Top pick of interest this week: KD Lang always has an interesting angle. This time out with Hymns of the 49th Parallel, she's interpreting the songs of fellow Canucks, including Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen. I'm definitely interested in hearing her version of "A Case of You." That's definitely an underappreciated classic song. Note that she's as high as #5 on the Amazon sales chart with this.
Joni Mitchell has a new album out this week herself, The Beginning of Survival.
This week marks the eponymous recorded debut by The Notorious Cherry Bombs, which is a country supergroup including Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill.
If anybody still gives a rat's ass about Pearl Jam, they have another live album out, Benaroya Hall: October 22nd 2003.
This week's major releases, from All Music Guide:
k.d. lang Hymns of the 49th Parallel Nonesuch
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Country
The Notorious Cherry Bombs The Notorious Cherry Bombs Universal South
Country-Rock, Contemporary Country, Americana, Country-Pop
The Animals Retrospective Abkco
British Invasion, Rock & Roll, British Blues, Psychedelic, Blues-Rock
Badly Drawn Boy One Plus One Is One Astralwerks
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter
Big Satan Souls Saved Hear Thirsty Ear
Avant-Garde Jazz, Modern Creative, Post-Bop
Sylvain Cambreling Helmut Lachenmann: Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern ECM
Contemporary Opera
Comets on Fire Blue Cathedral Sub Pop
Rock & Roll, Space Rock, Psychedelic, Hard Rock
James Cotton The Dancing Box Spectral Sound
Acid House, Club/Dance, Experimental Techno, Left-Field House
Dick Curless Tombstone Every Mile [Sundazed] Sundazed
Bakersfield Sound, Traditional Country, Truck Driving Country
Tanya Donelly Whiskey Tango Ghosts 4AD
Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, College Rock
Duke Ellington Blues in Orbit [Bonus Tracks] Columbia
Big Band
Duke Ellington Piano in the Background [Bonus Tracks] Columbia
Big Band, Orchestral Jazz
Duke Ellington Piano in the Foreground [Bonus Tracks] Columbia
Classic Jazz, Jazz Blues, Standards, Swing
Vadim Gluzman Time... and Again: Music for Violin and Piano Bis
Contemporary Chamber Music
Lloyd Green Master of the Steel Strings Koch
Country-Pop, Honky Tonk, Instrumental Country, Traditional Country
Hall & Oates Big Bam Boom [Bonus Tracks] BMG Heritage
New Wave, Soft Rock, Pop/Rock, Blue-Eyed Soul, Album Rock
Hall & Oates Voices [Bonus Tracks] BMG Heritage
New Wave, Soft Rock, Pop/Rock, Blue-Eyed Soul, Album Rock
Stonewall Jackson The Little Darlin' Sound: Mighty Stonewall Jackson Sings Modern Hits & Original Favorites Koch
Honky Tonk, Outlaw Country, Traditional Country
Kings of Convenience Riot on an Empty Street Astralwerks
Indie Pop
Kittie Until the End Artemis
Death Metal/Black Metal, Alternative Metal, Heavy Metal
Kevin Lyttle Kevin Lyttle Atlantic
Soca, Contemporary R&B
Herbie Mann/Phil Woods Beyond Brooklyn Telarc
Mainstream Jazz, Standards
Joni Mitchell The Beginning of Survival Geffen
Singer/Songwriter, Folk-Jazz, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Old 97s Drag It Up New West
Alternative Country-Rock, Americana
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
Big Satan's Souls Saved Hear is a big ol' slab of jazz-noise skronk fun. One of these days I'll get around to a review, but it comes HIGHLY recommended from this guy.
On the complete opposite side of the musical plate, and I don't understand why this isn't listed among the AMG releases, is all 8 albums Megadeth did on Capitol Records re-released in not only remastered but remixed glory. I bought two at Best Buy yesterday (they stuck them out early, apparently) and Dave Mustaine has done an amazing job with the mixes - removing all the production effects that dated the sound of these classic albums (well, several of them are classics, at least.)
2 - Mark Saleski
yessir! i've got an older Big Satan recording and it's definitely big, room-clearing fun.
3 - Shark
Gotta put in my two cents for the local boyz, Old 97s; Rhett Miller is maybe one of America's best contemporary songwriters, but most of yall outside the Lone Star State wouldn't know it.
4 - Mark Saleski
i saw Rhett Miller open for Tori Amos. he was pretty good.
5 - Tom Johnson
I'll be picking up the Old 97's for my wife, actually. Cool band, we both like 'em a lot but this one's definitely hers (and Rhett Miller's a great songwriter - catchy, intelligent, and fun. His solo album's quite good, too.) I, however, get to torture her with the Megadeth CDs in exchange.
6 - Mark Saleski
that alt.country genre is just loaded with interesting stuff. i picked up a copy of No Depression one day and after a half-hour or so my want-list had grown by at least 10 entires.
gotta get me one one 'o them money presses.
7 - Al Barger
Alrighty then, what would be a couple or three top likely Rhett Miller or Old 97 songs to hunt down for sampling?
8 - Shark
re: Old 97s
CD - Too Far to Care
* Timebomb
* Barrier Reef
*Salome
* Melt Show
CD -Fight Songs
* Jagged
* Indefinitely
* Murder (or a Heart Attack)
* Nineteen
* Let the Idiot Speak
CD - Satellite Rides
* King of All of the World
* Bird in a Cage
Rhett Miller's Solo CD
anything on it (it's a masterpiece)
Have fun.
9 - Jim S
the four Megadeth discs I picked up so far are incredibly improved.
Risk actually sounds almost like a metal record now.
10 - Tom Johnson
Jim S: be sure and pick up MD45 - it's now the "lost" Megadeth album with Ving Lee's vocals replaced with Mustaine's. In fact, it's a better Megadeth album than either Cryptic Writings and Risk are, harkening back to times closer to Megadeth's early days - much more raw and energetic, not to mention fun.