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Whether by design or by accident, the ladies dominate the new releases this week, as three very high profile female superstars release much-anticipated new albums.
Janet Jackson — who apparently wants to be called just "Janet" these days — releases her first post Nipplegate CD Discipline. The record is said to be a broad mix of innocent sounding R&B/pop, frenetic dance numbers, and an extension of the steamier stuff that got her into so much trouble at the Super Bowl. Live and learn I guess.
Erykah Badu has been making intoxicating records that mix old-school flavored R&B with hip-hop for about ten years now. The provocatively titled New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War is reportedly her most hip-hop, yet most adventurous, release to date. The album will also be the first in a series of similarly themed (and titled) releases. Badu gets help here from Sa-Ra, Madlib, 9th Wonder, and mainstays Karriem Riggins, James Poyser, and Ahmir Thompson.
Dolly Parton's Backwoods Barbie returns the country legend to more mainstream pop territory, after recent experiments with a bluegrass sound. The album mixes new original material with a few well-chosen covers, such as her version of Betsy Ulmer and Craig Wiseman's "Jesus & Gravity."
The 20th anniversary of the Cowboy Junkies' landmark Trinity Sessions is celebrated with the band going back into church, and taking another crack at those songs. On Trinity Revisited, the Junkies are joined by several guest vocalists including Ryan Adams, Natalie Merchant, and Vic Chesnutt. Highlights here include a new, longer-than-the-original version of their classic Lou Reed cover "Sweet Jane" (which Reed himself famously called the best version of the song he had ever heard), as well as Merchant's take on "To Love Is To Bury." This new reinterpretation of Trinity Sessions comes in a deluxe CD/DVD package that also includes a documentary film.
Forbes is the silken voice that drives Pink Martini, the self-described "…Hollywood musical of the 40's or 50's – but with a global perspective which is modern." On this solo record, Forbes takes leave of the Martini's world lounge, picks up the guitar, and gets personal. I'm ready for it.
It's so nice of Death Angel to think of me on my birthday. This San Francisco thrash band gave a fitting name to their third album, 1990's Act III (one of my all-time favorites, by the way), and promptly exited stage left when a tour-bus accident took them off the road long enough to splinter the band. Just as they were on top of their game, garnering praise for a fantastic piece of metal, they broke up and disappeared. Act III, lucky for us, was so solid and mature that it has stood the test of time. Maybe that's why, after nearly 14 years, the band responded to the unending praise for that long-ago career and returned for what many, including me, thought might be only a curtain call – 2004's killer The Art Of Dying.
Killing Season, like The Art Of Dying, sounds like the majority of the 90s barely happened at all, and comes packaged with a DVD of a 2003 concert in Strasbourg. You can't really go too far wrong here – if you somehow don't like the new music, the DVD will have much to offer, since the concert will feature a good amount of older material. They even thought of you on my birthday.
Here are all of this week's new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:
Erykah Badu
New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War
Universal Motown
Neo-Soul, Urban, Contemporary R&B
Carl Craig
Sessions
!K7
Detroit Techno, Club/Dance, Techno, House
Goldfrapp
Seventh Tree
Mute
Alternative Pop/Rock, Electronica
Janet Jackson
Discipline
Island
Urban, Contemporary R&B
Dolly Parton
Backwoods Barbie
Dolly
Traditional Country, Progressive Country, Honky Tonk, Country-Folk, Country-Pop
The Cardigans
The Best Of [Limited Edition]
Polydor
Indie Pop, Alternative Pop/Rock, Swedish Pop/Rock, Twee Pop, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Carl St. Clair
Villa-Lobost: Symphony No 10 Amerindia
CPO
Modern Orchestral Music
Cowboy Junkies
Trinity Revisited [Bonus DVD]
Zoe
College Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Country-Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
The Dirtbombs
We Have You Surrounded
In The Red
Garage Punk, Garage Rock Revival
Earth
The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
Southern Lord
Post-Rock/Experimental
Eugenius
Mary Queen of Scots
Wounded Bird
Indie Pop, Jangle Pop, Indie Rock
Hayseed Dixie
No Covers
Cooking Vinyl
Contemporary Bluegrass
Chris Hicks
Dog Eat Dog World
Shout! Factory
Southern Rock
Missy Higgins
On a Clear Night
Virgin
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Jefferson Starship
Timeless Classics Live
Rainman
Album Rock, Arena Rock, Hard Rock, Adult Contemporary
The Judybats
Native Son
Wounded Bird
Alternative Pop/Rock
King's Singers
The Golden Age
Signum Classics
Renaissance & Baroque Vocal Music
Ludo
You're Awful, I Love You
Island
Indie Rock
Maria McKee
Live at the BBC
Polydor
Alternative Country-Rock, Country-Rock, College Rock, Roots Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Tift Merritt
Another Country
Fantasy
Alternative Country, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Americana
Morrissey
Greatest Hits
Polydor
College Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Dance-Rock
José Serebrier
Bizet/Serebrier: Carmen Symphony
Naxos
Modern Arrangement of Romantic Orchestral Music
Robert Spano
Michael Gandolfi: The Garden of Cosmic Speculation [Hybrid SACD]
Telarc
Contemporary Orchestral Music
Christian Tetzlaff
Brahms, Joachim: Violin Concertos
Virgin Classics
Romantic Violin Concertos
Original Cast Recording
The Little Mermaid [Disney Cast Recording]
Disney
Musicals, Cast Recordings
Punch Brothers
Punch
Nonesuch
Contemporary Bluegrass, String Bands, Bluegrass, Progressive Bluegrass
Pete Rock
NY's Finest
NSD
East Coast Rap, Hip-Hop
Rocket from the Crypt
R.I.P.
Vagrant
Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Diane Schuur
Some Other Time
Concord
Vocal Jazz, Contemporary Jazz
Shawty Lo
Units in the City
Asylum/D4L
Southern Rap, Gangsta Rap, Party Rap
Conway Twitty
It's Only Make Believe: The MGM Years
Mercury Nashville
Country Boogie, Rockabilly, Rock & Roll
Various Artists
Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generations
Warner/Reprise
Standup Comedy, Country Comedy
Various Artists
The Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll: The Follow-Up Hits
Ace
Rock & Roll
Various Artists
Soulsville Sings Hitsville: Stax Sings Songs of Motown Records
Stax
Southern Soul, Soul
Various Artists
Stax Does the Beatles
Stax
Southern Soul, Soul
Lizz Wright
The Orchard
Verve Forecast
Vocal Jazz, Adult Contemporary
