Music on TV - Week of 11.07.11: Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel

Brian Eno appears on The Colbert Report on Thursday.

Fall of 2011 is proving to be the busiest of seasons for Brian Eno. The seminal artist from the 70s who helped pioneer electronic music quickly transitioned into one music's most engaging producers (David Bowie, Devo, Talking Heads, U2, etc.) and still remains at the forefront of 'knob-twisting.' In the past month, Eno has resurfaced, thanks initially to the 20th anniversary reissue of U2's Achtung Baby and his work on Coldplay's latest, Mylo Xyloto. Eno then proceeded basically took over this year's Moogfest, held annually in Asheville, N.C. Named after the creator of the innovative keyboard, Bob Moog, this year's fest might as well have been called EnoFest, thanks to his much talked about 2-hour talk/presentation, his art installation (77 Paintings by Brian Eno) and his being pretty much everywhere.

At the festival, Eno fans were able to get advance copies of his latest work, the EP Panic of Looking, which is a six song collection of recordings from the sessions he did with poet Rick Holland, that resulted in the album Drums Between the Bells (released earlier this past summer). Then, last week Eno launched a new exhibition at the Science Museum of London with a talk about the role of technology in music -- including a bit on all the bizarre musical instruments that have sprung over time. , an exhibit that will run through the rest of the month, and I imagine some of that conversation will come up when he appears on The Colbert Report, Thursday evening.

Elsewhere, you can't go wrong with either St. Vincent (Monday) or Chromeo (Tuesday) on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, but let's give some digital ink to another seminal artist from the 70s (and on) who is back as well this week. Peter Gabriel returned last week with a new album (New Blood) and will be performing on The Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday, which has the distinction of being his first American TV performance in over a decade.

Picks for the week
Monday, November 7
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Junip
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Joan Baez & Kris Kristofferson
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Bouncing Souls
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: St. Vincent
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Lykke Li (REPEAT)
Tuesday, November 8
ABC: The 45th Annual CMA Awards: Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, Grace Potter
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Wale
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Four Year Strong
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Lyle Lovett
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Chromeo
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Decemberists
Wednesday, November 9
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Thompson Square
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Peter Gabriel
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Vanaprasta
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Death Cab For Cutie, Girl in a Coma
Thursday, November 10
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Joan Baez
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
COMEDY CENTRAL: The Colbert Report: Brian Eno
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Sharks
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Lupe Fiasco, Atmosphere
Friday, November 11
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Bouncing Souls
VH1CLASSIC: Metal Evolution: Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, GWAR
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Kermit the Frog
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Beyonce, Johnny Gill
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Thievery Corporation
Saturday, November 12
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Snow Patrol
EPIX: Britney Spears Live: The Femme Fatale Tour: Britney Spears
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Coldplay
PBS: Austin City Limits: Randy Newman
Sunday, November 13
HDNET: HDNET Concert Series: John Fogerty

Now Downloading: New Releases 03.02.10

Playlist: New Releases 03.02.10

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Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

When the tracklisting was revealed for Peter Gabriel's covers project, a lot of jaws dropped. It always seemed like Gabriel was one to ignore trends, finding inspiration in the oddest of spaces. With covers of Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Radiohead and others, it turns out Peter Gabriel is more like Davids Bowie and Byrne (both covered here as well) and is in tune with the indie rock trends. Adding to the attraction of the track list is Gabriel's refined voice and the orchestral arrangements, adding up to something that needs to be heard. At least once. I'm afraid, though, that this is not an album you can listen to a lot. Separately, the songs have a certain novelty factor, but after that wears off, they don't beat the originals. Again, though, this is an album that needs to be heard.

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Clogs - The Creatures In The Garden Of Lady Walton
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Indie forest nymphs stretch out with guest vocals from Sufjan Stevens, The National's Matt Berninger and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden.

Free AOL Album Stream
Download: "On the Edge (featuring Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond)" [mp3]

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Jaguar Love - Hologram Jams
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

When this Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves union came up, you would've never expected this radical evolution to electro-punk. Of course, now that the Pretty Girls Make Graves element (Jay Clark) has been extracted from the equation, I guess anything is possible. Aside from the heavily effected guitars from Cody Votolato, the album is all electronically driven. Throw in the always recognizable vocals from Johnny Whitney and this is a freakishly good time. Just skip the bonus track. That's no way to treat "Piece of My Heart."

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Japanther - Rock n' Roll Ice Cream / "Spread So Thin" [mp3]
Portugal. The Man - American Ghetto / "Dead Dog" [mp3]
The Ruby Suns - Fight Softly / Free AOL album stream / "Cranberry" [mp3]
Rogue Wave - Permalight / Free AOL album stream / "Good Morning" [mp3]
Citizen Cope - The Rainwater LP
Athlete - Black Swan / Free AOL album stream
Groove Armada - Black Light / Free AOL album stream
Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago
Shooter Jennings & Hierophant- Black Ribbons
Sarah Silverman - Songs of the Sarah Silverman Program: From Our rears to Your Ears! / Free AOL album stream
Raheem Devaughn - The Love & War Masterpeace
Yellow Swans - Going Places
Twin Tigers - Gray Waves / Free AOL album stream
Almost Alice / Free AOL album stream

REISSUES
Fela Kuti - Shakara / London Scene

tags: music, album review, peter gabriel, clogs, jaguar love, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody