Hot off the heels of KCRW-FM's third volume in their Sounds Eclectic CD series, Boston's WBOS-FM has just released the second CD in their 92.9 Live from the Archives series of artists performing intimate tunes live in the studio. Benefiting a great cause right at home in the New England area, funds received from the CD support The Genesis Fund, aiding children born with birth defects and mental retardation. Recorded in the radio station's Studio 7, artists on the new CD include Guster, Los Lonely Boys, Alanis Morissette, Juliana Hatfield, Ziggy Marley and Sarah McLachlan. ...

While this coming week is a bit light with new releases, Tuesday, Jan. 25 is like a record industry "running of the bulls," packed with an snortin'-hoof stampede of new CDs. I'm pleasantly welcoming the return of a handful of old friends amid the crowded crush, stepping back into the spotlight and offering their first new music in years. Marianne Faithfull returns with Before the Poison on the white-hot Anti/Epitaph label, pairing the breathy chanteuse with Nick Cave, Damon Albarn, Jon Brion and PJ Harvey. Master guitarist Adrian Belew is back with Side One, a new studio solo album on the Sanctuary imprint. Look for the master guitarist to announce tour dates soon. Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny is joined again by his old partner, Lyle Mays, on The Way Up on Nonesuch Records. Doing something they couldn't do back in the early 1980s on two sides of an LP, the new album features a new continuous composition running over an hour long. Chris Stamey debuts his new band, The Chris Stamey Experience, and their new CD, A Question of Temperature, on Yep Roc Records. This new project from the founding member of the dB's features one heck of a backing band -- Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan and James McNew of Yo La Tengo, with guests Tyson Rogers of the North By Northwest Quartet, Caitlin Cary and former dB's bandmate Gene Holder. Two cool covers make the electric set, a take on the Yardbirds' "Shapes of Things" and Tom Verlaine's "Venus." Former Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin offers up his new reincarnation in the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex and the Life Begins Again CD on Sanctuary. The album features guest vocalists Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel and -- dig this -- Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers. Another unique voice returns with Heart & Soul, Joe Cocker's new CD on the New Door/Universal label. Featuring guest guitarists Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, this covers collection features his signature take on R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts," Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" and John Lennon's "Jealous Guy." ...

Speaking of big voices, soul legend Solomon Burke is releasing an all-new album in early March, entitled Make Do With What You Got. The Shout Factory! Records release features new songs written specifically for the singer by Dr. John and Van Morrison, and covers of Hank Williams' "Wealth Won't Save Your Soul" and Bob Dylan's "What Good Am I." ...

In other covers news, next month brings two nifty projects. Motivated by his "discovery" during a cross-country road trip of how great a band The Police were, the Militia Group Records' owner has assembled a new salute to the trio in POLICIA!: A Tribute To The Police. A dozen young bands take up the tribute challenge, including Fall Out Boy, Copeland, No Motiv, Brandtson and Underoath. Also due in early February is Dying To Be Famous, a new collection of covers under the Underground, Inc. Records banner, with Pigface covering AC/DC, LoLo covering Joy Division, Bagman covering The Ramones and Opium Jukebox covering Nirvana. ...

Who says that budding metalheads can't read? The PUSH imprint of the Scholastic Press has announced the publication later this year of Heavy Metal and You, a new novel aimed at Junior High and High School readers. Author Christopher Krovatin is touted as Nick Hornby 's metalhead little brother for his tale of boy meets girl, complications arise and "boy plays music even louder."

Television Alert
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Papa Roach Wednesday, Ozzy Osbourne Thursday, The Hives Friday, and Alter Bridge Tuesday. The Late Show with David Letterman hosts My Chemical Romance Thursday, Xzibit Monday and Ice Cube Tuesday. Late Night with Conan O'Brien features the Indigo Girls Monday and Joss Stone Tuesday. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson boasts Wyclef Jean Thursday and Mos Def Monday. And Saturday Night Live's musical guest this weekend is The Killers.

New Releases Coming Tuesday
and like the winds, young grasshopper, are subject to change...

The Bellrays ­ Red, White & Black (Alternative Tentacles) domestic release of their fourth Garage/Soul album; Black Mountain ­ Black Mountain (Jagjaguwar); Blood Brothers ­ Crime (Second Nature) special colored-vinyl LP pressing with a 16-page booklet and poster; Early Day Miners ­ All Harm Ends Here (Secretly Canadian) from Bloomington, Ind.; Erasure ­ "Breathe" (Mute) new CD single; Four Volts ­ Triple Your Work Force (Kanine) raw, energetic shoegazing Garage Rock from Long Island; Fozzy ­ All That Remains (Ash); Magnolia Electric Co. ­ Trials & Errors (Secretly Canadian); Strike Anywhere ­ To Live In Discontent (Jade Tree) collection of rare tracks and covers; Turpentine Brothers ­ We Don't Care About Your Good Times (Alive!) Garage Punk steeped in the sound of old labels like Stax and Fortune; Wires On Fire ­ Homewrecker (Buddyhead) six-track EP; Various Artists ­ The Sympathetic Sounds of Montreal (Sympathy for the Record Industry) 21 froggy Canuck tracks from Daylight Lovers, Deadly Snakes, Stack O' Lees and more.