New Releases: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nick Lachey, Korn, Snow Patrol, Gnarls Barkley, Isley Brothers, Grandaddy & More
Hungry?: The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been piquing fans' appetites with their "Dani California" single, but that song has 27 brethren on the two-disc Stadium Arcadium. The guys wrote 38 songs, but the number they whittled the list down to still exceeds the number of tracks on their Greatest Hits and Best Of records combined. The two CDs -- nicknamed "Jupiter" and "Mars" -- are boosted by a DVD in the limited-edition black-box version of the set, which has a chunky booklet, artwork by the band, an hour-long interview, the "Dani" video and more. Tracks on both versions include "Especially in Michigan," featuring a guitar solo by Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez; "Warlocks," with legend Billy Preston on clavinet; and "She's Only 18."
Lonely: Nick Lachey makes his second solo splash as the aftershocks of his break with Jessica Simpson are still rippling through the tabloids. The writing's on the, er, CD, as they say, on tracks like "I Can't Hate You Anymore," "On Your Own," "You're Not Alone" and -- well, on just about all 12 songs. Lachey shares writing credits on most tracks, finding company in British singer/pianist Jamie Cullum on "Ghosts" and Backstreet Boys' Brian Littrell collaborator Dan Muckala on three tunes, including "Outside Looking In." Hang in there, bub.
Korny: There's a reason you haven't heard about Korn's Live & Rare: It's being dished out by the band's former label, Epic, undoubtedly trying to piggyback on Korn's current album and tour promotions. Dubbed a companion piece to 2004's Greatest Hits, Vol.1, the single disc culls seven tracks from the group's gig at New York's CBGB in 2003, two from its 1999 Woodstock performance, plus covers of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (Parts 1-3)," Metallica's "One" and Cheech & Chong's "Earache My Eye."
Gnarly: Wherever St. Elsewhere is, expect to find astronauts, purple panthers, pink palm trees, gas masks and other scattered military equipment -- if the cover of Gnarls Barkley's debut is at all accurate. All songs were written primarily by Brian Burton, a.k.a. Danger Mouse -- save a surprising cover of Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone" -- while Thomas DeCarlo Callaway, a.k.a. Cee-Lo, mans the mic. Both partners are Grammy nominees, so expect this one to have some extra bounce with the critics.
Agelessly: Gotta love it when soul heroes the Isley Brothers advertise a fresh number as a "new vintage classic." That would be "Gotta Be With You," one of 11 new cuts by the bros that also include "Blast Off," which features and was written, produced and arranged by R. Kelly; the Jermaine Dupri-produced "Gotta Be With You," co-written by Bryan Michael Cox (Mariah Carey, Usher); "Heaven Hooked Us Up," with guitars by Ernest Isley; and the laudably titled "Forever Mackin'," which has the priceless lyric "I rock the grooves and make moves on all the mommies."
She's not as old as the Isleys, but veteran Motown and current Cash Money heavyweight Teena Marie follows up 2004's La Doña with Sapphire. The death of her close companion Rick James is at the root of her 13th record, for which her 14-year-old daughter, Alia Rose, pays more than a couple of visits. Also chiming in are Kurupt and his wife, Gail Gotti; Teena Marie's sister, Queen; plus Smokey Robinson, Gerald Albright and the late James (on "You Blow Me Away").
Fiery: For their fourth studio venture, Eyes Open, Snow Patrol sought some help from singer Martha Wainwright for the scorching duet "Set the Fire to the Third Bar." Oh, and if you've got an all-regions DVD player and some extra motivation, try to hunt down the limited-edition import copy of the record. The accompanying video disc has making-of material plus the video for "You're All I Have."
All in the Family: This week would make Jack and Meg White proud. The Chicago husband-and-wife duo the Like Young step up with their third record, Last Secrets; Mercury Prize-nominated brothers the Electric Soft Parade deliver The Human Body EP -- with a bonus track that didn't appear on the U.K. edition; and John Carter Cash contributes liner notes to a re-release of his father's The Johnny Cash Children's Album, which has four previously unissued tracks.
Pony Up is a project that pairs drummer Linsay Wills with her younger sister/ ad-hoc keyboardist Laura Elizabeth. The Montreal group cowboy up with their debut, Make Love to the Judges With Your Eyes, which the band tracked with Arcade Fire collaborator Howard Ian Bilerman and engineer Brian Paulson of Beck and Wilco note.
Grandaddy's Just Like the Fambly Cat is in the thick of the incestuous pack, even if the record is more of a signature on their set of divorce papers, while New York bluesman Popa Chubby reveals the art behind Stealing the Devil's Guitar. Accident Experiment is another family matter, so to speak, as the band's United We Fear opus adopts members of P.O.D., Sprung Monkey and Grammatrain.
And the third release by Danielson Famile spinoff Danielson brings together siblings Chris, Greg, John and Satomi and also features Sufjan Stevens and Serena Maneesh. As luck would have it, Pitchfork darlings Serena Maneesh drop their own self-titled record this week, a record the Norwegian group calls an exercise in serenity. Let's hope they don't have any in-laws!
Song Title of the Week:
"Tire Bracelets for Coffin Life" from Zach Hill and Mick Barr's Shred Earthship
Other Notables:
Matmos' The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast: The San Francisco duo's seventh record is really an event in and of itself. With help from Björk, the Kronos Quartet and Antony, Matmos pay homage to 10 notorious deviants, including Germs singer Darby Crash, Valerie Solanas -- the woman who shot Andy Warhol -- and William S. Burroughs. And it gets even more far-out when they acknowledge Bavarian ruler King Ludwig II and a '60s gay-porn director. Capping the milestone, Matmos enlisted an array of artists -- including Ghost World and Art School Confidential mastermind Daniel Clowes -- to craft a visual accompaniment for each piece.
Plain White T's' Hey There Delilah: Chicago's latest great "white" hope have already won big with this EP's title track, which has been downloaded more than 40,000 times on iTunes. A live version of the song plus four new numbers recorded with Sean O'Keefe (Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights) and four additional videos give this EP even more bang for the buck.
Kimya Dawson's Remember That I ♥ You: The Moldy Peach just got married and is expecting a baby this summer, but apparently that's not enough -- she found time to birth her fifth solo LP as well. She fumes about the response to the 2004 tsunami in "12/26," declaring, "We'd have 12/26 tattooed across our foreheads if something this atrocious happened on our coast instead." But she saves some vitriol for the White House on "Loose Lips" -- after all, what would a new-releases week be these days without some Bush bashing?
New Releases:
Read: [article id="1510033"]"Grandaddy Can't Wait To Leave Home -- But They Have To Finish Telling It Off First"[/article]
Read: [article id="1530422"]"Plain White T's Find Getting Personal Pays Off, Literally"[/article]
Read: [article id="1524554"]"Chili Peppers Stoked About New Album, Possible Kanye Tour"[/article]
Read: [article id="1526932"]"Snow Patrol Turn 'Candy-Assed' Music Into Beastly Arena Rock"[/article]
Read: [article id="1527482"]"The Stills Look To Britney Spears In Picking New Single"[/article]
Notable Reissues and Archival Material:
- Chris Isaak - Best of Chris Isaak (two-disc version with DVD also available; Reprise)
Music DVDs:
Coming Attractions:
May 16:
Read: [article id="1525050"]"Hoobastank Find Inspiration For New LP In Scott Weiland's Cold Shoulder"[/article]
Read: [article id="1528507"]"Jack White: Don't Call The Raconteurs A Side Project"[/article]
Read: [article id="1528516"]"Rock Kills Kid Bring Music From Windowless Room To Radio"[/article]
May 23:
Read: [article id="1517749"]"Tom DeLonge Spills More About Angels & Airwaves' Plans For World Domination "[/article]
Read: [article id="1530242"]"Reggaeton Star Don Omar Out To Spread Latino Unity"[/article]
May 30: