Believe it or not, "American Idol" reject William Hung tops the
new releases this week. If you've seen the show, you know that Hung's
musical Inspiration comes from Ricky Martin's "She Bangs." And
that is seemingly all one needs these days to get a record deal. While
the "Idol" finalists are busy slaving away in front of Simon, Paula and
Randy, Hung is living it up as an ersatz pop star on his debut record,
which includes cover songs of material by Ricky Martin (of course) as
well as Elton John, R. Kelly and the Village People.
The "Johnson Family Vacation" soundtrack features songs by Ashanti,
Ghostface, Musiq, Joe Budden and one of the film's stars, Bow Wow. Last
week's "SNL" musical guests Toots and the Maytals offer True
Love, an album of collaborations on favorite Maytals tracks that
includes contributions by No Doubt, Ryan Adams, the Roots, Eric
Clapton, Bootsy Collins, Keith Richards, Ben Harper and Jeff Beck.
Blondie come back again with The Curse of Blondie, while
Calexico's Convict Pool, a collection of cover songs and some
original material, shares shelf space with They Might Be Giants'
five-track EP Indestructible Object, Paul Oakenfold's Perfect
Remixes Vol. 1, and Ben Kweller's On My Way.
R&B songstress Tamia releases More alongside Dilated Peoples'
Neighborhood Watch, Todd Rundgren's Liarsand Henry
Rollins' Nights Behind the Tree Line.
Finally, what would a new releases roundup be without a mention of
Barry Manilow? Don't answer that. But Manilow releases 2 Nights
Live! this week, a two-disc set that includes all his hits,
including "Mandy," "Copacabana (At the Copa)" and "I Write the Songs."
The Advantage - The Advantage (5 Rue Christine) Trey Anastasio - Seis de Mayo (Elektra) And One - Aggressor (Metropolis) Architecture in Helsinki - Fingers Crossed (Bar/None) Atom and His Package - Hair: Debatable (Hopeless) Audio Learning Center - Cope Park (Vagrant) The Beautiful Mistake - This Is Who You Are (Militia Group) Jack Blades - Jack Blades (Sanctuary) Blondie - The Curse of Blondie (Sanctuary) Blue County - Blue County (Curb) The Butchies - Make Yr Life (Yep Roc) Calexico - Convict Pool (Quarterstick) James Carter - Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge (Warner Bros.) The Damnwells - The Bastards of the Beat (Red Ink/Epic) Dark Lotus - Black Rain (Psychopathic) Decree - Moment of Silence (Metropolis) Dilated Peoples - Neighborhood Watch (Capitol) Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor (Metal Blade) The DT's – Hard Fixed (Estrus) Dujeous? - City Limits (Third Earth Music) Edguy - Hellfire Club (Nuclear Blast) Elf Power - Walking With the Beggar Boys (Orange Twin) End - The Sounds of Disaster (Ipecac) Fear - Before the March of Flames Odd How People Shake (Rise) Haymarket Riot - Mog (Thick) William Hung - Inspiration (Koch) HREF="/news/articles/1486042/20040329/story.jhtml">"William Hung
'Bangs' Latin Lovers, R. Kelly Cover On Inspiration"
In Flames - Soundtrack to Your Escape (Nuclear Blast) Kate Jacobs - You Call That Dark (Bar/None) John Wilkes Booze - 5 Pillars of Soul (Kill Rock Stars) Ben Kweller - On My Way (ATO/RCA) Lansing-Dreiden - The Incomplete Triangle (Kemado) Local H - Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles? (Studio E) Russell Malone - Playground (MAXJAZZ) Barry Manilow - 2 Nights Live! (Arista/BMG Heritage) Matt Marque - Nothing Personal (Atavistic) Mocean Worker - Enter the MoWo! (MoWo! Inc.)Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Epic) Mozaik - Live From the Powerhouse (Compass) Charlie Musselwhite - Sanctuary (Real World) Paul Oakenfold - Perfect Remixes Vol. 1 (Topaz) Of Montreal - Satanic Panic in the Attic (Polyvinyl) Old Time Relijun - Lost Light (K) On Air Library - On Air Library (Arena Rock) Pit Er Pat - Emergency (Overcoat) Pre Thing - 22nd Century Lifestyle (V2) Pulley - Matters (Epitaph) Henry Rollins - Nights Behind the Tree Line Todd Rundgren - Liars (Sanctuary) Ron Sexsmith - Retriever (Nettwerk) Slow Train Soul - Illegal Cargo (Tommy Boy) Spinning Images - DNA (Starpolish) Split Shift - Tension (Elektra) Spymob - Sitting Around Keeping Score (Ruthless/Epic) Joan Stiles - Love Call (Zoho) Tahiti 80 - A Piece of Sunshine (Minty Fresh) Tamia - More (Elektra) Teada - Give Us a Penny and We'll Be Gone (Green Linnet) They Might Be Giants - Indestructible Object (Barsuk) Throbbing Gristle - Mutant TG (Novamute) Tight Phantomz - Nightfool (Southern) Toots and the Maytals - True Love (V2) Truman - Payne Avenue (Geffen) Vehemence - Helping the World to See (Metal Blade) The Warren Brothers - Well Deserved Obscurity (Savoy Winnerys - And ... the Winnerys (Rainbow Quartz) Shannon Wright - Over the Sun (Quarterstick) Mary Youngblood - Feed the Fire (Silver Wave) Zeke - 'Til the Livin' End (Relapse) Various artists - The '90s (TVT) Various artists – "The Alamo" soundtrack (Hollywood) Various artists - Buzzin' Fly Vol. 1 (Astralwerks) Various artists - Electric Gypsyland (Six Degrees) Various artists – "Ella Enchanted" soundtrack (Hollywood) Various artists – "Johnson Family Vacation" soundtrack (Def Jam) Various artists – "The Passion of the Christ": Songs Inspired Various artists - Pink Panther's Penthouse Party (Virgin) Various artists - Tracks and Fields (Kill Rock Stars) Various artists - Urban Themes (TVT) DVD: Kenny Chesney - "Road Case: The Movie" (BNA) DVD: "Reggae Nation: The Real Spring Break" (Image Ben Jelen - Give It All Away (Maverick) Sugarcult - Palm Trees and Power Lines (Artemis) Various artists - "Kill Bill 2" soundtrack (Maverick) April 20:
- Drowning Pool - Desensitized (Wind-Up)
Read: [article id="1486103"]"New Drowning Pool Singer Says He Had A Vision Before Tryout"[/article]
Hanson - Underneath (3CG) Prince - Musicology (Sony) April 27:
- Diana Krall - The Girl in the Other Room (Verve)
- Joey McIntyre - 8:09 (Artemis)
- Patti Smith - Trampin' (Sony)
- Various artists - "American Idol" Season 3: Greatest Soul
Buckethead - Population Override (Ion) Kimberley Locke - One Love (Curb) Idol' Finalist Kimberley Locke Is Radio's '8th Wonder'"
Petey Pablo - Still Writing in My Diary: 2nd Entry (Jive) Various artists – "The L Word" soundtrack (Tommy Boy) May 18:
- Alanis Morissette - So Called Chaos (Maverick)
- Morrissey - You Are the Quarry (Sanctuary)
Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin (Arista) HREF="/news/articles/1486120/20040401/lavigne_avril.jhtml">"Avril
Lavigne Album Preview: Rock Rules On Under My Skin"