BTW: For "Susquehanna," frontman Steve Perry says the Cherry Poppin' Daddies wanted an album that lyrically reads like a story.
"I wanted it to be emotional, warm, and physical; not dry like a lot of 'thinky' music can be," he tells P&P. "I also wanted to play around with multiple genre's as the delivery system for the story and ideas. I was inspired in this by say somebody like Godard who pingpongs between various genre's of movie to represent the spheres of influence of different characters. I am thinking here primarily about his film, 'Pierrot le Fou' here. The female character in the film goes between the musical and action/road movie/crime genre's while the male character keeps pulling toward a pastoral type movie - like Doctor Doolittle or something. I just love that kind of stuff and I tried to do that kind of radical, 'disruptive' genre shifting with this recording.
"To me, it adds layers of depth and interest that hopefully encourages repeated listenings, not to mention a creative investment in the group of songs by the listener. I guess you would have to check out that film to see what I am talking about."
It's the Daddies' first album since 2000's "Soul Caddy." Perry says the group wasn't worried whether fans had forgotten about them.
"We have sort of been an enigma for our entire existence," he says, "so I am sort of tired of worrying about how or whether people know what we are doing ... Whilst one ever really know thee? We have resisted simple categorization and had a commercially successful record (gasp) and therefore have committed two grave sins in the eyes of many. We like to make music so we will continue, it's as simple as that."
"Deify" (guests: Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Daz Dillinger, Alchemisy, Jacka of thbe Mo Figaz, Chino Bling; first single: "In Front of Yo Momma's House"; Hear here)
Rev Theory (fifth member added: guitarist Rikki Lixx)
"Light It Up" (producers: Brian Howes, Josh Abraham; first single: "Hell Yeah"; Hear here)
(Interscope, June 10, 2008)
BTW: "Over the past few years, we have had so many different experiences," Rev Theory bassist Matty McClosky tells P&P. "We've partied all over North America and Europe, toured with some great bands, lost loved ones, gone through relationships, furthered our dream by signing a major label deal, sacrificed everything we've had and dealt with the whole roller coaster of the business and our personal struggles ... at the end of all this is 'Light It Up.' "
McCloskey says the album encompasses the North Andover, Mass., post-grunge band's conquests, fortunes, sacrifices and struggles since 2005.
"If we had one goal," he says, "it was to set ourselves apart from our contemporaries. For 'Light it Up,' we set out to make an album you could listen to all the way through. We wanted to be more ambitious. We used albums like 'Appetite for Destruction,' and 'The Black Album,' and 'Back in Black' as inspiration, and we're proud of every song that's on this album."
As for working Howes and Abraham, he says: "It was great. We had two different styles of producing from two great producers. Josh was definitely more of a vibe guy capturing the band and Brian was definitely more of a song- and hook-oriented guy who liked to really dig into every aspect of the songs."
"iCarly: Music From and Inspired by the Hit TV Show" (includes four cuts by Miranda Crosgrove, star of the Nickelodeon series, plus songs by Avril Lavigne, Natasha Bedingfield, Good Charlotte, Sean Kingston and a new track from The Naked Brothers Band; Hear here)
(Columbia, June 10, 2008)
Martha Wainwright
"I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too" (includes covers of Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play" and Eurythmics' "Love Is a Stranger"; guests: Pete Townshend, Donald Fagen, Garth Hudson, brother Rufus, mother Kate McGarrigle, aunt Anna McGarrigle, cousin Lily Lanken; Hear here; Read here)
(Zoë/Rounder, June 10, 2008)
Paul Weller
"22 Dreams" (2 CDs; producers: Weller, Simon Dine; guests: Noel Gallagher, Gem Archer, Graham Coxon, Ocean Colour Scene's Steve Cradock, Aziz Ibrahim; first single: "Echoes Round the Sun/Have You Made Up Your Mind"; Hear here; Read here)
BTW: "Goodbye 20th Century" ia "an extensively researched biography based on new interviews with the band as well as roughly 100 family members, artistic and childhood friends, fellow musicians, business associates, and former members," Browne tells P&P. "The book takes readers from the Lower East Side of the late '70s to the offices of Geffen Records in the '90s and up to Northampton, Mass., where Kim Gordon's and Thurston Moore are now based, complete with new, behind-the-scenes details of the band's creative and professional lives.
"Along the way, readers will hear from everyone from Jim O'Rourke, Glenn Branca and Richard Edson, to Sofia Coppola, who was inspired to become a director thanks to Sonic Youth, and Danny Elfman, Gordon's high school boyfriend. The book also contains 65 photographs, many of them never before published and dating back to their childhoods."
Go next to June 17, 2008