50 Cent's <i>The Massacre: Special Edition</i>
Photo: Aftermath/Interscope

50 x 2: With a replacement black backdrop on the cover and a bonus DVD adding an extra ounce or two in weight, it won't be hard to distinguish the special edition of 50 Cent's The Massacre from the previous pressings — the enhanced version, the collector's edition, et al. The audio disc has a remix of "Outta Control" with Mobb Deep and the DVD features a video for every song on the original release.

Bang and Blame: The Rolling Stones' first studio album in eight years, A Bigger Bang, isn't all hyperbole. The album reportedly represents the band's fascination with the scientific theory of the origin of the universe — as also illustrated by the cover, which depicts the Stones staring into a ball of light. Tracks include: "Sweet Neo Con," their supposed bash on Bush; "Laugh, I Nearly Died"; "Look What the Cat Dragged"; and "Rough Justice."

Bloom's Day: If you're living in Canada and carrying a computer, you've got an extra edge when it comes to hearing Sarah McLachlan's stuff, as the north-of-the-border singer put out an exclusive EP through iTunes Canada in anticipation of her second remix album, Bloom. Tracks from the LP include: "Train Wreck (Sly & Robbie Mix)," "Dirty Little Secret" (Thievery Corporation Mix)" and "Just Like Me (Will.I.Am Remix)," which is actually a song McLachlan collaborated on with DMC.

E Springs Eternal: As it spells out on the cover, this package binds together the best-of Eazy-E collection Eternal E, with the new bonus track "Lil Eazier Said" by Lil E., and a DVD featuring seven clips by E and two by N.W.A. The video disc closes with three public-service announcements by the nonprofit health-care organization Kaiser Family Foundation, a touching reminder of the rapper's tragic end.

Allstars Duke It Out: In one corner we have blues jammers North Mississippi Allstars tag-teaming with Lucinda Williams, Robert Randolph, Al Kapone and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band on Electric Blue Watermelon. In the other we've got George Clinton and his indomitable P-Funk All Stars with How Late Do U Have 2 B B 4 U R Absent. Seeing as how this is the inauguration of Clinton's the C Kunspyruhzy label and he's got a 50th-anniversary tour in the works, he deserves the heavyweight title.

Have We Seen You Before?: Released on a tiny independent label, Seu Jorge's Cru squeaks by this week, mirroring the Brazilian artist's fleeting (but hilarious) presence singing David Bowie covers in Portuguese in Wes Anderson's oddball pic "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou." José González has made a slight appearance on the small screen — or at least his music has, on "The O.C." Veneer features "Crosses," a song that surfaced on one of the episodes.

Song Titles Of The Week:

"Mediocrity Gets You Pears (The Shaker)" (Against Me!'s Searching for a Former Clarity)

"Woe Is the Contagion" (Twilight's Twilight)

Other Notables:

Joan Baez's Bowery Songs: With covers galore — Bob Dylan, whom she has saluted tirelessly throughout her career, Steve Earle, and Natalie Merchant — Baez also chips in with four unreleased songs on this November 2004 concert. There isn't much break between numbers, save a brief dedication to Michael Moore.

Richard Youngs' The Naive Shaman: Purported to feature the Glasgowian's first kazoo work since 1992's obscure New Angloid Sound, the prolific multi-instrumentalist also lets loose with a 16-minutes-plus track, "Summer's Edge II." (There is no "Summer's Edge I," of course.) He also shines bright with "Life on a Beam" and "Illuminated Land."

Richard Thompson's "Grizzly Man" soundtrack and The Old Kit Bag reissue: The guitarist who was once notorious for releasing the worst-selling album in the history of Warner Bros., Henry the Human Fly, takes on a different species with a documentary soundtrack. Fans might raise their eyebrows at this one, but they'll undoubtedly want to pick it up — it's 84 minutes of pure Thompson. A DualDisc version of 2003's The Old Kit Bag also comes out this week.

New Releases:

• 32 Leaves - Welcome to the Fall (enhanced; Double Blind)
• The Absence - From Your Grave (Metal Blade)
• Against Me! - Searching for a Former Clarity (Fat Wreck Chords)
• Doug Alan - Sun, Surf and Sand (AmeriMusic)
• Augustana - All the Stars and Boulevards (Epic)
• AZ - AWOL (Fastlife)
• Joan Baez - Bowery Songs (live recording from November 6, 2004, in New York; Koch)
• Baleen - Follow Me Blind (LiquiLab)
• Bellini - Small Stones (Secretly Canadian)
• Between the Buried and Me - Alaska (Victory)
• Black Dice - Broken Ear Record (Astralwerks)
• Brick Bath - American Currency (Crash)
• Blood on the Wall - Awesomer (The Social Registry)
• Bozzio Metropole Orkest - Chamber Works (Favored Nations)
• King Britt - King Britt Presents Sister Gertrude Morgan (Ropeadope)
• Kate Campbell - Blues and Lamentations (Large River)
• Johnny Casino's Easy Action - We've Forgotten More Than You'll Ever Know (Steel Cage)
• Casual - Casual Presents Sam Rockwell (Hieroglyphics)
• George Clinton Presents the P-Funk All Stars - How Late Do U Have 2 B B 4 U R Absent (C Kunspyruhzy)
  Buy Now: How Late Do U Have 2 B B 4 U R Absent (C Kunspyruhzy)
• Barbara Cook - Tribute (DRG)
• Deaf Pedestrians - Deaf Pedestrians (Dot Point Period)
• The Divorce - Gifted Program (Made in Mexico)
• Dreamside - Spin Moon Magic (Dancing Ferret)
• Drums & Tuba - Battle Olé (Righteous Babe)
• Exploited - Beat the Bastards (Reis) (Abstract Sounds)
• Frontier Index - Frontier Index (Rainbow Quartz)
• José González - Veneer (Hidden Agenda)
• Adam Harnett - Adam Harnett (Goretti)
• Beth Hart - Live at Paradiso (Koch)
< LI>Richard Hawley - Cole's Corner (Mute)
• Heatmakerz - Crack, Vol. 1 (Fastlife)
• Heaven 17 - Before/After (Ninth Wave)
• Armand Van Helden - Nympho (Ultra)
• Honky - Balls Out Inn (Small Stone)
• Immaculate Machine - Ones and Zeroes (Mint)
• The Immortal Lee County Killers - These Bones Will Rise to Love You (Tee Pee)
• Indukti - S.U.S.A.R. (Laser's Edge)
• Liz Janes & Create (!) - Liz Janes & Create (!) (EP; Asthmatic Kitty)
• Howard Jones - Revolution of the Heart (Koch)
• Seu Jorge - Cru (Wrasse)
• Little Bruce - Base Rock 2 Pimp Socks (High Speed Entertainment)
• Mad Science Fair - ... For a Better Tomorrow (Mud)
• Marat - Again (Morisen)
• Sarah McLachlan - Bloom Remix Album (Arista)
• James McMurty - Childish Things (Compadre)
• Merciless - Block Monster (Big Gun)
• Mortal Decay - Cadaver Art (Crash Music)
• Alison Moyet - Voice (Sanctuary)
• Johnny Napp - Cowboy Up and Party Down (Johnny Napp)
• New Model Army - Carnival (Attack Attack)
• New Monsoon - The Sound (Harmonized)
• North Mississippi Allstars - Electric Blue Watermelon (ATO/RCA)
  Buy Now: Electric Blue Watermelon (ATO/RCA)
• Hope Partlow - Who We Are (Virgin)
• The Peasall Sisters - Home to You (DualTone)
• Duane Peters & the Hunns - Beyond Warped Live Music Series (Immergent)
• The Phenomenauts - Beyond Warped Live Music Series (Immergent)
• Qualo - Believe. (The Movement)
• Stan Richardson - Moon on the Water (Gemini Sun)
• The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang (Virgin)
  Read: "Rolling Stones Announce World Tour, Unveil New Song"
  Buy Now: A Bigger Bang (Virgin)
• Secret Oyster - Vidunderlige Kaelling (Laser's Edge)
• Sexsmith & Kerr - Destination Unknown (Emergent)
• Ryan Shupe & the RubberBand - Dream Big (Capitol)
• Robert Skoro - That These Things Could Be Ours (Yep Roc)
• Socratic - Lunch for the Sky (enhanced; Drive-Thru)
• Space Mtn - A Drawing of a Memory of a Photograph of You (Aeronaut)
• Angela Strehli - Blue Highway (M.C.)
• Symphorce - Godspeed (Metal Blade)
• Ben Taylor - Another Run Around the Sun (Iris)
• Lewis Taylor - Stoned (with bonus tracks not on European version; HackTone)
• Richard Thompson - "Grizzly Man" soundtrack (Cooking Vinyl)
• Big Mama Thorton - Big Mama Thorton in Europe (Arhoolie)
• Twilight - Twilight (Southern Lord)
• Dinah Washington - Blues for a Day (Delta)
• Watch Them Die - Bastard Son (Century Media)
• Kathy Valentine - Light Years (All for One)
• Valina - Epode EP (54º40' or Fight)
• Valis - Champions of Magic (Small Stone)
• Viva K - Viva K (Stinky)
• Wobbler - Hinterland (Laser's Edge)
• Richard Youngs - The Naive Shaman (Jagjaguwar)
• Various artists - Aerosmithsonian: A Tribute to Aerosmith (Perris)
• Various artists - All Men Country (Direct Source)
• Various artists - The Best of Just Jazz (Direct Source)
• Various artists - Putumayo Presents: Latin Lounge (Putumayo World Music)
• Various artists - Summoning of the Muse: A Tribute to Dead Can Dance (Projekt)
• Various artists - Tone Poets (Acoustic Disc)
• Various artists - Ultimate Pickin': The Best of Instrumental Bluegrass (Pinecastle)

Notable Reissues:

• 50 Cent - The Massacre: Special Edition (CD/DVD; Aftermath/Interscope)
  Buy Now: The Massacre: Special Edition (Aftermath/Interscope)
• Billy Bragg - Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (double disc with bonus tracks; Cooking Vinyl)
• Eazy-E - Eternal E: Gangsta Memorial Edition (Priority)
  Buy Now: Eternal E: Gangsta Memorial Edition (Priority)
• The Human League - Hysteria (Astralwerks)
• M83 - M83 (Mute)
• River City Tanlines - River City Tanlines (collection of 7-inches; Dirtnap)
• Richard Thompson - The Old Kit Bag (DualDisc; Silverline)
• Run-DMC - King of Rock, Raising Hell, Run-DMC and Tougher Than Leather (Arista)
  Buy Now: King of Rock (Arista)
• Steve Vai - Archives, Vol. 4 (Favored Nations)
• Venice Underground - Venice Underground (DualDisc; Immergent)
• Van Zant - Brother to Brother (DualDisc; Silverline)

DVDs:

• Dave Brubeck - "Brubeck Returns to Moscow" (Koch Vision)
• Lunachicks - "XXX Naked" (Koch)
• Mariah Carey - "Music Video Box Document" (Koch)
• Rolling Stones - "Music Video Box Document" (Koch)
• Bruce Springsteen - "VH1 Storytellers" (Columbia)
• Various artists - "Punk: Attitude" (Capital Entertainment)
• Various artists - "Rockin' the Corps" (Image)

Coming Attractions:

September 13:

• Pussycat Dolls - PCD (A/M)
• Paul Wall - The People's Champ (Atlantic)
• Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound (Columbia)
  Read: "Switchfoot Look Like California Raisins After Video Shoot"
  Buy Now: Nothing Is Sound (Columbia)

September 20:

• David Banner - Certified (Universal)
• Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
(Columbia Records)
• Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists (Warner Bros.)
  Read: "Disturbed Songs Will Be 'United In Anger' On Third Album"
  Buy Now: Ten Thousand Fists (Warner Bros.)

September 27:

• Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Jacksonville City Nights (Lost Highway)
• Blackalicious - The Craft (Anti-)
• Sheryl Crow - Wildflower (A/M)
  Buy Now: Wildflower (A/M)

• 50 Cent
• The Rolling Stones
• Sarah McLachlan
• Eazy-E
• George Clinton

Richard Thompson
Photo: Capitol

NEW YORK — Richard Thompson, the revered British guitarist and singer, made a rare appearance on Friday night at Joe's Pub, with a show he called "A Thousand Years of Pop Music." These are some of the things he played:

• A ballad about the Battle of Agincourt, fought in 1415. "There's a lot of wonderful songs in England about beating the French," Thompson said with a droll chuckle.

• An aria from "Dido and Aeneas," the first English opera, composed by Henry Purcell in the late 1680s. "This is at the end," he said, "before the queen of Carthage kills herself. Nevertheless, it's a ripping song."

• A tune from the 1800s that Thompson introduced as "one of the many British ballads about dressing up as women."

• A song from the 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta "The Mikado."

• "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," the 1935 hit by jazzman Fats Waller.

• "Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee," the Sticks McGhee chug-a-lug classic from 1947 (covered last year by Kid Rock).
  
  
• Hank Williams' 1951 country lament, "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle Blow."

This stellar display of musical erudition was all the more remarkable for being performed solely by Thompson, with his capering guitar; percussionist Michael Jerome, thumping with admirable concision on a variety of ethnic drums; and, providing harmonies on several songs, singer Judith Owen, who, interestingly, also happens to be the wife of comic writer and actor Harry Shearer ("This Is Spinal Tap"). The group's spare sound was enriched by a deft application of microphone reverb effects.

Joe's Pub — actually a small club next door to the late Joe Papp's Public Theatre — was an ideal environment for Thompson's intimate instrumental displays. Even those unfamiliar with his long and extraordinary musical career (there were a few in attendance) were suitably appreciative.

But some longtime Thompson admirers — those who remembered his work with the late-'60s English folk-rock band Fairport Convention and (especially) the six sublime albums he recorded, starting in 1974, with his former wife, the incandescent singer Linda Thompson — felt a faint sense of frustration at this show.

For one thing, Richard Thompson is a very fine songwriter, the most vividly gifted in a genre of which he seems to be the sole occupant. (It's difficult to isolate the intricately intertwined influences in his music.) His greatest songs — like the epic "Night Comes In" (which reflects his spiritual immersion in the mystical Sufi branch of Islam) and the horrifying acoustic lullaby "The End of the Rainbow" (sample lyric, addressed to a drowsing infant: "There's nothing to grow up for anymore") — are simply unforgettable. In this show (naturally, given its concept), he played none of them.

More crucially, Thompson is also a masterful electric guitarist, one of the most breathtaking players ever to strap on a Stratocaster. I don't exaggerate! His acoustic technique is a marvel, it's true. But to appreciate his true genius, you have to hear his spiraling solos and shimmering filigrees within the context of a full band, preferably one of his romping Anglo-roots outfits, in which bass and drums are subsumed within a whirl of archaic instruments such as krummhorns, shawms and pennywhistles. At Joe's Pub, of course, there wasn't a Strat in sight.

Over the years, I've often attempted to explain the riveting appeal of Richard Thompson's music to those who were unaware of it. This is hard to do; the songs and their execution are so intricately ravishing. Since you won't be able to see him any time soon (he's headed back to Europe, where he's a staple on the festival circuit), I can only recommend that you seek out his albums. The 1969 Fairport Convention release, Liege & Lief, a monument of English folk-rock, wouldn't be a bad place to start; and guitarists will no doubt be both tickled and deflated by his 1981 instrumental opus, Strict Tempo! (on which, among other things, he offers up a solo rendition of Duke Ellington's "Rockin' in Rhythm").

But the still-beating heart of Richard Thompson's art is to be found on the records he recorded with his wife Linda, especially their first, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight; and the 1975 Pour Down Like Silver (which contains the spellbinding "Night Comes In"); and — this is really The One — their luminous 1982 swan song, Shoot Out the Lights.

There is of course a lot of excellent music that remains unheard by large numbers of people. But not much of it is as unjustly under-appreciated as the revelatory work of this unique artist. Fortunately, in your own small, record-buying way, you can do something about that.

—Kurt Loder

• Richard Thompson