Chemical Overdose: My Chemical Romance are in such a giving mood they're packing their concert-clip-collection Life on the Murder Scene with two DVDs. Running more than four hours in length, and cobbling together footage from their MTV $2 Bill and MTV Discover and Download gigs, the set also sweeps up demos and other odds and ends. If you didn't preorder a copy, you won't be able to enter the band's Web contest -- the winner and a friend are getting flown to Los Angeles to hang with the band -- but this hefty package should be enough to romance the fans.
The Quest for Peas: Hold on a sec before you run to the record store to grab Black Eyed Peas' new Renegotiations: The Remixes EP. The seven-track appetizer -- featuring remixes by Erick Sermon, Pete Rock, DJ Premier and Jazzy Jeff -- will be made available on iTunes only this week, with copies then parachuting into Best Buy stores March 28. There's another reason to jump on the chance this week, though: The iTunes version has the video for "Like That."
And That's a Rap: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's Bizzy Bone leads this week's rap charge with a new solo LP, which should put to rest rumors of Bizzy's disappearance/insanity. Described as an album devoid of "the overbearing thug references," one that instead tells the story of Byron McCane the man, Bizzy nonetheless finds himself mulling "The Future Thugs-N-Harmony." Other tunes include "The Truth," "All Day, All Night" and "So What Cha' Sayin."
As Bizzy is stepping away from Bone Thugs, so is M-1 breaking away from another boundary-busting squad, Dead Prez, for his first solo outing. With DP's eviction from Sony Urban still fresh in mind, M-1 stretches out on his indie Confidential, roping in Q-Tip and Cassandra Wilson ("Love You Can't Borrow"), Styles P and Bazaar Royale ("Comrade's Call") and his DP pal, Stic.man.
Also coming out on Koch is B.G.'s The Heart of Tha Streetz: Vol. 2 (I Am What I Am), led by the Mannie Fresh-produced and -featuring single "Move Around." The Hot Boys agent -- who now has 10 solo albums to his name, even though he's only 25 years old -- is co-releasing his latest through his own Chopper City imprint, and he's roped in Paul Wall ("Deuces Up"), the Show ("F--- 'Em") and Evelyn ("Get Yo Mind Right") for the affair.
Urban Mystic has a sequel dropping this week as well, and it too features Paul Wall: Ghetto Revelations: II. The major-label release built some early anticipation with the KayGee-produced "It's You" (featuring Wall), and it follows suit with "Bounce Wit Me," which features fellow Floridian and Warner Bros. labelmate Stacks and is produced by Scott Storch; the pro-social-change track "Let's Make a Change," featuring Trick Daddy; and "Can U Handle This?," on which Pitbull spits out a few rhymes.
Geiger Counter: It'll be at two come May 9, when Teddy Geiger puts out the CD-plus-DVD version of his debut album. In the meantime, fans of the Kristin Cavallari swooner will have to satisfy themselves with the standard edition of Underage Thinking, which has 12 tracks by the 17-year-old, including "For You I Will (Confidence)," "Seven Days Without You" and "Love Is a Marathon."
Prince's Preference: Copies of Ultimate Prince were already being rested in the record racks last week when Warner Bros. decided to yank them, ceding to the artist's demand that the collection of yesteryear material not detract from his new batch of tunes, 3121 (which is coming out on Universal). And you'd better enjoy these new songs, as the practicing Jehovah's Witness has reportedly put the kibosh on performing 50 vintage tunes because they're too explicit. Apparently his new "Lolita" and "Black Sweat" are safe.
Which Side Is Which?: Ben Harper's making things a bit confusing for his fans, tacking an extra disc onto a release that already has one. À la the Foo Fighters, Both Sides of the Gun splays 18 hard and soft tracks over the course of two divergent discs -- the grand total is 63 minutes -- but the special edition has another CD with jam-a-riffic live acoustic versions, alternate mixes and more.
Speaking of the Foos, their skin-slapping star finally steps up to the mic for the long-awaited Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders. Recorded with producer Drew Hester -- a drummer for Joe Walsh, whose "Life of Illusion" the Foos covered a few years back -- Hester's roommate, Gannin, and Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Chaney, the 11-track outing includes the very Foo-sounding "NOA," "Walking Away" and "End of the Line."
Visual Overload: Download, schmownload. Here are four reasons to hit the record store instead:
1. Liars' Drum's Not Dead: The third album by the NYC no-wave spazzoids comes with a DVD featuring three film versions of the album, sort of an abstract, fictional arm-wrestle between two dichotomies, Drum (assertion, productivity) and Mount Heart Attack (stress, doubt). Each flick has a video for every song on the record -- that's 36 videos in total.
2. "Kill the Moonlight": The movie about a toxic-waste-janitor-turned-wanna-be-racecar-driver consists of two DVDs and a CD, the soundtrack that features three exclusive Beck songs and three by his side project Loser (not-so-coincidentally, "Kill the Moonlight" inspired Beck's "Loser").
3. Red Animal War's Seven Year War: When you have more than two or three enhanced videos, that usually merits a bonus DVD -- but apparently these Texans didn't get the memo. Their comp of old and new tracks has no less than nine enhanced videos to go along with the 13 music tracks, some of which were recorded with Jawbox's J. Robbins.
4. Aki Tsuyuko's Hokane: The dancer and sometime Nobukazu Takemura collaborator has crafted a visual piece to go along with her new record. Hokane is the first in a series of so-called "music books" that will be arriving from Chicago label Thrill Jockey.
Far Out: Chicago's Yakuza channel Napalm Death, prog and Far East sounds to make Samsara, which also features a guest spot by Mastodon singer/bassist Troy Sanders; Karate High School stay true to their album's title -- Arcade Rock -- by feeding off games like "Contra" and "Paperboy"; MC Lars sets "Moby Dick" to a Supergrass sample on The Graduate; and on the Seconds' Kratitude, "the concepts normally associated with words are dissolved in the repetition and all that remain are the sounds of the mouth, tongue and throat." Yowsers.
Kiefer Sutherland vs. Josh Rouse: In a battle royal that sees an action hero squaring off against a Nebraska-born singer/songwriter, both are kicking off their own labels this week. Jack Bauer's Ironworks Music imprint sees its first release in Rocco DeLuca and the Burden's I Trust You to Kill Me, a four-piece that has played on "The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" and uses a rootsy combination of steel guitar, bass, drums and percussion. Rouse has a new record of his own to christen his Bedroom Classics imprint, a joint venture with Nettwerk Records. Subtítulo salutes the Spanish Mediterranean coast where he recorded it, but he also squeezes in a song about the mafia on "Jersey Clowns."
Southern Culture on the Skids' Doublewide and Live and the various-artists collection Songs for Sixty Five Roses: The ever-prolific SCOTS are dumping a limited-edition double-enhanced deluxe disc into their fans' laps this week. The 16-track Doublewide was recorded in three days in November 2004 at Chapel Hill, North Carolina's Local 506 and features perennials like "Banana Pudding," "Lordy Lorry" and "Meximelt." If that's still not enough SCOTS for you, look for their appearance on Sixty Five Roses, where they redo the Moaners' "Everybody Wants My Baby." The disc -- a benefit for cystic fibrosis, which North Carolina producer John Plymale's daughter suffers from -- also finds Portastatic (Superchunk's Mac McCaughan) revamping "Oh My Sweet Carolina" next to Jason Ross and Two Dollar Pistols' respective covers of 'Chunk's "Mower" and "Driveway to Driveway."
57 State - Bang Streets (Captiva) Mina Agossi - Well You Needn't (Candid) Amandine - Leave Out the Sad Parts (EP; Fat Cat) Ambulette - Lottery (EP; Astralwerks) Amorphis - Eclipse (Nuclear Blast America) Anti-Flag - For Blood and Empire (RCA) Apathy - Eastern Philosophy (Babygrande) The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine (digipak; Militia Group) Army of the Pharaohs - Jedi Mind Tricks Presents: Army of the Pharaohs - The Torture Papers (Babygrande) Richard Ashcroft - Keys to the World (with DVD; Virgin) Balance - Young & Restless (SMC) Band of Horses - Everything All The Time (Sub Pop) Dave Barnes - Chasing Mississippi (Ripley) B.G. - The Heart of Tha Streetz: Vol. 2 (I Am What I Am) (Chopper City/ Koch) Big Silver - Afterlife (digipak; Max) Gus Black - Autumn Days (Cheap Lullaby) Bleeding Kansas - Dead Under Decor (Abacus) Luka Bloom - Innocence (Cooking Vinyl) Blueground Undergrass - Faces (Landslide) Bizzy Bone - The Story (Real Talk Entertainment) Boy Sets Fire - The Misery Index: Notes From the Plague Years (Equal Vision) Corey Branan - 12 Songs (Madjack) Brown Boy - Represent the Brown (enhanced; Thump) Cadence - Songs of Vice & Virtue (Paperweight) Shawn Camp - Fireball (Emergent) Cannibal Corpse - Kill (Metal Blade) Dee Cartensen - Patch of Blue (Exit Nine) Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Etiquette (Tomlab) Barbara Cook - Barbara Cook With Special Guests Live (two CDs; Koch) D-Block - Mix Tape (with DVD; Koch) The Josh Davis Band - The White Whale (Authentic) Rocco DeLuca and the Burden - I Trust You to Kill Me (Ironworks) DJ Boris - Believe (Moist Music) Joey DeFrancesco - Organic Vibes (Concord Jazz) Sugar Pie DeSanto - Refined Sugar (Jasman) Eastern Youth - 365-Step Blues (Five One Inc.) The Ecclesia - Birdsong Over the Interior Castle (digipak; Arena Rock) Editors - The Back Room (Fader) The Essex Green - Cannibal Sea (Merge) Faktion - Faktion (Roadrunner) Follow the Train - A Breath of Sigh (Darla) From Fiction - Bloodwork (digipak; Last Gang) From First to Last - Heroine (Epitaph) Read: [article id="1517991"]"From First To Last Are Done With Wes Borland, Target Rob Zombie"[/article]
Further Seems Forever - Hope This Finds You Well (Tooth & Nail) Teddy Geiger - Underage Thinking (DualDisc also available; Columbia) Howe Gelb - 'Sno Angel Like You (Thrill Jockey) Victor Goines - New Adventures (Criss Cross) Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun (two CDs; special edition comes with third CD; Virgin) Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders - Taylor Hawkins & the Coattail Riders (Thrive) Read: [article id="1504593"]"It's The Foos' Taylor Hawkins' Turn To Prove He's More Than Just A Drummer"[/article]
Helltrain - Route 666 (Jimmy Franks) Herod - Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight (Lifeforce) Monica Huggett and Richard Savino - Essential Giuliani, Vol. I (two CDs; Koch) Denise James - Promises (digipak; Rainbow Quartz) Karsh Kale - Broken English (Six Degrees) Karate High School - Arcade Rock (Evo) Kulcha Don - It's All About You (Ruffnation) Kutless - Hearts of the Innocent (enhanced; BEC) Robbie Lee - Sleep, Memory (I and Ear) Frank Lenz - Vilelenz and Thieves (Hidden Agenda) Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Quartet - Duper Sessions (Astralwerks) Liars - Drum's Not Dead (Mute) Lifetime - Somewhere in the Swamps of Jersey (Jade Tree) Ligeia - Your Ghost Is a Gift (Ferret) Loose Fur - Born Again in the U.S.A. (Drag City) Love Equals Death - Nightmerica (Fat Wreck Chords) Kathleen Madigan - In Other Words (Warner Bros.) M-1 - Dead Prez Presents M-1: Confidential (DualDisc; Koch) Machinemade God - The Infinity Complex (Metal Blade) Ashley MacIsaac - Pride (Koch) Virginia Mayhew - Sandan Shuffle (Renma) Mates of State - Bring It Back (Barsuk) MC Lars - The Graduate (Nettwerk) Men Women & Children - Men Women & Children (Reprise) Sophie Milman - Sophie Milman (Koch) Moth - Immune to Gravity (digipak; High Wire) Ms. John Soda - Notes and the Like (Morr) Murs and 9th Wonder - Murrays Revenge (Definitive Jux) My Chemical Romance - Life on the Murder Scene (with two DVDs; Reprise) Read: [article id="1521047"]"My Chemical Romance's 'Murder' DVD Just Got Bigger"[/article]
The New Amsterdams - Story Like a Scar (digipak; Vagrant) No Trigger - Canyoneer (Nitro) Norma Jean - O' God, the Aftermath (enhanced; deluxe digipak edition with bonus DVD also available; Tooth & Nail) Gary Numan - Jagged (Metropolis) Okai - Dekonstruktion of the Mind (digipak; Nomadic Wax) Steve Oliver - Radiant (Koch) Opus Däï - Tierra Tragame (Double Blind) The Outfield - Any Time Now (Sidewinder) Chris Parish - Late Bloomer (SLK) Gilles Peterson and Jazzanova - Kings of Jazz (two CDs; Rapster) Prince - 3121 (Universal) Quasi - When the Going Gets Dark (Touch &and Go) Red Animal War - Seven Year War (enhanced with nine videos; End Sounds) Megan Reilly - Let Your Ghost Go (Carrot Top) Kenny Rogers - Water & Bridges (Capitol) Jim Rotondi - Iron Man (Criss Cross) Josh Rouse - Subtítulo (Bedroom Classics/ Nettwerk) Röyksopp - Röyksopp's Night Out (limited-edition EP; Astralwerks) Tom Russell - Love & Fear (Hightone) The Sainte Catherines - Dancing for Decadence (Fat Wreck Chords) Kokanko Sata - Kokanko Sata (Honest Jons) The Seconds - Kratitude (5 Rue Christine) Harry Shearer - Dropping Anchor (Couragette) Shoplifting - Body Stories (Kill Rock Stars) David Sills - Down the Line (Origin) The Sounds - Dying to Say This to You (Scratchie/ New Line) Southern Culture on the Skids - Doublewide and Live (Yep Roc) Storsveit Nix Noltes - Orkideur Hawai (Bubble Core) Swayzak - Route De La Slack (!K7) Take 6 - Feels Good (Take 6) Talkdemonic - Beat Romantic (digipak; Arena Rock) Television Personalities - My Dark Places (Domino) Teye & Belen - Flamencobsesionarte (Corazong) Lobi Traoré - Lobi Traoré (Honest Jons) Aki Tsuyuko - Hokane (Thrill Jockey) Urban Mystic - Ghetto Revelations: II (Warner Bros.) Jesse Van Ruller - Views (Criss Cross) Vienna Choir Boys - 500th Anniversary (Koch) Dale Watson - Whiskey or God (Palo Duro) Randy Weston and His African Rhythms Trio - Zep Tepi (Random Chance) Pamela Williams - Elixir (Shanachie) Witchery - Don't Fear the Reaper (Century Media) Yakuza - Samsara (Prosthetic) Young People - All at Once (Too Pure/ Beggars) Various artists - Breakfast Club: Milan (Water) Various artists - Celluloid Years (Collision Cause Chap) Various artists - Idol Tryouts Two: The Ghostly International Company Vol. Two (Ghostly International) Various artists - Now ¡Esto Es Musica! Latina (Warner Strategic Marketing) Various artists - Perfecto Chills, Vol. 3 (Thrive) Various artists - Songs for Sixty Five Roses (Songs for Sixty Five Roses) Various artists - Songs From an Unmade Bed (Ghostlight) Various artists - South Beach Sounds: Miami Music Week Vol. 1 (DualDisc; DVD) Various artists - Texas Harmonica Rumble (Dialtone) Various artists - "Brick" soundtrack (Lakeshore) Various artists - "The Hills Have Eyes" soundtrack (Lakeshore) Various artists - "Inside Man" soundtrack (Varèse) Various artists - "Lost" soundtrack (Varèse) Notable Reissues and Archival Material:
- A Flock of Seagulls - We Are the '80s (DualDisc; VH1 Classic/ Legacy)
Gene Ammons - Boss Tenor - (Prestige) Gene Autry - That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine - (nine-CD box set; Bear Family) The Bangles - We Are the '80s (DualDisc; VH1 Classic/ Legacy) Blight - Detroit (Touch and Go) Bow Wow Wow - We Are the '80s (DualDisc; VH1 Classic/ Legacy) David Bowie - Serious Moonlight (Virgin) Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane - Kenny Burrell & John Coltrane - (Prestige/New Jazz) Cocteau Twins - Lullabies to Violaine: Singles and Extended Plays 1982-1996 (limited-edition four-CD set; 4AD) John Coltrane - Lush Life - (Prestige) Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet - The Juliet Letters - (Rhino) Miles Davis - Relaxing With the Miles Davis Quintet - (Prestige) Dion - Bronx in Blue - (Razor & Tie) Eric Dolphy - Out There - (Prestige/New Jazz) Kenny Dorham - Quiet Kenny - (Prestige) Electric Light Orchestra - ELO II and No Answer - (with bonus tracks; Epic/ Legacy) Marianne Faithfull - Come My Way - (Lillith) Red Garland - Red Garland's Piano - (Prestige) Coleman Hawkins - The Hawk Relaxes - (Prestige/New Jazz) Armin Jordan - Dukas: The Sorcerers Apprentice/ Symphony in C (Rhino) Keak Da Sneak - The Farmboyz - Special Edition (Gotta Get It) Lovedrug - Pretend You're Alive (Red Ink) Mclusky - Mcluskyism (limited-edition three-CD set; Too Pure/ Beggars) Men at Work - We Are the '80s (DualDisc; VH1 Classic/ Legacy) The Modern Jazz Quartet - Django - (Prestige) Marky Ramone - Start of the Century (Fuel) Henry Rollins - Big Ugly Mouth/ Short Walk on a Long Pier - (two CDs; 2.13.61) Sonny Rollins - Saxophone Colossus - (Prestige) The Romantics - We Are the '80s (DualDisc; VH1 Classic/ Legacy) Otis Rush & Friends (featuring Eric Clapton and Luther Allison) - Live at Montreux 1986 (Eagle) Scandal - We Are the '80s (DualDisc; VH1 Classic/ Legacy) Soft Machine - Floating World Live (Moonjune) Stereo Total - Juke Box Alarm and My Melody (Kill Rock Stars) Bill Anderson With the Po' Folks Band - "40 Years of Hits Live" (Varèse) The Black Crowes - "Freak 'N' Roll ... Into the Fog: The Black Crowes All Join Hands - The Fillmore, San Francisco" (Eagle Vision) Willy DeVille - "Live in the Lowlands" (Eagle Vision) Fat Joe - "Live at the Anaheim House of Blues" (Nutech Digital) Oliver Jones - "Serenade" (Justin Time) Rodney Jones - "Live at Smoke" (Mel Bay) Bryan Lee - "Live & Dangerous" (Justin Time) Macc Ladds - "Come to Brum" (Screen Edge) Megadeth - "Arsenal of Megadeth" (two DVDs; Capitol) Teddy Pendergrass - "Teddy! Live in '79" (Shout! Factory) Queen - "The Making of A Night at the Opera" (Eagle Vision) Otis Rush & Friends (featuring Eric Clapton and Luther Allison) - "Live at Montreux 1986" (Eagle Vision) Pamela Williams - "A Night With the Saxtress" (Shanachie) Various artists - "Born to Ball, Vol. 2: Basketball With Kid Capri" (Urban Works) Various artists - "Kill the Moonlight" (with CD soundtrack featuring Beck) Various artists - "Underground TV: Raw and Uncut, Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2" (In the Vault) Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (Def Jam) Read: [article id="1524799"]"Ghostface Killah Spins Tales From The 'Hood On Fishscale"[/article]
T.I. - King (limited-edition re-release with bonus DVD; Atlantic) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones (Interscope) Read: [article id="1524567"]"Are The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Anxious About Bones? No No No"[/article]
Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics (Warner Bros.) Read: [article id="1523030"]"Flaming Lips Go To War Against Britney, Gwen On New LP"[/article]
Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors (Sanctuary) Pink - I'm Not Dead (La Face) Read: [article id="1519661"]"Pink Pens An Open Letter To President Bush On New Album"[/article]
Built to Spill - You in Reverse (Warner Bros.) Calexico - Garden Ruin (digipak; Quarterstick) Eagles of Death Metal - Death by Sexy ... (Downtown) Read: [article id="1520475"]"Eagles Of Death Metal Frontman's 'Soft Boomerang Of Love' Takes Center Stage In Clip"[/article]
