Long As I Can Hold My Breath
Samadhi Sound UK
Modern Composition, Avant-Garde, Ambient, Progressive Electronic, Electronic
The Detroit Cobras
Baby
Rough Trade
Garage Rock Revival
Fats Domino
Sweet Patootie: The Complete Reprise Recordings
Rhino Handmade
Rock & Roll, R&B
Magnolia Electric Co
Trials & Errors
Secretly Canadian
Alternative Country-Rock, Indie Rock, Country-Rock, Southern Rock
Paul Daniel
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 4; Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1; Flos Campi
Naxos
Post-Romantic Orchestral Music
Early Day Miners
All Harm Ends Here
Secretly Canadian
Indie Rock, Sadcore, Space Rock
Don Ellis
Connection
Columbia
Progressive Big Band, Modern Big Band, Post-Bop
Don Ellis
Tears of Joy
Columbia
Progressive Big Band, Modern Big Band, Post-Bop
The Fall
Interim
Hip Preist
Indie Rock
Fotomaker
Fotomaker
Atlantic
Pop/Rock, Power Pop
Fotomaker
Transfer Station
Atlantic
Pop/Rock, Soft Rock, Disco
Fotomaker
Vis-a-Vis
Atlantic
Pop/Rock, Power Pop
Fruupp
It's All Up Now: Anthology
Castle Music UK
Prog-Rock/Art Rock, British Psychedelia, Psychedelic
Michi Gaigg
Myslivicek: Symphonies & Overtures
CPO
Classical Orchestral Music
The Game
The Documentary
Aftermath
West Coast Rap, Hardcore Rap, Gangsta Rap
Louise Goffin
Kid Blue/Louise Goffin
Wounded Bird
Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter
Vince Guaraldi
Alma-Ville
Warner Brothers
West Coast Jazz, Latin Jazz, Cool, Mainstream Jazz
Vince Guaraldi
The Eclectic
Warner Brothers
Mainstream Jazz, Soul-Jazz, Folk-Pop
Martika
Toy Soldiers: The Best of Martika
Sony
Dance-Pop, Teen Pop, Bubblegum, Urban, Adult Contemporary
John Martyn
One World [Deluxe Edition]
Island
British Folk-Rock, British Folk, Folk-Rock, Singer/Songwriter
Michael Martin Murphey
Americana
Warner Brothers
Neo-Traditionalist Country, Singer/Songwriter, Progressive Country, Cowboy
Michael Martin Murphey
Tonight We Ride
Warner Brothers
Neo-Traditionalist Country, Singer/Songwriter, Progressive Country, Cowboy
The O'Jays
Message in Our Music: The Best of the O'Jays
Music Club International
Philly Soul, R&B, Soul, Pop-Soul, Smooth Soul, Quiet Storm, Urban
Billy Paul
Only the Strong Survive: The Best of Billy Paul
Music Club International
Philly Soul, Soul, Smooth Soul
Iggy Pop & the Stooges
Penetration
Demon Music Group
Hard Rock, Proto-Punk, Detroit Rock
Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Vivaldi: Orlando furioso
Naive
Baroque Opera
The System
X-Periment/Pleasure Seekers
Wounded Bird
Urban, Dance-Pop, Electro
Various Artists
Britten: Canticles Nos. 1-5; The Heart of the Matter
Naxos
Modern Vocal and Chamber Music
Various Artists
The Only Doo-Wop Collection You'll Ever Need
Sony
Doo Wop
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
So that Martika "Best of ..." release is a CD single right?
And is that Jon Benet Ramsey on the cover of Foto-makers?
2 - Bill Lamb
Pretty slim pickings indeed.
3 - Al Barger
Yeah, that Fotomaker album cover do look a tad on the pedophilic side, don't it? I'm sure Ashcroft would blow a vein if he saw it.
So, do NOT send that album cover to the AG. Thank you.
4 - Mark Saleski
dat's ok...as next week will see a mountain of new stuff.
5 - The Proprietor
Yeah, the Fotomaker cover raised a few eyebrows the first time around, but it was a pretty cool album. Wally Bryson from the Raspberries, and Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli from the Rascals were in the band, which made it an almost automatic choice for me (I've still got the vinyl)."Where Have You Been All My Life" was a nice piece of power pop for its time, I seem to remember spinning it a lot along with the Searchers album that came out around the same time, the one with "Hearts In Her Eyes" and "Switchboard Susan".
6 - Eric Olsen
I loved that first Fotomaker album and I took the cover to be tongue-in-cheek - remember this was the late-'70s before such things came to a head.
7 - Al Barger
Well, I'm not really going to accuse them of anything bad based on an album cover. If they were really playing with underage girls, they probably wouldn't be advertising it on an album cover. Even Michael Jackson's smart enough not to put provocative pictures of little boys on his album covers.
8 - John Martin
It's great to have Ambrosia's album Road Island
finally released. The song Ice Age is a Prog
Rock Gem. This album is a wonderful rock
album.
9 - JR
This post is, like, so last year.