Grumbling over the current state of Rock radio and the need to find something worthy of blowing a few woofers and tweeters over? Stand up, raise up and beg not, my friend, as the coolest mutha in the room,
Steven Van Zandt, has laid hands on two swaggering CD collections due this Tuesday from his new Wicked Cool Record Co. imprint. They are both near-religious, revival-tent extravaganzas that dust the weak and electrify the willing. Fueled by the playlists of his syndicated radio program,
Little Steven's Underground Garage, the 15 personally selected tracks in
The Coolest Songs In the World: Vol. 1 are each monsters in their own right, offering vibrating, nuts-off, lost-in-the-poppies fuzz nirvana to melt the heart of any lost, disenchanted soul who lost "the rock" many moons ago. Blasting off with cosmic power-poppers
The Shazam, Cincinnati's favorite sons
The Greenhornes and the wigged-out frenzy of
The Forty Fives, everything the doctor ordered keeps on coming, with snarling Ellie Vie fronting
The Charms from Boston, a
Mooney Suzuki rouser from 2002 and the
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's prophetic "Whatever Happened To My Rock and Roll." The sweaty, dangerous fun continues in
CBGB OMFUG FOREVER, a tribute to the shuttered, iconic club with liner notes by Lenny Kaye. Sixteen tracks made the cut, with hits like Blondie's "Hanging On the Telephone" from 1978 and The Damned's "New Rose" from 1977, plus a few rare tracks, including Japanese bonus tracks from
Green Day and
U2 (who cover The Ramones' "Beat On the Brat"). ... The spirit of self-described "Punk Rock Warlord"
Joe Summer lives on. Opening to rave reviews at Sundance, the documentary
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten will have its soundtrack CD released Tuesday on Sony's Legacy label. A perfect road mix for reminiscing about when a slogan like "the future is unwritten" was a majestic battle cry for those face-deep in the weekly pages of
NME or
Sounds magazine, the 25 boombox-friendly selections run a zesty range, from the twisted come-hither of
Elvis Presley's "Crawfish" to the
MC5's uncensored, righteous "Kick Out the Jams," many introduced by disc jockey and pondering sage Strummer. Other highlights include a cool cover of "Rock the Casbah" by
Rancid Taha, a live version of his own "I'm So Bored With the USA" with
The Clash, tracks with his swan-song band
The Mescaleros and his early Pub Rock burner "Keys To Your Heart" with the
101ers. Packed with interviews from members of The Clash, Bono, Flea, Courtney Love, Martin Scorsese and more, the Julien Temple-directed film should see theatric release this summer and DVD release in the fall.
Television Alert
The Late Show with David Letterman gets nutty with The Kooks Wednesday. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno welcomes Nelly Furtado Thursday and Miranda Lambert Friday. Late Night with Conan O'Brien howls with Patrick Wolf Wednesday. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson hosts Dinosaur Jr. Wednesday. Jimmy Kimmel Live boasts Alexa Ray Joel Thursday. The Henry Rollins Show on IFC features musical guest Chris Cornell this weekend. And Saturday Night Live's musical guest this week is Linkin Park.
New Releases Coming Tuesday
The Avett Brothers Emotionalism (Ramseur) the sixth album from these North Carolina halleluiah n' hellfire Country gentlemen; Balkan Beat Box - Nu Med (JDub) featuring a cool remix contest with Ableton Live 6 software; Before Their Eyes - Before Their Eyes (Rise) Christian Hardcore from Findlay, Ohio, with guest Jeremy DePoyster of The Devil Wears Prada on one track; Blacktop Mourning - No Regret (Tyrannosaurus Records) harmonic debut for the new boutique label formed by Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, who guests on four songs; Tim Buckley - My Fleeting House (MVD) lovely DVD collection of impossible-to-find television performances including clips from The Monkees from 1967, the BBC's Old Gray Whistle Test and Dutch TV's Twien program, with insightful interviews with author David Browne and bandmates Lee Underwood and Lee Beckett; Davis Coen Ill Disposition (219 Records) smokin' slide guitar and funky, soulful Country Blues, featuring a cover of John Lee Hooker's "Mambo Chillun"; Dungen - Tio Bitar (Kemado) the title is Swedish for "ten pieces"; available on both LP vinyl and CD; Ellul Ellul (Sounds Are Active) trippy, soulful experimental and acoustic work; Groovie Ghoulies 99 Lives (Green Door); Guided By Voices - Live From Austin TX (New West) double CD or DVD of their farewell tour performance on Austin City Limits; Howard Hewett - If Only (The Machine/Groove) all new featuring a bonus song with Billy Preston and Gerald Albright; The Horrors - Strange House (Stolen Transmission) snotty, theatric, old-school Punk from the UK; a must find treat for fans of The Damned, The Cramps and Bauhaus; Ian Hunter - Shrunken Heads (Yep Roc) all new from the face of Mott the Hoople, backed by drummer Steve Holly and bassist Graham Maby; Jefferson Airplane - Sweeping Up the Spotlight: Live At the Fillmore East 1969 (RCA Legacy) featuring liner notes by Jorma Kaukonen and a cover of Fred Neil's "The Other Side of This Life"; Amy LaVere - Anchors & Anvils (Archer/Thirty Tigers) captured perfectly by producer Jim Dickinson, my pick of the week is this second album from the stand-up bassist and vocal seductress with the classic Country warmth and heartache of back porch honey and biscuits, opening with the sly "Killing Him (Didn't Make Her Love Go Away)" and closing with a cover of Bob Dylan's "I'll Remember You"; Linkin Park Minutes To Midnight (Warner Bros); Megadeth - United Abominations (Roadrunner) featuring cover art discovered through a diviantART contest; Maria Muldaur - Naughty, Bawdy & Blue (Stoney Plain) with guest Bonnie Raitt on a cover of Sippie Wallace's "Separation Blues"; Nonloc - Between Hemispheres (Strange Attractors Audio House) shining solo album from multi-instrumentalist Mark Dwinell of Bright, hovering in the space of The Durutti Column, Robert Fripp and Kraut Rock fantasia; Dolores O'Riordan - Are You Listening? (Sanctuary) solo debut from The Cranberries' vocalist; Ozma Pasadena (About a Girl) punchy, catchy Southern California quintet, with guests Matthew Caws of Nada Surf and Rachel Haden of That Dog; Plants Photosynthesis (Strange Attractors Audio House) slowly creeping Acid Folk bridging old-time instruments and electronic treatments; The Remains - The Remains (Epic Legacy) expanded reissue from 1966, featuring their cover of Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy"; The Saints - The Greatest Cowboy Movie Never Made (Wildflower) four-CD box set featuring the "lost" Paralytic Tonight Dublin EP and a concert from 1981; UB40 Live At Montreux 2002 (Eagle Rock) DVD featuring covers of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love" and Al Green's "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)"; Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch).
