thus spake drake: ledzep

Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin will appear on Letterman this Monday

You may have noticed a dearth of the written word on this blog of late, and it's mostly due to a kind of ridiculous schedule with my new latest job. I'm an editor for the default News app for the recently released Windows 8, which looks great and you'll have to take my word for it (or upgrade, natch, to experience).

Consider this a return of sorts, just like Led Zeppelin on Monday night, as Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones sit down for an interview on Letterman. They're not scheduled to perform, but they could.

Going back nearly as far is another reunion of sorts, with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John on Ellen Wednesday. There is likely to be dancing, so consider yourself warned.

Elsewhere, there's a full slate of stuff the kids listen to nowadays, highlighted by The Avett Brothers playing with the Brooklyn Philharmonic (Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday), and a couple of network TV debuts on Thursday from Vintage Trouble (Letterman) and Tanlines (Jimmy Fallon).

Picks for the week
Monday, December 3
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Led Zeppelin, Paloma Faith
CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Richie Sambora
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: The Polyphonic Spree
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Dave Matthews
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Titus Andronicus
TBS: Conan: Punch Brothers
Tuesday, December 4
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Vampire Weekend (REPEAT)
AXS: AXS Concert Series: R. Kelly: The Single Ladies Tour LIVE!
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: J.D. McPherson
CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Richie Sambora
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Matisyahu
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Bonnie Raitt
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Family of the Year
TBS: Conan: Ke$ha
Wednesday, December 5
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: The Avett Brothers with the Brooklyn Philharmonic (REPEAT)
AXS: AXS Concert Series: Sonic Youth
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Diana Krall
CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Richie Sambora
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Robert Cray
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Blitzen Trapper
SYNDICATION: The Ellen Degeneres Show: John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
TBS: Conan: Delta Spirit
ABC: The View: Bonnie Raitt
Thursday, December 6
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Alicia Keys (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Vintage Trouble
CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Richie Sambora
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Paloma Faith
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Tanlines
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Walk the Moon
TBS: Conan: The Gaslight Anthem
Friday, December 7
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Future (REPEAT)
CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Richie Sambora
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Garbage
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Big Boi
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Divine Fits (REPEAT)
Saturday, December 8
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Ke$ha
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Ne-Yo
PBS: Austin City Limits: Steve Martin, Sarah Jarosz

Releases from The Nerves, The Pillbugs, Flaming Lips
New releases from here on out are more about gift giving than an actual interest in music, so new albums give way to box sets, compilations and reissues along with DVD interests. But there are still some great finds, especially for a power pop head like myself, as the long awaited The Nerves compilation, One Way Ticket, finally sees the light of day. As far as Nerves fans go, there's a 30th anniversary edition of Cheap Trick's Live At Budokan, along with a new release from The Pillbugs, so it's a nice week to celebrate power pop. Elsewhere, the very odd Flaming Lips' Christmas On Mars finally sees the light of day, both soundtrack and DVD, and there's new releases from Wintersleep, Holy Hail, Vetiver, Denison Witmer, Deer Tick and an EP from Gnarls Barkley. On the gift giving front there's compilations from The Smiths and Led Zeppelin, along special reissues from New Order (first five albums,) and Warren Zevon.

Playlist: New Releases 11.11.08

The Nerves - One Way Ticket
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

The Nerves register barely a blip in time, releasing only a four-song self-titled EP in 1976, but in that brief time, that trio consisting of Jack Lee, Peter Case and Paul Collins produced some work that would have a much larger impact, propelling a resurgence of power pop on the charts. All three members had an impact following their breakup. The Jack Lee composition, "Hanging on the Telephone," is the Nerves song that lives on, being covered by Blondie (video) two years later (and more recently by Cat Power for a Cingular commercial). Peter Case would go on to form The Plimsouls, and Paul Collins would form The Beat; along with The Knack, these bands took what The Nerves had started in LA and elevated it further. One Way Ticket (on Alive Records) is the first full length from the band, taking the four songs from the EP -- "Hanging on the Telephone" (Lee,) "When You Find Out" (Case,) "Give Me Some Time" (Lee), and "Working Too Hard" (Collins) -- and adds the Peter Case song "One Way Ticket," along with a song from the shorter lived Breakaways ("Walking out on Love" -- Case and Collins) and other unreleased tracks, demos and live recordings. It's a great document to a band just a couple years ahead of it's time -- a band who combined the melody of the Beatles along with the energy of the burgeoning punk movement. There was little in the way of indie labels, DIY was too expensive and major labels weren't quite ready, so we can only wonder what might have been if they'd been able to stick together for just a couple more years.

Cingular ad featuring "Hanging on the Telephone" covered by Cat Power:

Of some note, Def Leppard also recently covered "Hanging on the Telephone"

The Pillbugs - Everybody Wants a Way Out
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

The Toledo OH five-piece The Pillbugs are getting special mention here in part due to the power pop angle I'm going for, but also because bassist/vocalist Mark Kelley lost his battle with lung cancer earlier this year, so the album, Everybody Wants a Way Out is an especially bittersweet collection of psychedelic power pop songs. From the opening strands of the majestic "Life as it Happens" all the way uplifting and trippy closer "North of Reality," a song featuring the post-humous Kelly on vocals, it's an album that takes inspiration from the Beatles circa Revolver to Magical Mystery Tour. It can seem awfully derivative, and the middle gets dragged down a bit with some questionable songs, but it's nonetheless a well done album for the genre.

Download: "Life as it Happens", "Can't Get it Right (So I'm Loving it Wrong)" (Rainbow Quartz Records)

More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week (AOL Streams rollover 11/17)