NEW RELEASES

   PIXIES - Doolittle

   URGE OVERKILL - Saturation

Buckcherry - "Buckcherry" Ever wonder what happened to rock & roll? Buckcherry has the answer. Hard-edged rocking melodies and straight-out references to all the debauchery that you can stand.

A3 - "Exile on Coldharbour Lane" Until recently, this album had been unjustly lost in the shuffle. A3 is made up of two guys from Scotland who love Americana - especially the Delta blues. The track "Woke Up This Morning" is the title song to the hit HBO series "The Sopranos," and it's helped gain A3 a much wider audience.

   Beastie Boys - Hallo Nasty

Cranberries - "Bury the Hatchet" The music of the Cranberries expresses the sweetness and toughness common to all the people of Ireland. On "Bury The Hatchet," Dolores O'Riordan and the band revel in the fragile and the furious. Also includes "Animal Instinct," "Delilah," "Fe Fi Fo" and 10 others.

Tom Waits - "Mule Variations" The beautifully rumpled teller of tales both strange and sublime returns with his first new album in six years. Though some songs teeter on the edge of breakdown, there isn't a wasted note or lyric to be found. And who else can come up with titles -- from "Chocolate Jesus" to "Eyeball Kid" to "Filipino Box Spring Hog"-- that evoke such vivid imagery?

Rick Wakeman - "Return to the Center of the Earth" Thirty over-the-top tracks by the famed former keyboardist for YES! This is a reprise to Wakeman's early '70's opus "Journey to the Center of the Earth," which made him a solo star (however brief). Includes accompaniment by a full orchestra from London.

#Rock'n'roll will never die...

Jimi Hendrix - "Live At The Fillmore East" This two-disc release draws on four monumental sets that Jimi Hendrix performed with the Band of Gypsys on December 31, 1969 and January 1, 1970.

Various Artists - "Hot Rods & Custom Classics: Cruisin' Songs & Highway Hits" The folks at Rhino have provided the perfect collection of summertime driving music. This four-disc set includes tracks from Johnny Cash, the B-52's, Jan & Dean and Chuck Berry as well as fuzzy dice.

          Various Artists - American Beauty  [Soundtrack] With tracks from Peggy Lee to Elliott Smith to the Who, there's something here every member of a dysfunctional family can enjoy--making this collection the perfect soundtrack for director Sam Mendes's film American Beauty. On "Free to Go," the Folk Implosion offer a gentle coming-of-age tune with a surprisingly infectious beat and the group's unmistakable harmonies.

        DAVID BOWIE - Let's Dance

        DAVID BOWIE - Hours

#Other milestones, new & old

The Sebadoh - With its recent self-titled release, lo-fi band Sebadoh welcomes its newest member, drummer Russell Pollard. Recently, the band talked in an interview about its latest incarnation, recording studios and what has kept the group going.

IggyPop & The Stooges:"Raw Power" The dim, lo-fi "RawPower" became an inspiration for punk and indie movements and showcased Iggy Pop at his most potent best. Pop marked his 52nd birthday on April 21, 1999.

   FRENTE - Marvin the Album

   Crowded House - Recurring Dream (The Very Best Of)

#Alternative

The Rentals -"Seven More Minutes" Former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp comes up with the second album from what was at one time supposed to be a one-off project and now is his full-time job. "Seven More Minutes" takes much more of a Brit-pop feel and even includes the work of Damon from Blur.

Bounty Killer - 5th Element

311 - Soundsystem 311 take their top-down sound to new heights with Soundsystem. Mixing it up with hip-hop, rock, funk, and reggae, while keeping the guitar riffs crisp and tight, the band's melodic muscle is more cut than ever.

Prodigy - "Prodigy Presents...The Dirtchamber Sessions Vol 1" Love them or hate them, electronic rock outfit the Prodigy understands better than anyone else the elements shared in common by hip-hop, punk rock and dance music. And not only is main Prodigy producer Liam Howlett able to bring them together successfully in his own music, he's also able to do it using other people's records on
"The Dirtchamber Sessions," his first DJ mix release.

Elf Power -"A Dream In Sound" Elf Power's debut, "When the Red King Comes," was a clever send up of prog-rock bands who took J.R.R. Tolkien a bit too seriously. On "A Dream In Sound," they continue to refine their low-fi meets psychedelic meets new alt-rock sound, and the results are like nothing you've ever heard.

Meat Puppets- "Monsters" Three tracks have been added for this reissue of a classic Puppets' album, bringing the running time to almost an hour. Along with two completely different versions of "Flight of the Fire Weasel," you'll also find the never before heard "Wish Upon a Storm" plus an enhanced portion featuring the video for "Light."

Pizzicato Five- "Playboy and Playgirl" Pizzicato 5 defies all attempts at categorization or convention. This Japanese outfit does trippy - retro electronica that somehow transcends lounge, trip-hop, and commercial quirkiness, forming its own parallel dimension of sound and style. Standouts: "La Depression" - "Rolls Royce" - "Week-End."

Blur - "13" William Orbit is brought in on Blur's latest release, which sculpts blissful dance rock from its squawky space jams. The best results are in the vein of "Low"-era Bowie.

 

#Pop , alternative classic

Tongue: Penelope Houston
Penelope Houston has stretched the boundaries of her musical mediums, releasing several delicate-sounding acoustic solo albums that, despite their quiet demeanor, never obscured her acerbic lyrics. With a new release, "Tongue," the multi-hued vocalist has found an interesting space midway between hervenomous punk past and more recent neo-folk leanings.