New Albums / CDs

Les Claypool, the funky weird-rock bass god of Primus, has a new solo alubm called "Of Whales & Woe" arriving on May 30, 2006. It's his first album released under his own name..

Here's the tracklist:

1 Back Off Turkey
2 One Better
3 Lust Stings
4 Of Whales and Woe
5 Vernon the Company Man
6 Phantom Patriot
7 Iowan Gal
8 Nothin' Ventured
9 Rumble of the Diesel
9 Robot Chicken
10 Filipino Ray
11Off-white Guilt

and more info from jambands.com:

Les Claypool: Of Whales And Woe

Though billed as a solo record, Claypool’s forthcoming disc will feature members of the bassist's "Fancy Band," including Gabby La La, Mike Dillon and Skerik. According to Claypool, the disc recalls his Holy Mackerel record, which found the virtuoso performing on a number of different instruments. "It is a lot of stuff that I’ve accumulated," Claypool tells Jambands.com. "Purple Onion was me writing some songs and then bringing the band in to perform those songs. This record is more of me banging on the drums, playing the bass, playing some guitar and then bringing people like Mike and Skerik into to fulfill certain parts." Several of Of Whales And Woe’s tracks will be familiar to fans of Claypool's live show including "Phantom Patriot."

After meeting up in the aftermath of Katrina, Elvis Costello has teamed with New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint (producer of the almighty Meters among many other credits) for a new album named "The River in Reverse."

Toussaint-Costello collaboration rises from Katrina

It's a collaboration that grew from Hurricane Katrina, and now Elvis Costello and New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint have cemented the relationship with songs that won hearts in the battered city.

It all came together on Sunday as tens of thousands of fans crowded a performance by Toussaint, known for a string of 1960s and 1970s rhythm and blues hits, and his new musical compadre, Costello.

"To see the sea of people out there who had no reason to be afraid of New Orleans -- they were obliged and eager to come to New Orleans and they were having a good time," Toussaint told Reuters during a post-performance stroll of the grounds at the city's annual Jazz & Heritage Festival.

"And Elvis Costello being on stage at the same time was another added treat."

Like so many of his fellow citizens, Allen's home was destroyed in Katrina's floods and he is still rebuilding. But the 68-year-old's musical output has not slowed, as his work with Costello attests.

He found himself in New York after the hurricane and played some of the early Katrina benefit concerts with Costello, known for such tunes as "Pump it Up" and "Watching the Detectives."

London-born Costello was considering recording an Allen Toussaint songbook CD, and showed up regularly at Joe's Pub in New York, where Toussaint was performing for Sunday brunches.

"He thought we should seize this moment to work together," Toussaint said as fan after fan interrupted to shake his hand.

The result was the album "The River in Reverse," slated to be released in June. It marks the first time in a career dating back to the 1950s that Toussaint has collaborated on composition.

"It's very special with Elvis. For one thing, I've learnt Elvis's heart is so big. He's a most sincere man about the music, about the art, about people and about our situation here," he said.

"This isn't an album just about Katrina, but there are statements being made by Elvis, especially, and myself that directly relate. But the album goes far beyond Katrina."

The duo previewed some of the songs, including the title track, for the festival crowd, which was also treated to a medley of infectious Toussaint classics.

During his surprise performance at The Roots' Radio Ctiy show, Nas announced he'll have a new album ready in September entitled "Hip-Hop Is Dead." It'll be Nas' first album since Jay-Z gave him a new home at Def Jam.. and a lot is riding on the success of this album for both of them:

Recent Def Jam signee Nas will deliver his first album for the label in late September. The rapper made the announcement last night (May 18) while performing on the first leg of labelmates the Roots’ two-night stand at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. The album is titled "Hip-Hop Is Dead,” according to a Def Jam representative, who also confirmed the September release.

via Nah Right who also noted Nas' iffy previous choice:

The hip-hop provocateur tells us he’s planning on calling the CD simply "N-." Except, he’ll be filling in the blank.

"That’s the name right now," he said. Just to make sure we didn’t mishear him, he spelled the racist epithet for us.

"I don’t care about sales," he explained at Wednesday’s MAC Cosmetics party for Sean (Diddy) Combs’ new fragrance, Unforgivable. "Well, tonight I don’t. I never was a big sales dude, so it never really mattered."

This "Back to Basics" album seems like an iffy idea for Christina Aguilera, she's always had a solid voice but never learned to use it with discipline.. maybe on this "retro" project she's picked up the understanding of dynamics and such that sets old-school vocalists apart from her.

Christina Aguilera's New Back to Basics Album: Some Jazz, Some Hip-Hop Soul ... And Some Burlesque

Christina Aguilera is mighty jazzed about her upcoming "retro" album Back to Basics, which she previews in GQ's June cover story. "Aguilera 3.0," as the magazine calls her, has turned into a "Jazz Age Broadway-baby songbird," and to prove it, the singer is planning a tour of jazz clubs to promote her concept album Back to Basics.

"In the end, it's really cool to just follow a set vision," Christina Aguilera told the mag. "I think it makes for a better product."

To hear Etta James — a legendary R&B singer who called Aguilera both a friend and "a great little singer" — tell it, the young vocalist will have no problem holding her own in such venues as New York's renowned Blue Note. "For a young girl like that to be singing real songs? I mean, she's headed for the pop market, but she can do everything. She's like somebody that was born at another time. An old soul."

According to the magazine, Back to Basics begins with a spooky 1920s carnival fantasia, with producer Linda Perry playing a carnival barker promising thrills and chills: "Welcome to the greatest show ... greatest show on earth!" Then the orchestra sweeps into an Abbey Road-esque chord progression as Aguilera's alto soars.

The album next reveals a throwback hip-hop-soul sound that uses a string quartet, horns and jury-rigged recording techniques to evoke a vintage sound and sensibility. To attain the scratchy blues sound in "I Got Trouble," producers used a bass-drum mic with fabric muffling it, and had Aguilera record the vocal when she had a cold. To get her voice even more raw for "Save Me From Myself," Aguilera drank whiskey and recorded up close on the mic, "with no ad-libs, no nothing," according to the singer.

"That's so not like me," Aguilera told the mag. "No effects, no reverb — and I'm a reverb queen. Every scratch, every little imperfection is there."

Getting that musically naked was possible due to the singer's trust in Perry, which developed during sessions for Aguilera's 2002 LP Stripped. "I would never be able to be as open with anybody else," Aguilera told GQ. "I think we push each other to go places that we wouldn't normally go."

The notoriously wild singer is still drawn to sassy material, such as Back to Basics's club track "Still Dirrty" ("Still got the nasty in me/ Still got that dirty degree/ Still got that freak in me") and "Naughty Naughty Boy" ("Now you better give me a little taste/ Put your icing on my cake"), the latter of which has a '20s burlesque feel (see "Christina's New Split-Personality Album Is Mature And 'Dirrty' "). Other songs include "Candy Man," which recalls the tight harmonies of all-female vocal groups from the '30s and '40s, and "Thank You," which features DJ Premier splicing bits of "Genie in a Bottle" with fan voicemail messages.

"It's been a long process making this album — I'm extremely detail-oriented, so I had to really take time with it," Aguilera said. "It's a big album. I recorded enough for a double CD, but fit it into one so it's affordable to everyone."

— Jennifer Vineyard

A solo album from Thom Yorke? I'm there. Ateaseweb has the latest:

LA Times' Calendar Live have a story on Thom Yorke's new album The Eraser, talking with Kris Chen, senior vice president of artists & repertoire for XL Recordings: "It really did take everybody by surprise."

Radiohead's management brokered a deal in late January/early February with the indie label, home to acts including Devendra Banhart, the White Stripes and Dizzee Rascal. "Everybody involved was able to keep it under wraps for a while," says Chen.

Since the announcement, some fans have grown dismayed at the idea of pop's most inscrutable poet of ennui releasing what some fear might be an indulgent electronica album. Chen, however, is at pains to banish the notion.

"Contrary to what some people are posting on bulletin boards, it's not 'Thom's techno record,' " he says. "It is well-composed, beautifully thought-out and song-based. Thom's voice and lyrics are unmistakable. That said, it's not as if you're going to hear the more guitar-based angle of, say, 'The Bends.' "

One of Yorke's new songs, "Black Swan," will play over the closing credits in Richard Linklater's animated sci-fi film, "A Scanner Darkly," which hits theaters in July.

Until then, Yorke completists can stay current via the album's interactive ” and spookily atmospheric” website, theeraser.net.

"That's crucial in keeping up the dialogue with Thom's fans — there's an invitation to keep coming back," Chen says. "Since the site launched last week, it's gone through changes every day. We're trying to get music across to people outside the tried-and-true norm."

Been hearing a lot about this guy Ray Cash, haven't had a chance to really check him out yet.

Ray Cash: Cash On Delivery

Cleveland has never been thought of as a hotbed for musicians. Figures such as The O’Jays, Avant, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have had profound impacts on music, but only through associations in bigger cities. With a Sony Records contract and a localized approach, Ray Cash envisions a change to this trend.

Using Lebron James’ young leadership with the Cavaliers as an guide, Ray Cash wants the city on his back in pursuit of rap revitalization. This undertaking his started with crossover hit, “Sex Appeal” and the grittier “Bumpin’ My Music” with Scarface. As both singles find airwaves in and outside Cleveland, Cash waits to release the debut, Cash On Delivery, that he largely completed before signing. With help from Rockwilder and Rick Rock, Ray has cosigns from respected MCs and producers. All that separates the artist from a chance at his dreams is a June 27th release date. After a career made of taking Greyhounds and trains to go to them, Ray Cash is ready for the masses to start coming to his city for him.

Jurassic 5, The Patron Saints of Backpackistan, return on June 27 with a another dose of that retro flow:

Jurassic 5 - Feedback music remedy

To the truly devoted, the reemergence of Jurassic 5 is the like the return of The Sopranos—long awaited, fraught with speculation, and feverishly anticipated. Coincidentally, as Tony again settles into his office in the rear of the Bada Bing, Jurassic 5, on the heels of a busy three-year hiatus, readies their provocative fourth album, Feedback.

Emcees Chali 2na, Marc 7, Akil, Zaakir (Soup), and DJ/producer Nu-Mark are on the march once again, and on display are those qualities for which J5 is now world renowned—soulful harmonizing, innovative rhyme patterning, tag-team vocal exchanges, and first-rate turntable feats; a lyricism of the highest order aligned with intricate, sample-laden production that has yet to be surpassed in quality, ingenuity and consistency; and all of this in full view in what might be the best live show that popular music has going today, a rambunctious, five-man, rolling musical event.

Then just what is J5’s sound? Tellingly, critics have poked around and fumbled for appropriate language and revealing musical comparisons. Almost without exception they hearken back to the golden era of hip-hop music, urging readers to imagine “De La Soul rampaging through their parents' record collection with a 21st-century Run DMC on turntable duty” (The Guardian), and calling attention to Jurassic 5’s “old school/jammin'-in-the-park vibes from the '80s,” (The Washington Post) and to an “attitude similar to such old-school rappers such as Rakim, Public Enemy and KRS-One,” (The San Diego Union-Tribune). Certainly they are correct in gazing into the past for apt characterizations, as the residue and influence of a bygone era is clearly the group’s foundation...

...Rather than straying from the eclectic boom-bap sound that has become their signature, J5 has retained the kernel of that ideal and, with it in tow, charted new terrain. On Feedback, Nu-Mark’s singular influence is bolstered—he produced roughly half of the album—and an array of talented producers, among them Scott Storch, Salaam Remi and Exile, have been assembled. Feedback is not risk-averse. In fact, it may be that the group’s latest offering is more adventurous vis-à-vis their past work than those groundbreaking albums themselves. In an unusual twist J5 teams up with Dave Matthews for the first single, “Work It Out.” After touring with the legendary band, Jurassic 5 grew to know Matthews and identified aesthetic sensibilities similar to their own in his work. The culmination of which, vibrant notes and reflective lyrics by J5 coupled with the seductive crooning of Matthews, is a rewarding symbiosis and an intriguing introduction to Feedback.

The album succeeds by deftly shifting pace as J5 traverses the musical spectrum, countering the tempering influence of “Work it Out” with the bouncing rhythm of “Brown Girl,” as constructed by super-producer Scott Storch. In the same vein, Salaam Remi, the creative force behind massive hits from the Fugees, Nas, and countless others, steps in with “Radio,” a kind of synthesized throw back track interpolated with an outstanding hook performed in unison by the four emcees.

Here is Jurassic 5 at their best. The extraordinary Nu-Mark produced “Where We At” and “Future Sound” respectively feature a vocal bit from Mos Def and an infectious Root’s sample combined with the flawless back-of-forth flow of Soup and Akil. On the remarkable “Get It Together” Salaam Remi reappears with a piano-loop tied to rolling drums blessed by Akil batting leadoff, backed by Marc 7, who delivers a seamless verse, and then by an impressive Chali 2na performance, with Soup at the cleanup spot delivering a soulful finish.

And for the parting shot, as in past albums a moment of instrumental introspection is set aside and the reigns are passed to Nu-Mark. Having sharpened his sound with music on his own side-projects, Hands On and Blend Crafters, and additional production on the film Take the Lead, he conducts an admirable exit with “Canto De Ossanha.”

What is found in Feedback, musically and lyrically, is honesty and optimism prevailing over orthodoxy, boldness where complacency would suffice, and the poignancy of Jurassic 5’s opening salvo, The Jurassic 5 EP, captured and transformed to meet the demands of years accumulated and of a new milieu.
...

The Bonnie to Luda's Clyde gets another shot at solo spotlight-eration:

Shawnna Hits The Block With "Block Music"
SOHH

Shawnna is preparing to release her second album, Block Music, this June.

The album will feature appearances from Lil Wayne and Too Short as well as fellow Disturbing Tha Peace mates Ludacris, Bobby Valentino and Shareefa.

"Gettin' Some," the first single off Block Music, has already received a good response from fans and also appears as a hidden track on DTP compilation album, Ludacris Presents...Distrubing Tha Peace.

Several different remixes of "Gettin' Some" featuring new verses from a variety of MCs including Busta Rhymes, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Twista, Pimp C and Too Short, whose 1993 track "Blowjob Betty" was sampled for "Gettin' Some," have recently been circulated online and on mixtapes.

Shawnna's second single, "Damn," which features Smoke of Field Mob, is expected to hit radio by the beginning of June. Shawnna's first album Worth Tha Weight was released in 2004.

Gee, I wonder what inspired the album title? I'm inclined to be skeptical about this supposed June 27th release date I saw elsewhere.

Method Man Eyeing Comeback with 420 Album sixshot

Method Man is hoping to release his fourth solo album this year.

The 35 year old rapper recently revealed to The Morning Call that his album will be titled 420, which refers to the weed-smoking day (April 20), when marijuana users gather each year to celebrate and smoke the illegal substance.

Though he didn’t name any producers or artists who will be featured in the album, Method Man divulged that Lauryn Hill allowed him to sample the song “So Much Things to Say," a track from her 2002 album, MTV Unplugged No. 2.

Method Man’s song which contains the sample is also titled “Say” and has already leaked on the internet.

"I'm not bragging, but it shows the respect that she has for me” said Method Man. “It’s gonna solidify me as one of the premier artists of our time."

On their third album "2 Live Crew" the Ying Yang Twins are taking the unusual measure of straight-up naming their album after the artist who most influenced their style. In related news, Ashanti, Rihanna, Teairra Mari, Brooke Valentine and Cristina Milian are all coming out with albums named "Beyonce."

Billboard has the scoop:

Ying-Yang Twins Take Raunchy Route On Next Disc, "2 Live Crew"

Atlanta rap duo Ying Yang Twins is currently planning its third studio effort "2 Live Crew," due later this year. According to member D-Roc, the album title is an ode to the raunchy 1990s rap group of the same name.

"We're gonna take 'em back [to] 'As Nasty As They Wanna Be,'" D-Roc tells Billboard.com, referring to 2 Live Crew's controversial 1989 album. "We ain't actually working on the album [yet] but outside of just working with [producer] Mr. Collipark, we're getting together and doing songs on our own."

"2 Live Crew" will be the follow-up to Ying Yang Twins' 2005 set "U.S.A.: United State of Atlanta" (Collipark/TVT), which bowed at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 932,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The disc spawned the hit single "Wait (The Whisper Song)," which peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Kaine recently launched his new label Grown Folk Entertainment, while D-Roc is currently rolling with Da Muzicianz, a group he formed two years ago with his younger brother Mr. Ball and Da Birthday Boy. Out today (May 23), the group's debut, "In Stores Now," features guest appearances from Fabo of D4L, Kaine and Mr. Collipark, who handled the majority of production. The lead single is "Camera Phone."

"It's basically a party album," says D-Roc. "In Atlanta, there's a different variety of clubs to go to seven days a week and that's what we show you on this album."