Rise Against's <I>The Sufferer & the Witness</I>
Photo: Geffen Records

With all the fireworks happening this Independence Day weekend, you'd expect an explosion of activity in the record racks too, right? Wrong. Not only is there a lack of releases this week, there aren't even any new Hank Williams Jr. or Darryl Worley tunes to light your sparklers to.

Instead you'll have to settle for Chicago iconoclasts Rise Against, who're squeezing out their fourth record, The Sufferer & the Witness. The 13-track affair, co-produced by Bill Stevenson (Black Flag, Descendents), features the hardcore-ish "Survive," rapid-fire "Bricks" — featuring the refrain "we'll never die" — and a surprise ballad, "Roadside." Look for guest-singing appearances by Holy Roman Empire's Emily Schambra and Drag the River's Chad Price.

If it's more topical — and critical — listening that you're after this week, look no further than Blow Up Hollywood's The Diaries of Private Henry Hill, a concept album that's based on the writings of a U.S. solider who died in Iraq. Hill's journals were passed along to his father, who in turn gave them to Blow Up frontman/ homeless-shelter coordinator Steve Messina. The third studio LP by the New York ensemble is boosted by a bonus DVD and includes the ominously titled "Shots Fired," "Shock and Awe" and "Salvation."

Too critical for your tastes? Well, the closest you're going to get to nationalist sentiment is with Johnny Cash, a reputed renegade who perplexed patriots throughout his career. This week hails American V: A Hundred Highways, presumably the final chapter in the series overseen by Rick Rubin, as it contains the last song Cash wrote and recorded: "Like the 309." Bundled with touching notes by Rubin, the opus features covers of songs by Bruce Springsteen ("Further Up on the Road"), Hank Williams ("On the Evening Train"), Gordon Lightfoot ("If You Could Read My Mind") and other American heritage artists.

Just as Cash's renditions of other people's songs are being collected, so are the songs that inspired him to make music in the first place. Roots & Branches: Artists, Songs & Recordings That Inspired the Legend of Johnny Cash boasts the Kingston Trio's "Jackson," Jimmie Rodgers' "In the Jailhouse Now," Roy Orbison's "You're My Baby" and more.

On the subject of recycling other people's songs, Rodney Jerkins is putting a new twist on the idea. The premier hip-hop producer shows his Versatility with an album that boasts 13 instrumental songs and six additional cuts that consumers can break down into individual tracks and re-create. Those who reshape one or more of the bonus tracks can submit the mixes — along with the CD's proof-of-purchase — to Jerkins, and the winner will get a chance to be a songwriter on a future Jerkins-produced album. Versatility drops on his own Darkchild Records imprint.

Also going the innovative route are the Eastern Stars, who spray Moog, ukulele and omnichord over the 11 tracks featured on July 5th, 1961. The newbies — Rob Corradetti and Kaia Wong — looked to Moldy Peaches, Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd for inspiration on their first effort, according to a track-by-track breakdown. The New York folksters are giving the record a soft release this week in New York and San Francisco — so it can relish the 45th anniversary of the album title, which the band calls "a date on which nothing of political or social significance occurred, yet a date on which everything imaginable happened: birth, death, tragedy, baseball and slugging back to work with holiday hangovers." The record gets a wide release in August.

Also seeing a limited release this week is Ziggy Marley's Love Is My Religion, which he's only delivering to Target stores through Tuff Gong Worldwide. It's the first time Marley has gone with an exclusive distributor and, more significantly, the first time Target is selling a record exclusively — took a little while to catch up to Best Buy, eh? "One of my father's goals was to release an album independently. ... Unfortunately, he never had the chance," Marley said in a press release. "This album and the way it is being sold is important to me in honoring my father's spirit." Bob Marley's spirit living on through a major retailer? Who knew? Marley's Love Is My Religion, his second solo release, features African percussion and "Into the Groove," "Be Free" and the title track.

Also pushing musical boundaries are Banco de Gaia, whose Farewell Ferengistan encompasses electronic and Middle Eastern beats, ambient passages and Qawaali drumming. "Flow My Dreams, The Android Wept" not only references the novella by author Philip K. Dick, which was adapted to became "Blade Runner," but the song includes a clip from the score to "A Clockwork Orange," as well.

Last but not least, this week brings the first CD by Peter Gammons, longtime ESPN analyst, baseball critic and, apparently, guitarist. Sadly, the 61-year-old will be celebrating the release of Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old in a hospital bed — he's still recovering after suffering a brain aneurysm last week. With a varied guest list that includes George Thorogood, Juliana Hatfield, Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein and a smattering of Sox players, all proceeds will be going toward Epstein's Foundation to be Named Later, a nonprofit that helps disadvantaged kids in the Boston area. Don't get hooked on "Tanqueray" or "NyQuil Blues."

Song Title of the Week:

"The Ticket That Exploded" from Eastern Stars' July 5th, 1961

New Releases:

• Banco de Gaia - Farewell Ferengistan (Six Degrees)
  
• Blow Up Hollywood - The Diaries of Private Henry Hill (MJ12)
  
• Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways (Lost Highway)
  Buy Now: American V: A Hundred Highways (Lost Highway)
  
• Eastern Stars - July 5th, 1961 (Mental Monkey)
  
• Fat Jon - The Ample Soul Physician: Afterthought (Ample Soul)
  
• Peter Gammons - Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old (Rounder)
  
• Rodney Jerkins - Versatility (Darkchild/ Bungalo/ Universal)
  Read: "Want A Song From Superproducer Rodney Jerkins? He'll Sell You 11 For Just $18"
  
• Ziggy Marley - Love Is My Religion (Target stores only; Tuff Gong)
  
• Marc McGuinn - One Man's Crazy (Blue Flamingo)
  
• Alice Peacock - Who I Am (Universal)
  
• Rise Against - The Sufferer & the Witness (Geffen)
  Buy Now: The Sufferer & the Witness (Geffen)
  
• Tom Tyler - Asleep at the Switch (D.C.)
  
• Hans Zimmer - "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" soundtrack (Disney)
  
• Various artists - Beat Classic (D.C.)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

• J.J. Cale - The Definitive Collection (Hip-O/ UMe)
  
• Carolyn Hester - Carolyn Hester (Empire Musicwerks)
  
• Delbert McClinton - The Definitive Collection (Hip-O/ UMe)
  
• Glenn Yarbrough - Come Sit by My Side (Empire Musicwerks)
  
• Various artists - '80s #1 Hits (Madacy)
  
• Various artists - Best of "Miami Vice" (Hip-O/ UMe)
  
• Various artists - Roots & Branches: Artists, Songs & Recordings That Inspired the Legend of Johnny Cash (Hip-O/ UMe)
  
• Various artists - Summer Beach Party: Songs From the Classic Beach Movies of the '60s (Varèse Sarabande)

Music DVDs:

• Emerson, Lake and Palmer - "Collector's Rarities: The Live Broadcasts" (Classic Rock Legends)
  
• The Kinks - "Collector's Rarities: The Live Broadcasts" (Classic Rock Legends)
  
• The Nylons - "Live in Tokyo and More ..." (Unidisc)
  
• Van der Graaf Generator - "Collector's Rarities: The Live Broadcasts" (Classic Rock Legends)

Coming Attractions:

July 11:

• Muse - Black Holes & Revelations (Warner Bros.)
  Preorder: Black Holes & Revelations (Warner Bros.)
  
• Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras From the Illinois Album! (Asthmatic Kitty)
  Preorder: The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras From the Illinois Album! (Asthmatic Kitty)
  
• Thom Yorke - The Eraser (XL Recordings)
  Preorder: The Eraser (XL Recordings)
  
• Various artists - Now That's What I Call Music! 22 (Sony)

July 18:

• Alien Ant Farm - Up in the Attic (New Door)
  Preorder: Up in the Attic (New Door)
  
• The Bronx - The Bronx (digipak; Island)
  
• The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Don't You Fake It (Virgin)
  Read: "The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus: You Can Call Them Sellouts"
  Preorder: Don't You Fake It (Virgin)

July 25:

• Flogging Molly - Whiskey on a Sunday (DualDisc; Side One Dummy)
  
• Jurassic 5 - Feedback (Interscope)
  Preorder: Feedback (Interscope)
  
• Pharrell Williams - In My Mind (Star Trak/ Interscope)
  Read: "Pharrell Williams: Fired Up"
  Preorder: In My Mind (Star Trak/ Interscope)
  

• Rise Against
• Rodney Jerkins
• Johnny Cash
• Ziggy Marley
• Peter Gammons

Franz Ferdinand's Nick McCarthy performs during KCRW's A Sounds Eclectic Evening
Photo: Karl Walter/Getty Images

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — There's always a few welcome surprises at KCRW-FM's annual A Sounds Eclectic Evening, but this year's concert featured one after another.

There were surprise sets (Franz Ferdinand, Spoon singer Britt Daniel), surprise collaborations (Ben Harper with Gomez, Ziggy Marley with Harper), and for Australian singer Sia, a surprise standing ovation from the Gibson Amphitheatre audience Saturday.

Franz's appearance was predicted by some since the Scottish dance rockers are touring with the benefit's headliners, Death Cab for Cutie. Franz Ferdinand brought a ferocious energy to what had mostly been an acoustic showcase, put on by the taste-making Santa Monica-based public radio station.

Opening with "Do You Want To," Franz instantly brought crowd members to their feet and kept them there with dance-floor favorites from 2005's You Could Have It So Much Better. After "The Fallen" and "Walk Away," both subtly rearranged from their album versions, the band slowed down slightly with singer Alex Kapranos announcing "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" as being "about missing someone across the Atlantic."

For the second half of their set, Franz went back to their self-titled debut, showcasing guitarist Nick McCarthy's mouth-watering hooks on tracks like "Michael" and "This Fire."

"The first radio station to invite us on in the States was KCRW," Kapranos said in introducing "Take Me Out." "And this was the first song we played."

In their closing slot, Death Cab followed Franz by relying mostly on their high-energy tracks, opening with "The New Year" and getting to single "Soul Meets Body" four songs in. Singer Ben Gibbard and cohorts also kept things interesting by switching around instruments, adding keyboards to various tunes, and playfully commenting on the dissipating audience. "I will not be silenced by your indifference," Gibbard deadpanned.

Earlier, former Jamiroquai backup singer Sia, filling in last minute for Lewis Taylor, balanced her smoky, seductive voice with a charming giddiness as she giggled her way through a 30-minute set. When she stopped a new tune because she and her band had screwed up and insisted they start over, the crowd ate up her honesty.

	Check out photos from KCRW's A Sounds Eclectic Evening In Universal City, California, 3.25.2006.

Sia had played A Sounds Eclectic Evening once before, with Zero 7, and paid tribute to her British friends with a rendition of "Somersault." Her clear standout was "Breathe Me," the song featured in the final scene of the "Six Feet Under" finale that has given her 2004 album, Colour the Small One, new legs.

Gomez — made up of principal songwriters Ben Ottewell, Tom Gray and Ian Ball for the show — mainly used the set to introduce their new album, How We Operate, and ear-catching tunes like the title track and "Girlshapedlovedrug."

For one track, though, the British band called on technology, using a laptop to connect with its rhythm section from a studio back home. "I can't believe that actually worked," Gray joked afterward.

To close their set, Gomez welcomed Harper, who played slide guitar on a Hawaiian-style version of the band's 1998 breakthrough single, "Whippin' Piccadilly."

During the set with his Innocent Criminals band, which included a four-piece string section, Harper also used a special guest to amplify a tune. While jamming through "With My Own Two Hands," the group segued into Bob Marley's "War," and Ziggy Marley took the stage to handle vocals.

Harper also showcased his new double record, the just-released Both Sides of the Gun, channeling his Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield influences and focusing on some of the most political tunes, like "Engraved Invitation," "Better Way" and "Black Rain," about the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

Spoon's Daniel, accompanied only by a pianist, was the other unannounced guest. Highlights included the toe-tapper "Way We Get By" and a cover of John Lennon's "Isolation."

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Franz Ferdinand
• Death Cab For Cutie
• Ziggy Marley
• Ben Harper
• Spoon

• Sean Paul
• Wayne Wonder
• Buju Banton
• Bounty Killer
• Bob Marley

The Other Ones, the band featuring former Grateful Deaders Mickey Hart, Bob Weir, and Bruce Hornsby, has announced plans to head out on the road for another edition of the Furthur Festival tour, starting on August 23 in San Diego.

Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers will open the 2000 Furthur Festival, which returns after taking last summer off in order for ex-Dead bassist Phil Lesh to recover from the liver surgery he had in December 1998 (see "Further Festival Takes Summer Off As Dead's 'Terrapin Station' Continues Looking For Site").

Lesh apparently won't be rejoining his former Dead compatriots for this year's Furthur, and he plans on taking his own band out on the road with Bob Dylan in the next few weeks (see "Bob Dylan Wins Polar Prize, Maps Out Summer Tour"). Tour promoters note, however, that various special guests will be turning up on select cities, leaving the door open for a possible appearance by Lesh.

"Why have we decided on another stroll down counter-culture memory lane?" asked Bruce Hornsby in a statement. "Because two years ago our Other Ones' tour was musically very special, and we would like to try to create that same feeling once again."

Prior to the launch of the tour, Hybrid Recordings will issue "Furthurmost," a collection of songs culled from past editions of the tour, and the follow-up to the earlier "Furthur Festival" and "Furthurmore" albums.

Dates for the 2000 Furthur Festival:

• 8/23 - San Diego, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
• 8/24 - Anaheim, CA @ Arrowhead Pond
• 8/25 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
• 8/27 - George, WA @ The Gorge
• 8/29 - Denver, CO @ Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
• 8/31 - E. Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre
• 9/1 - Columbus, OH @ Buckeye Lake Music Center
• 9/2 - Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheatre
• 9/4 - Detroit, MI @ Pine Knob Music Center
• 9/7 - Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
• 9/8 - Scranton, PA @ Coors Light Amphitheatre
• 9/9 - Hartford, CT @ Hartford Civic Center
• 9/10 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Continental Airlines Arena
• 9/12 - Syracuse, NY @ On Center
• 9/14 - Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion
• 9/15- Boston, MA @ Fleet Center
• 9/16 - Camden, NJ @ Sony Entertainment Center
• 9/17 - State College, PA @ Bryce Jordan Center
• 9/20 - Hampton, VA @ Hampton Coliseum
• 9/21 - Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum
• 9/23 - Live Oak, FL @ Suwanee Music Park
• 9/24 - Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre

• Ziggy Marley
• The Other Ones

Sky High, master of ceremonies and backing vocalist for the reggae-rock outfit Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers, has filed a federal suit against the New Orleans Police Department, claiming that officers assaulted him following a concert in August 1999.

• Ziggy Marley