Now Downloading: New Releases 11.03.09

We've officially moved into the gift-oriented release schedule, filled with deluxe reissues, box sets and other compilation/soundtracks to help (trick?) the average schmo get a gift for the music lover in their life. There's a couple gift choices from the archives of Nirvana, soundtracks from Fantastic Mr Fox, Glee, NCIS and Aqua Teen Hunger Force -- which is actually a X-mas album, and my fave of the bunch. Of the few new releases, there's ones from Julian Casablancas, Weezer, Molina & Johnson and Girls in Trouble.

Playlist: New Releases 11.03.09

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Nirvana - Bleach [Deluxe]
Stream / Purchase [mp3]
Nirvana - Live at Reading
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

If the gussying up a deluxe edition of an album made for just $600 seems a bit like a gratuitous cash grab, nobody will blame you. But Bleach's place in the the canon of rock is unquestionable, namely as a blueprint for what was to come, but also as a raw document of Kurt Cobain's talent, before Dave Grohl was added on drums. Remastering the album tracks added some punch, but the real jewel here are the live tracks, also pre-Grohl, from a performance in Portland in February of 1990, where the songs are brought to life.

Download: "Scoff" [mp3]
Download: "About a Girl" [mp3]

Speaking of live tracks, this document of their 1992 set (Live at Reading is Nirvana at their peak, and at their most jovial. The band headlined a lineup that included Nick Cave, The Beastie Boys, and NW friends Mudhoney, Screaming Trees & the Melvins. But it was Nirvana everyone came to see, and they didn't disappoint, from the moment Cobain is wheeled out in a hospital gown, to the closing feedback, the entire set is electrifying, the way we all should try and remember them. (This is the Nirvana album to get of the two, by the way.)

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Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

It's been three years since The Strokes disappointing First Impressions of Earth, and this solo release from the band's frontman does little to change our belief that the band's best days are behind them.

Free AOL Album Stream

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Weezer - Raditude
Molina And Johnson - Molina And Johnson / "Twenty Cycles to the Ground" [mp3]
Girls in Trouble - Girls in Trouble / "I Was a Desert" [mp3] / "Secrets/You're Always Watching" [mp3]
Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Original Soundtrack) / Free AOL Album Stream
Glee: The Music, Volume 1 / Free AOL Album Stream
Capgun Coup - Maudlin / Free AOL Album Stream / "Bad Bands" [mp3]
The Swimmers - People Are Soft / Free AOL Album Stream
Jookabox - Dead Zone Boys / "Phantom Don't Go" [mp3]
Brilliant Colors - Introducing
Vitalic - Flashmob
Athlete - The Getaway EP (AOL STREAM)
Guided By Voices - Suitcase 3: Up We Go Now / "Janet Wait" [mp3]
Morrissey - Sword
Rickie Lee Jones - Balm in Gilead / Free AOL Album Stream

REISSUES
Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! [Deluxe Remastered Edition]
Devo - Freedom of Choice [Deluxe Remastered Edition]
Cold Cave - Love Comes Close [Deluxe Remastered Edition] / Free AOL Album Stream / "Life Magazine" [mp3]

tags: music, album review, the swell season, devendra banhart, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody

I'll give the Patriots 10 to 13 points, depending on my buzz

Can't think of a better way to get ready for Super Bowl XLII than with the musings of Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

"High ankle sprain? I wasn't born yesterday, like one of Tom Brady's illegitimate children..."

Carl's previous entries:
"Giants Win!" - Giants beat Packers, 01/21/07
"Bottle Blonde Broad Giants" - Beat the Cowboys, 01/14/08
"Holiday Thoughts and Musings" - Sports talk for the holidays 12/24/07
"Roid Rage" - Carl on the Mitchell Report, 12/17/07
"Free Michael Vick" - In defense of dog fighting, 12/10/07
"The BCS" - 11/26/07
"Red is for Losers" - Giants vs Dallas, 11/12/07
Brady vs Manning, Patriots vs Colts, 11/12/07
"Boston Freakin' Won" - The World Series, 10/29/07
"Memories of Joe" - Joe Torre leaves the Yanks, 10/19/07

Finally, nipples of my own

Last night's Aqua Teen Hunger Force featured Singers Neko Case and Kelly Hogan play sexy sirens, Chrysanthemum and BJ Queen respectively, who move in to Frylock and co's old residence. And with them, in typical ATHF craziness, is former baseball player John Kruk.


Notice Neko getting hosed down on Carl's car. Like Carl experiences later, there's painfully no nipples.

ATHF creator Dave Willis has also apparently created a new CGI pilot titled Cheyenne Cinnamon and the Fantabulous Unicorn of Sugar Town Candy Fudge featuring Neko Case in the title role. As Willis tells Pitchfork, Cheyenne is "a Strawberry Shortcake pop princess that lives in a candy wonderland just outside of Detroit. She comes into Detroit and helps solve problems of racism and teen pregnancy with the power of love and teen pop songs." Sweet!

More to me then meat and eyes

If the film Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters isn't for everyone, then that could easily be said about the soundtrack. Some understanding of the hilariously cruel and bizarre world of the Adult Swim series is probably necessary to appreciate a milkshake singing a rock ballad called "Nude Love." But then again, how can you ever really truly understand a plot where the aforementioned milkshake (Master Shake,) a ball of hamburger (Meatwad) and a pack of fries (Frylock) attempt to save the world from a giant exercise machine (Insane-o-flex) built 70,000 years ago by aliens. You're either in or out.... and you can count me as in. Same goes for the soundtrack (Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the Soundtrack) which was released this week in advance of the film hitting theaters today, it features an eclectic mix of hip-hop, new metal and indie rock that are (once again) not for everyone.

Album: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the Soundtrack<

The artists here have a common a similar cult following: (Drake fave) The Hold Steady, Schooly D, Mastodon, Killer Mike, Early Man and Andrew W.K.. Schooly D wrote the theme song to the series, and his theme is remixed here for the movie, upping the metal quotient. Meanwhile, both MC Chris (as MC Pee Pants) and Andrew W.K. have appeared on the series, and songs that appeared in the series ("I Want Candy" and "Party Party Party," respectively) make contributions to the soundtrack here as well. Meanwhile, co-creator/writer Matt Maiellaro is an accomplished guitar shredder himself, and his guitar work is often featured on the program. Other musicians who've appeared on the show include Ted Nugent, Glen Danzig, Zakk Wylde and Geddy Lee of Rush. Speaking of Rush, drummer Neal Peart appears voicing a tiny version of himself in the movie, playing solos to puncuate the pronouncements of a talking tiny piece of watermelon. Of course he is.

Be sure and listen all the way through the last track, "Nude Love (Reprise,)" otherwise you'll miss the hidden tracks featuring Meatwad singing with Superchunk ("Misfits and Mistakes" aka "Putting all the Right Pieces Together") and Master Shake fronting Nashville Pussy ("Face Omlete" as featured in this video:)


Previously: Number one in the hood, g (Danger Doom)

tags: film, athf, music, adult swim, soundtrack, superchunk, the hold steady, mastodon, mc chris, movies, andrew wk, schooly d, rush, rhapsody