While it might be a little dreary now to think of a cross-country road trip, a fun guide to Rock & Roll landmarks across North America has me itching to load up, head out and touch the sacred grounds of infamous debauchery, birthplace homes and final resting places of Rock's greatest legends. Published by the Santa Monica Press, Led Zeppelin Crashed Here is peppered with modern day photographs and a detective's keen eye for tracking down Rock history in its original scandalous settings. The pages turn like attacking a bag of chips. Travel writer Chris Epting collects over 300 pages of these famous (and hidden) sites, sure to put a smile on any music nut that finds the new book in their stocking. From directions to the concrete Woodstock marker in the earth outside Bethel, NY, to a deeper understanding of what Joni Mitchell was singing about in "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot," Epting's research makes me want to grab a camera and visit the location of famous album cover sites for personal snapshots, like in front of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti brownstone or shaking hands at the Warner Brothers studio lot where Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here cover was created.
Living vicariously through the folly of others, another terrific new book confesses the downside of Dr. Hofmann's troubled child, lysergic acid diethylamide, in Good Times: Bad Trips from San Francisco's Gallery 16 Books. In 138 colorful pages, over 50 firsthand accounts of dropping "bad" LSD are recalled. A handful of musicians pipe up to say that they just said yes, including Devendra Barnhart, Andy Cabic of Vetiver and Drew Daniel of Matmos.
Tuesday, Columbia Records is releasing a 10-CD box set of David Bowie's more adventurous work, expanding each of his recent Outside, Earthling, Hours, Heathen and Reality albums with a second disc. More than 60 remixes and alternative versions pad the set, highlighted by his work with Trent Reznor, Beck and Moby.
While it might be a little dreary now to think of a cross-country road trip, a fun guide to Rock & Roll landmarks across North America has me itching to load up, head out and touch the sacred grounds of infamous debauchery, birthplace homes and final resting places of Rock's greatest legends. Published by the Santa Monica Press, Led Zeppelin Crashed Here is peppered with modern day photographs and a detective's keen eye for tracking down Rock history in its original scandalous settings. The pages turn like attacking a bag of chips. Travel writer Chris Epting collects over 300 pages of these famous (and hidden) sites, sure to put a smile on any music nut that finds the new book in their stocking. From directions to the concrete Woodstock marker in the earth outside Bethel, NY, to a deeper understanding of what Joni Mitchell was singing about in "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot," Epting's research makes me want to grab a camera and visit the location of famous album cover sites for personal snapshots, like in front of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti brownstone or shaking hands at the Warner Brothers studio lot where Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here cover was created. . . .
Living vicariously through the folly of others, another terrific new book confesses the downside of Dr. Hofmann's troubled child, lysergic acid diethylamide, in Good Times: Bad Trips from San Francisco's Gallery 16 Books. In 138 colorful pages, over 50 firsthand accounts of dropping "bad" LSD are recalled. A handful of musicians pipe up to say that they just said yes, including Devendra Barnhart, Andy Cabic of Vetiver and Drew Daniel of Matmos. . . .
Tuesday, Columbia Records is releasing a 10-CD box set of David Bowie's more adventurous work, expanding each of his recent Outside, Earthling, Hours, Heathen and Reality albums with a second disc. More than 60 remixes and alternative versions pad the set, highlighted by his work with Trent Reznor, Beck and Moby. Later in December, EMI Records' UK division offers two new box sets arriving in time for gift giving. A 16-CD box set from Pink Floyd comes with all the trimmings, collecting their complete studio catalog. Titled Oh By the Way, each CD is packaged as a mini-version of its former life as an LP, down to the gatefold packaging and original inner sleeves. A new portrait collage by longtime graphic designer Storm Thorgerson graces the set, as well as a poster and two drink coasters to keep the eggnog from staining the coffee table. Radiohead also gets the sweet treatment, in a limited edition, self-titled, seven-CD box set of all their Parlophone releases housed in digipack recreations of the original LP artwork.
Television Alert
With the writer's strike in full effect, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is going back in time with Third Eye Blind from 2000 Wednesday and Anita Baker from 1995 on Thursday. The Ellen DeGeneres Show hosts Jack Black Friday and Snoop Dogg Tuesday. Tavis Smiley sits down with Seal Wednesday and Mary J. Blige Thursday. And the Biography channel focuses on two rock icons Thursday evening, debuting new episodes about Guns N Roses and George Michael.
New Releases Coming Tuesday
A.D. — Painfully Free (Statik Entertainment) thinking-cap Hip Hop from this Rhodes scholar and Harvard graduate; 4 Bonjour's Parties — Pigments Drift Down To the Brook (Mush) full-length debut from this seven-piece Tokyo collective, raising ears and eyebrows with song titles like "Magpie Will Peck a Hole In My Plaster Cast"; Arctic Monkeys - Teddy Picker (Domino) the third single from their Favorite Worst Nightmare album, featuring three exclusive B-sides, including a cover of Pat Farrell and The Believers Bad Woman from 1969; Bonde Do Role Marina Gasolina (Domino) CD EP featuring remixes by Fake Blood, Peeches, Ladytron and Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya; Daft Punk Alive 2007 (Virgin) recorded in Paris this past summer, featuring a 50-page booklet of photographs and a video for Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger in the limited edition two-disc version; Nelly Furtado — Loose: The Concert (Geffen) CD or DVD of her Get Loose Tour, featuring a cover of the Gnarls Barkley hit "Crazy" on the DVD; Ghostface The Big Dough Rehab (Def Jam); Wyclef Jean — Carnival Vol. II: Memories of an Immigrant (Columbia) with guests Norah Jones, Akon and Serj Tankian of System of a Down; Blake Lewis — Audio Daydream (Arista) debut from the beatboxer and American Idol runner-up; The Libertines Time For Heroes: The Best Of (Rough Trade) featuring B-sides and rarities; Man Be Good To Yourself at Least Once a Day (Esoteric) expanded CD reissue from 1972; Man Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics (Esoteric) produced by Roy Thomas Baker, this expanded CD reissue features a bonus disc recorded live at the Whiskey A Go Go in 1974; Nardwuar the Human Serviette - Welcome to My Castle (Mint Records) two DVDs of zesty interviews from the Canadian Punk Rock journalist and Evaporators vocalist, including chats with Timothy Leary, Tommy Chong, Nirvana, Jello Biafra, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, President Gerald Ford and Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau ; P.S. I Love You — original motion picture soundtrack (Atlantic) featuring music by The Pogues, Chuck Prophet, James Blunt and Toby Lightman; Pedro You, Me & Everyone (Mush) cool beats n rhythm cacophony flittering Free Jazz horns and breezy, hyper-kinetic winds; The Playing Favorites I Remember When I Was Pretty (Suburban Home) knocked out in a single weeks recording session, featuring members past and present of Lagwagon, Bad Astronaut, Popsicko, The Rentals and Penfifteen Club; The Marshall Tucker Band Carolina Dreams Tour 77 (Shout! Factory); Rufus Wainwright — Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall (Geffen) CD and DVD filmed at his tribute last year at the London Palladium; Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - original motion picture soundtrack (Columbia) featuring new music written co-written by the bio-spoof's star, John C. Reilly, with Mike Viola and Marshall Crenshaw; Various Artists Crunk Hits 4 (TVT) 18 lean-wit-it tracks from Chamillionaire, Lil Scrappy, Mims and Lil Boosie; Various Artists Plum (Thrill Jockey) box set of nine seven-inch singles, celebrating the labels 15th birthday with artists covering other artists on the imprint, highlighted by David Byrnes take on The Fiery Furnaces Ex Guru and The Sea and the Cakes creep through Califones Spider House.
