Music Features

On the racks: September 26, 2006

Tori Amos, the Lemonheads, Janet Jackson

By MATT ASHARE | September 26, 2006

Scissor Sisters

A five-CD boxset is more Tori Amos than you might want in one place, unless you’re a real Tori fan, in which case there can never be enough. Regardless, A Piano (Rhino) includes an overview of Amos’ career, as well as a few tempting rarities like the unedited version of “Crucify.” And I had no idea that the “Crucify” I’ve been listening to all these years was an edit.

Apparently someone at Arista Nashville wasn’t paying attention to the release schedule over at Virgin because both Janet Jackson and Alan Jackson have new ones on the shelves. Alan’s poetic Like Red on a Rose (Arista Nashville) was produced by Alison Krauss, which should confuse the hell out of all the alt-country folks who love Krauss and can’t stand Jackson. And Janet’s has about as many producers as it does tracks. . . that’s a bit of an exaggeration. She drew on the usual suspects — Jermaine Dupri, Johnta Austin, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis — to lay down the grooves on 20 Y.O. (Virgin). And the limited edition two-disc version comes with a DVD featuring the making of a video, a photo shoot, and other behind the scenes excitement. But no nipples. Sorry: that was a cheap shot.

It’s been ten years since Evan Dando recorded an album with a real band, but he’s dusted off his old Lemonheads moniker for a disc that promises to be tight as hell. That’s because the notoriously lazy Dando managed to convince Descendents no-bullshit (but plenty of fart jokes) drummer/songwriter/producer Bill Stevenson (along with his pall Karl Alvarez) to whip him into fighting shape. Ah, to be a fly on the wall in the studio session for the new The Lemonheads (Vagrant), with its cameos by J Mascis and Garth Hudson…

Ludacris is back, and he’s got producer Pharrell Williams on board and a guest cameo by R. Kelly to make sure he’s competing with Janet for the top spot in Billboard this week. Mary J. Blige’s guest spot on Release Therapy (Def Jam) ain’t half bad either. But Luda sounds so serious this time around — guess that’s part of getting older, if not wiser.

And nobody’s more psyched than Scissor Sisters about the two high profile guests they grabbed for the new Ta-Dah (Universal). That would be both Elton John, who co-wrote the first single (“I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”), and Bryan Ferry, who shows up somewhere on this electro-pop dance-party confection. Actually, Elton John may be more psyched, but he’s got his own new album to worry about.

Topics: Music Features , Celebrity News, Entertainment, Music Stars, More

Comments

Add a Comment

Best Music Poll 2009 winners

Today's Event Picks

[MUSIC] Andrew Strong + Tucker Jameson & the Hot Mugs at Regattabar

Plus 6 more >>

--> -->

ARTICLES BY MATT ASHARE

SEND IN THE CLOWNS | July 02, 2009
The wacky worlds of Michael Jackson and Ozzy Osbourne

ARRESTING DEVELOPMENTS | September 16, 2008
Joan As Police Woman lets her guard down

ROCK THERAPIES | July 22, 2008
Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti work it out

FORTUNATE ONE | July 07, 2008
Chris Brokaw is booked solid

BOSTON MUSIC NEWS: JULY 11, 2008 | July 08, 2008
Notes on the New Year

See all articles by: MATT ASHARE

Most Viewed

Most Emailed

THE PUNCH THAT TOOK TWO LIVES
When he was 17 years old, Joseph Donovan made the first of two stupid, and even reckless, mistakes. On the evening of September 18, 1992, in a brutish act of machismo, the East Cambridge native and minor-league delinquent punched out Norwegian MIT student Yngve Raustein.

BIG STORY
On July 30, the New York Times revealed that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez — heroes of the Red Sox' 2004 and 2007 World Series wins — are on the (supposedly) secret list of a hundred-plus major leaguers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in 2003.

HOW'S OBAMA DOING?(1)
Politics, an old cliché holds, is the art of the possible. Achieving the possible is a matter of power. And in a media-saturated democracy, power flows to those with good poll numbers.

PHOTOS: SHEPARD FAIREY, Z-TRIP, CHUCK D AT THE ICA
Shepard Fairey spins at Obey Experiment REDUX at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston

ALI'S ROTI RESTAURANT
Watching folks eat at national fast-food outlets depresses me. Not only are they paying for advertising, but they're getting so little give-a-damn in their food. You sense that acutely after dining at a neighborhood place like Ali's Roti, a 22-seat counter-service Trinidadian restaurant at the western edge of the South End.

GIANT'S STEPS
Merce Cunningham's death on July 26 wasn't unexpected. He'd been in frail health since this past winter. He was in a wheelchair for his 90th-birthday celebration in April at Brooklyn Academy of Music. In June, the Cunningham Foundation announced plans for the future of the company and the repertory after his death.

THE PUNCH THAT TOOK TWO LIVES
When he was 17 years old, Joseph Donovan made the first of two stupid, and even reckless, mistakes. On the evening of September 18, 1992, in a brutish act of machismo, the East Cambridge native and minor-league delinquent punched out Norwegian MIT student Yngve Raustein.

BIG STORY
On July 30, the New York Times revealed that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez — heroes of the Red Sox' 2004 and 2007 World Series wins — are on the (supposedly) secret list of a hundred-plus major leaguers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in 2003.

ALI'S ROTI RESTAURANT
Watching folks eat at national fast-food outlets depresses me. Not only are they paying for advertising, but they're getting so little give-a-damn in their food. You sense that acutely after dining at a neighborhood place like Ali's Roti, a 22-seat counter-service Trinidadian restaurant at the western edge of the South End.

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO LOCK
It's too bad Skip Gates didn't have Schuyler Towne's cell number on that fateful day last month. If he did, the Somerville-based lockpicking champ likely could have gotten in to the good professor's home in no time at all, and a national controversy (and international beer summit) might have been averted.

HOT TOPICS

Bruce Springsteen , Boston Red Sox , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Joy Division , Kanye West , Bang Camaro , Aerosmith , Major League Baseball , Brian Eno , Johannes Brahms

Music Features

On the racks: September 26, 2006

Song of herself

Interview: John Legend

Going steady

The Big Hurt: Pop eroticism, faux sincerity, and sperm motility

Gloom merchants