Here’s what’s new in stores and worth your time this week, folks:

The Rolling Stones, Shine A Light (DVD/Blu-Ray)
The Scorsese-directed concert doc which I saw in IMAX back in April is hitting home video this week. It’s well-shot and is an excellent snapshot of the Stones’ last tour. Bonus features include archival interviews with the band and 4 performances which didn’t make the film’s final cut: “Undercover of the Night,” “Paint it Black,” “Little T&A,” and “I’m Free.” I’m most excited about the Blu-Ray disc, where all extras are presented in high-def. Can’t wait to rock my home theater with this.

The Enemy UK, We’ll Live And Die In These Towns
One of the biggest British Albums of 2007 finally makes it to the States (very unexpectedly, too — I didn’t know it was in the offing until this week). I featured The Enemy (now rechristened with a Charlatans-esque “The Enemy UK” for some unspecified legal reason) as a monthly crush back in May, and I’m happy to report that the new release is worth the wait thanks to a couple of bonus tracks, one of which is a cover of David Bowie’s classic “Five Years.” If you have a soft spot for bombastic British arena rock, you’ll be pleased. Grab it at Amazon MP3.

Rock The Net: Musicians For Net Neutrality
Here’s a benefit album I can get behind. Wilco, Aimee Mann, Bright Eyes, and They Might Be Giants, amongst others, donated tracks to the campaign for an open internet. Learn more at Rock The Net and enjoy the tunes from Amazon MP3, which is selling the 15-track compilation for $6.99.

Here’s what’s new in stores & worth your time this week, kids — lots of “everything old is new again”:

Primal Scream, Beautiful Future
The Scream, if you haven’t noticed around these parts, are one of my favorite bands, so I’m psyched to see them release new material, even though it’s import-only for the time being. Their last album, Riot City Blues, was a true stinker, but my hopes have risen based on the bits I’ve heard from Future: the Hawkwind cover “Urban Geurilla” has a rough, punk swagger to it, and first single “Can’t Go Back” hits the Scream’s urban dance/rock sweet spot, sounding like a less abrasive XTRMNTR. High hopes indeed. Grab Beautiful Future at 7digital.com.

David Bowie, Live in Santa Monica ‘72
Bowie’s ‘72 tour, his last under the Ziggy Stardust persona, is already officially documented by the Ziggy Stardust movie soundtrack. This performance, however, was recorded a few weeks earlier than Ziggy and has always been considered the holy grail of Ziggy boots by Bowie aficionados. I’m looking forward to finally hearing it for myself. Can’t beat Amazon MP3’s price: $8.99 for the whole 2-disc affair.

U2, Boy, October, and War
Remastered and expanded editions of U2’s first three albums hit shelves this week, each backed by a disc of b-sides, unreleased tracks, and live material. What a nice opportunity for a chap like me who didn’t board the U2 boat until Brian Eno had had his way with Bono & the boys on Achtung Baby. iTunes has the best deal, with each deluxe edition running between $15.99 & $16.99.

U2, Live From Paris 1987
iTunes has even more U2 goodies today, too: this exclusive live performance, recorded July 4, 1987, at the Hippodrome de Vincennes while the band was touring behind The Joshua Tree. Good song selection, and good performance, too.

Nine Inch Nails, The Slip
I know, I know: Reznor’s giving away The Slip for free in perpetuity. So why bother with the retail edition? The DVD with which it is bundled: it’s chock full of live performances from rehearsals for NIN’s upcoming tour behind the album, so for someone like me who’s missing them this time ’round, it’s a great way to get a peek at the newest edition of the live act. Grab the disc at your local store or Amazon.com.

I know — not a terribly trendy pick, right? Well, give a listen to Live At Carnegie Hall, June 3, 1977, the bonus disc packaged with the excellent Legacy Edition of Joel’s classic album The Stranger and you’ll think differently. Joel’s band, which features longtime Joel collaborators Richie Cannata and Liberty DeVitto, is unbelievably sharp, and Joel himself is in fine form and plays with tons of personality. An orchestra augments the band’s performance (I guess you can’t take a stage that big without dragging a few folks decked in cummerbunds along), but it never overshadows or overtakes the rock/soul sound.

The show was recorded before The Stranger’s release, so now-classic songs like “Just The Way You Are” and “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” are unfamiliar and fresh to the crowd. It’s as much of a treat to hear Joel still figuring out his way through the new tunes as it is to hear the crowd’s enthusiastic reaction to the new material. Great stuff.

Download: Billy Joel, “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” (mp3 — from Live At Carnegie Hall, June 3, 1977)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Like what you hear? Order The Stranger: Legacy Edition at Amazon.com.

Kids, it’s really freakin’ hot outside. Like Matt, my initial plans for our meteorological playlists got shelved when inspiration (and a wild thunderstorm) struck, but now that the weather’s settled a bit (Massachusetts is no longer being hit with Florida-like tropical rain) and the temperature’s consistently on the muggy, toasty side, I thought it would be prudent to resurrect my first list to help provide some relief. Without further ado (or, sadly, explanation — it’s too muggy to type), here are my favorite cold weather tunes.

To quote Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mister Freeze in Batman & Robin: “Winter has come at last!”:

Download: The Bangles, “Hazy Shade Of Winter” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Manic Street Preachers, “Winterlovers” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Pipettes, “A Winter’s Sky” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Elliott Smith, “Angel In The Snow” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Evinrudes, “Martin Luther Snow Day” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Rolling Stones, “Winter” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Tom Jones, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside (with Cerys Matthews)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Good day, sunshine! Well it turns out that the little red-headed girl with the blank white eyes was right. The sun actually will come out tomorrow. So with that short burst of condensed Spring (just add water - lots and lots of water) finally behind us, we can now get on with our infernal business. With things (and temperatures) looking up, I thought I’d offer a slightly cheerier soundtrack than my last deluvian-themed one. And with that… let there be more light!

1. Utah Saints, “Sun”
Warming up, the new day dawns with a short intro featuring the chopped-and-screwed voice of Michael Stipe.

2. The Beatles, “Here Comes The Sun / The Inner Light (transition)”
This version is from the “Love” album, and has some of the best lyrics ever written equating change in emotion to change in the seasons.

3. The Main Ingredient, “Summer Breeze”
A soulful version of the lite-rock classic, this features what may be the coolest non-Ferrell-related use of cowbell ever.

4. Sublime feat. The Pharcyde, “Doin’ Time (Marshall Arts remix)”
Kind of obvious, especially coming from me - so I tried to give you a version you may not have heard. And in fact Pharcyde’s lyrics are much more about hot fun in the summertime than the original version.

5. The Polyphonic Spree, “Light & Day (orchestral version)”
Here you go — nobody these days can sing about sun and happiness and lifting you up more effectively than these guys. You want inspiration? I refer you to the thirty people in orange robes right over there…

6. Sly & The Family Stone, “Hot Fun In The Summertime”
There must be some misunderstanding, there must be some kind of mistake… I mean I never knew Phil Collins was part of The Family…

7. Long Beach Dub Allstars, “Sunny Hours”
Before you roll your eyes and accuse these guys of ripping off Sublime, you should be aware that this kinda is Sublime, the post-Bradley years. After losing their singer / songwriter / guitarist, Bud (drummer) and Eric (bassist) kept tooling around with different Long Beach musicians, finally forming this loose association of artists that expanded and contracted to include members of Pharcyde, Black-Eyed Peas and J5, various punk, ska, and reggae greats past and present, but always Bud and Eric. This song was a definite attempt at wresting some of that “What I Got” success back from the 311 / Sugar Ray come-latelies. Unfortunately this never really caught on in the long run, hampered mainly by new lead singer Opie (an unabashed Bradley fan and clone) following in his idol’s footsteps a bit too closely and putting the whole band in jeopardy all over again. Drugs and and creativity may mix well - I’m of two minds on the subject - but drugs and success rarely cohabitate well.

8. Blind Melon, “No Rain (Ripped Away version)”
And finally we have a reminder that we here in New England really just need to have the weather to complain about - otherwise we’d often just have nothing to talk about. So the clouds lift, the sun shines, and after a few days of basking, we’re right onto complaining that we miss the cool rain. Oh well. Other darker songs that didn’t quite make it onto here were Lamb’s “Till The Clouds Clear”, which compares repressed emotion to a gathering storm, and Regina Spektor’s “Summer In The City”, in which she laments how being surrounded by scantily-clad sun worshipers just makes her miss her love even more. Both fine songs but not quite sunny enough for this playlist. Anyway, remember if you don’t like the music just wait five minutes…

Download: Utah Saints, “Sun” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Beatles, “Here Comes The Sun / The Inner Light (transition)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Main Ingredient, “Summer Breeze” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sublime feat. The Pharcyde, “Doin’ Time (Marshall Arts remix)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Polyphonic Spree, “Light & Day (orchestral version)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sly & The Family Stone, “Hot Fun In The Summertime” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Long Beach Dub Allstars, “Sunny Hours” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Blind Melon, “No Rain (Ripped Away version)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Here’s what’s new in stores & worth your time this week, folks:

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Magic Tour Highlights
The Boss pays tribute to the late, great E Street Band organist/accordianist Danny Federici with this special digital-only release. The four tracks are live cuts from the 2008 dates of the Band’s tour behind Magic, and three of them are loaded with guest stars: Alejandro Escovedo on a cover of his “Always a Friend”, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello sings and plays on “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” and The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn joins them for an excellent cover of “Turn, Turn, Turn.” Also included is Federici’s final performance with the Band, “4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” from their March 20 show in Indianopolis. The kicker? All net proceeds will go to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. There’s no reason to skip this one, folks. The iTunes release includes videos of all four tracks and a digital booklet.

John Mellencamp, Life Death Love and Freedom
That Mellencamp’s new album was produced by T Bone Burnett already put it on my shopping list, but what heightened my interest was pure curiosity: Life is the first-ever release in the CODE format, which, according to the Concord Music Group’s website, is “a proprietary audio technology that creates high-definition audio files that are virtually indistinguishable from the original master tapes.” Hmmm. In addition to a normal CD, Life will come packaged with a CODE disc that’s readable by DVD drives/players. Can’t wait to do a side-by-side listening comparison. Vanity Fair was giving away a couple of tracks from the album, and I like what I’ve heard so far — give “My Sweet Love” a try for yourself:

Download: John Mellencamp, “My Sweet Love” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
Patience pays off after a rushed digital-only release a few weeks back. The new disc (and only the disc or LP) is backed with three bonus tracks, and early reviews tell me it was worth the wait.

Sorry I missed last week, kids — thankfully you didn’t miss much. Here’s what’s new in stores this (and last!) week and worth your time:

Billy Joel, The Stranger: Legacy Edition
This re-release of Joel’s classic 1977 album features a new remastering supervised by album producer Phil Ramone, and adds a second disc, Live at Carnegie Hall 1977, which is an entire previously unreleased concert recorded just before The Stranger’s release. Essential stuff. Amazon MP3 tacks on bonus track, a second rendition of “She’s Got A Way” from an unspecified show, but I’ve opted for the physical package and David Fricke’s liner notes.

Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, Two Men With The Blues
I haven’t heard any of it yet, but this collaboration sounds too good to miss. The disc documents a 2 night stand that Willie & Wynton played back in early 2007, and the tracklisting sounds like lots of fun: it’s a neat mix of standards from Willie’s catalogue (”Stardust,” “Georgia On My Mind”) and blues (”Bright Lights, Big City,” “That’s All”). The iTunes version features a bonus track, “Down By The Riverside,” and a digital booklet.

Rick Astley, Playlist: The Very Best of Rick Astley
Zing! Is it too late for Rickrolling to be funny? Yeah, I thought so, too.

R.E.M., iTunes Live: From London
Last week’s best bet was this excellent, mini live album available only from (duh) iTunes. R.E.M. trot out a nice mix of new & old tunes, and they sound invigorated on stage — Accelerate really is their best album in years, and the proof is in this live pudding. “Hollow Man” gets better every time I hear it.

Welcome to July, folks. For this month’s theme, we dipped into the bag o’ suggestions that were garnered from our contest a few months ago & pulled out this simple but fun gem, courtesy longtime supporter & pal Bob Shortell. His concept:

How about the weather?

Well, how about it? I agree with Bob, it would make a great theme for playlists. So I sent the word out to the other Uncles, and while I drafted this post, Onkel Rudi decided to add his own addendums to the challenge:

I can haz weather?

You were eaten by a grue.

Little-known facts about Rudi: (1) he loves internet memes and Zork and (2) he originally went to college to study meteorology, so his enthusiasm for this month’s theme makes perfect sense.

Anyway, on to the tunes. Playlists will be posted throughout the day — hope you dig!

• Onkel Rudi’s “A Day In My (Summer) Life”
• The Man(del) from U.N.C.L.E.’s “Fair Weathered Friends”
• Uncle Sam’s “Storm Watch”
• UNKLE Matt’s “Hail Hail Rock n Roll!!!”

Here I am, rock you like a hurricane. (I know that phrasing makes no sense, whaddaya want, they were singing English phonetically) Sorry this is a bit late, but as with Sam, I had a bunch of ideas set to go (songs that mention seasons, songs by Snow Patrol, anything produced by Flood… too many ideas, in fact), then the recent divebombings Mother****ing Nature gave all of us here in Boston soured my mood a bit. Out went all the “She’s A Rainbow”s and “California Sun”s, supplanted by songs about rain, RAIN, RAIN… It turns out that it actually does go away, but comes back another day pissed off and out for revenge. Last week Harvard Square went from slightly gloomy to pitch black and horizontal in about 45 seconds. People turned into running screaming Cloverfield extras. The wind pulled my store’s door open. The rain was so thick I couldn’t see across the street. The only proper descriptive is “chunks”. There were chunks of water falling from the sky. Anyway, this kind of thing affects one’s mood, and therefore one’s playlist.

One interesting thing I kept noticing while searching through my music library is how many songs by Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin kept popping up. I’ve already discussed this with Sam, but from the obvious “Blowin’ In The Wind” to the simple and sweet “Shelter From The Storm”, whether the rain is Hard or Early Morning or Day Women or in Buckets, (not to mention the distinctly non-weather-related “Hurricane”), Dylan is no stranger to weather as metaphor. Then you get Zep and their (admittedly strained at times) attempts to connect with R&B / rock’s delta roots with songs about levees and riversides and… Moby Dick… Sam and I comiserated a bit about the loss of many of those old standby metaphors, replaced by pop music with all the subtlety of, “Hey girl, saw you walkin’ down the street, let’s go dance and then have sex”. I mean sure, I guess that’s what rock n roll was always saying, they just used to find a slightly more interesting way of putting it.

But this is getting off the point a bit. I’m merely trying for once to actually address here in print on the site one of the many rants Sam and I enjoy at the store but make no record of. Maybe, if that last sentence is any evidence, because of my occasionally “interesting” use of grammar. Back to my playlist. Lemon Jelly said it best: “Nice Weather For Ducks”. So setting aside the “Little April Shower” song from “Bambi”, which I used on another playlist not too long ago, I’ve included all the other “All Rain And No Sun Make Homer something something” songs. Perhaps I’ll get back to the sunny side once the jetstream complies. For now, here comes the rain again, falling on my head like… an as easy yet effective metaphor for tears and the blues. So goodbye blue sky, you’re becoming obscured by clouds…

1. Ella Fitzgerald & The Ink Spots, “Into Every Life Some Rain Must Fall”
2. The Temptations, “I Wish It Would Rain”
3. The Cascades, “Rhythm Of The Rain”
4. ELO, “Rain Is Falling”
5. Ann Peebles, “I Can’t Stand The Rain”
6. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Who’ll Stop The Rain”
7. k-os, “The Rain”
8. Peter Gabriel, “Here Comes The Flood”

Enjoy!

Download: Ella Fitzgerald & The Ink Spots, “Into Every Life Some Rain Must Fall” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Temptations, “I Wish It Would Rain” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Cascades, “Rhythm Of The Rain” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: ELO, “Rain Is Falling” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Ann Peebles, “I Can’t Stand The Rain” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Who’ll Stop The Rain” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: k-os, “The Rain” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Peter Gabriel, “Here Comes The Flood” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

So I had my weather-related playlist all set to go yesterday (post drafted, mp3s uploaded), and then I got caught in a thunderstorm while walking back to the office from lunch with the wife. Inspiration (not lightning!) struck: put my current list on ice (pun intended — you’ll eventually see why) and make a new list focusing on wild, stormy weather. Once I toweled off, here’s what I came up with:

1. The Rolling Stones, “The Storm”
   This bluesy ditty is an outtake from the recording sessions for 1994’s Voodoo Lounge that, until it finally surfaced on an exclusive iTunes EP, was only available as part of an astoundingly excellent bootleg boxed set called Voodoo Brew, which consisted of 4 discs worth Lounge alternate takes and outtakes. More on that another time; for now, enjoy this loose, Don Was-produced tune and Ronnie’s sublime slide geetar.
2. Gnarls Barkley, “Storm Coming”
   Cee-Lo’s voice is almost as frantic as Danger Mouse’s jumpy breakbeats and the sound of impending doom. One of the more overlooked cuts from their debut St. Elsewhere.
3. The Kills, “Last Day Of Magic”
   I revealed my love for this song in one of June’s crush posts, and its chorus of “Last day of magic/Coming through/The eye of the storm/And I hold on to/My little tornado/My little hurricane-o” definitely influenced my decision to move in the stormy direction.
4. Aimee Mann, “Little Tornado”
   Mann’s soft, mournful tune is a stark contrast to the thunderous noise of the last 2 songs, and the restrained tone lends incredible weight to lines like “Little tornado/Bane of the trailer park/Lifting houses/To leave your mark.” The song comes from her most recent album, @#%&*! Smilers, which is easily her best work since her rise to fame on the back of the Magnolia soundtrack album.
5. The Band, “Too Wet To Work”
   Smack in the middle of The Band’s triumphant 1973 outdoor live show at Watkins Glen in western New York state, a huge thunderstorm broke out. The group hurried offstage, but keyboardist Garth Hudson wandered back out in the middle of it, and, with the threat of electrocution looming, played this excellent solo for the crowd on his plugged-in organ. Fantastic stuff. The Band’s Live at Watkins Glen album may have dubious origins, but it’s still fun and, sadly, is out of print.
6. Manic Street Preachers, “Tsunami”
   I was first attracted to the rushing melody and gorgeous sitar that powered the song along, but the story behind the inflammatory, political lyrics gives the song a punch as powerful as the titular storm. Check it out for yourself.
7. Alice Cooper, “Hurricane Years”
   It wouldn’t be an Uncle Sam playlist without a little hair metal thrown in there for good measure, right? I have a soft spot in my heart for modern Alice, and his 1991 album Hey Stoopid (which featured contributions from Slash, and Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars) spent a lot of time in my Discman in high school. Once deciding on my new, stormy theme, the chorus to this song (”Thunder, lightning/The wind outside is so damn frightening) instantly popped into my head.
8. Garth Brooks, “The Thunder Rolls”
   This was the fourth #1 country single from Garth’s big hit crossover album No Fences, and its tale of adultery and domestic violence was pretty sensational in its day: the video, which starred a young Chris Gaines and implied more violence than the song itself suggests (the wife had a black eye; she eventually exacts revenge upon her cheating husband), won awards and acclaim but was banned from at least one country music channel due to violent content. Deserving of the ban? Not really, but any press is good press, right?

Enjoy the tunes!

Download: The Rolling Stones, “The Storm” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Gnarls Barkley, “Storm Coming” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Kills, “Last Day Of Magic” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Aimee Mann, “Little Tornado” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Band, “Too Wet To Work” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Manic Street Preachers, “Tsunami” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Alice Cooper, “Hurricane Years” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Garth Brooks, “The Thunder Rolls” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)