k.d. lang
Reintarnation
www.kdlang.com
Covering her first ten years as a maverick outsider country singer and heroine to big boned gals and lefty alt rockers is k.d. lang’s nod to her roots on the 20-track Reintarnation. With rare early singles and plenty of photos the legendary crooner is laid bare with her country torch and twang originality and startling pure voice that has won fans worldwide. My picks: “Big Boned Gal,” “Luck In My Eyes,” “Big Big Love,” “Trail Of Broken Hearts,” “Nowhere To Stand,” “Angel With A Lariat” and “Pullin’ Back The Reins.” Gig alert! k.d. lang reintarns Aug 23/24 @ Saratoga’s Mountain Winery.

Neil Young
Heart of Gold
www.Paramount.com
Legendary troubadour Neil Young is captured live in concert in Nashville for a stellar, heartfelt show with special guests including his wife Pegi and Emmylou Harris. For over three decades he’s delivered old-school folk rock with soul and the American spirit of fighting for justice. This 2-disc set includes the concert of world-premier material and a bonus behind the scenes featurettes and even a vintage clip from Johnny Cash’s 1971 show.

Hip-Hop Gold
www.Hip-O.com
With an insightful introduction on Hip-Hop Gold Tom Terrell shares a quick trip down the uber–funky path of hip-hop history from the 60s and 70s through “B-Boy nation to thug life, house party to strip club.” The two-disc set is indeed gold with no duds at all and serves a s a great overview of an original American creation that has helped shape history. My picks: The Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight [short 12” mix],” Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two,” 3rd Bass’ “Pop Goes The Weasel [album version],” Black Sheep’s “The Choice Is Yours (revisited),” “The Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By,” Wreckx-N-Effect’s “Rump Shaker [radio mix],” Domino’s “Getto Jam” and Public Enemy’s “He Got Game [radio edit]” featuring Stephen Stills.”

SF Electronic Music Festival
2006
www.SFEMF.org
The 7th Annual SF Electronic Music Festival is wisely marked with a collector’s CD of tracks from this year’s juried artists each contributing a composition for the eclectic and innovative festival honoring electronic music from global group of emerging and established artists. My picks: Alog’s “Pesce Spade,” Maxime De La Rochefoucauld’s “Vapeur Mandarine,” Matt Davignon’s “Lying In Grass, Gazing Upwards at 11:30 PM,” Elise Baldwin’s “Octo,” Manuel Rocha’s “Estudio Electronico,” and James Tenney’s “Collage No. 2, Viet Flakes.” Gig alert! The SF Electronic Music Festival bends waves Aug 10-13 @ SF’s SomArts Cultural Center.

National Geographic
www.NationalGeographic.com
National Geographic magazine – and now online destination site – is a cultural icon of integrity bringing the world in all its beauty and rawness into homes around the world educating on cultures and ways of living in lands most of us will never otherwise know or visit. The online site is a virtual museum tour of world culture and now they have added a world music channel with free music downloads and galleries of fab music from around the globe including Ex-centric Sound System, Karsh Kale, Sidestepper, Tinariwen, Fuerza Garifuna, Vasen, Cheb I Sabbah and many more.

[Title Of Show]
www.TitleOfShow.com
With plenty of blue, adult and off-kilter behind the scenes and fly-on-the-wall humor [Title Of Show] captures the angst and ecstasy of creating and staging a musical with pandering to critics, selling out and needy actors. My picks: “Monkeys And Playbills,” “Recording,” “Part Of It All,” “What Kind Of Girl Is She?,” “Nine People’s Favorite Thing” and “[Title Of Show].”

The Wedding Singer
www.TheWeddingSingerTheMusical.com
The movie that begat the musical The Wedding Singer now has its own original Broadway cast recording. No one will ever mistake this production for starting social upheaval or delivering profound realizations but if you’re looking for a fun musical lampooning a wedding singer turned bitter and challenge again then this musical comedy soundtrack might be for you. My picks: “A Note From Linda,” “A Note From Grandma,” “Come Out of the Dumpster,” “Today You Are a Man,” “All About the Green” and “Single.”

Albert Kuvezin & Yat-Kha
Re-Covers
www.WorldVillageMusic.com
Want to show everyone how beyond cool you really are? Try playing extra trippy rock and blues covers from risen-from-the-ashes Tuvan singer Albert Kuvezin. Tuva, a remote area of southern Siberia birthed the new-to-us sounds of his band Yat-Kha that was thrown into chaos with high drama and a hospital visit. While recovering Albert healed with his collection of rock and blues and then decided to record an album of covers. My picks: Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks,” Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” Bob Marley’s “Exodus” and Alexei Tchyrgal-ool’s “The Song of Mergen.”

Crown City Rockers
Earthtones
www.CrownCityRockers.com
On their second full-length release Earthtones – the East Coast-born Crown City Rockers displays the flying full-frontal and fun lyrics displaying their “organic blend of lush, funk-drenched grooves, riveting classic soul samples, sharp live instrumentation and of course old-school inflected rhymes…” Birthed as a group from the world-renowned Berklee School of Music in Boston the Crown City Rockers is now a Bay Area hip-hop institution. My picks: “Another Day,” “B-Boy,” “Fortitude” featuring Gift of Gab, “Fate,” “Culture” and “Simple.” Gig alert! Crown City Rockers throw down Aug 20 @ SF’s Stern Grove Festival.

Gay Sex In The 70’s
www.WestEndRecords.com
Twenty-five years into the AIDS pandemic it’s hard to imagine a time when sexual abandon and bonking like bunnies in heat with every other breath was the norm in the Castro and every guy was your type. It was fresh on the other side of liberation and there were few reasons not to express freedom with sexual pleasure. Enter Gay Sex In The 70’s – the original soundtrack complete with audio excerpts between disco-pumping hotties. My picks: North End’s “Kind Of Life (Kind Of Love),” Taana Gardner “Paradise Express” and “When You Touch Me,” Philly USA’s “Speak Well” and Carl Bean’s “I Was Born This Way [Gomi’s Tribute Mix].”

Def Leppard
Yeah!
www.DefLeppard.com
I’m always surprised to hear that vet rockers like Def Leppard are still around let alone doing well or recording anything worthy of note. The music industry is pretty polarizing and youth obsessed so it’s refreshing to listen to old-school British arena rockers paying homage to their pop-rock roots with covers from the 70s. My picks: “Rock On,” “Waterloo Sunset,” “Street Life,” “No Matter What,” “He’s Gonna Step On You Again” and “Don’t Believe A Word.” Gig alert! Def Leppard rocks on Aug 25 @ Concord’s Sleep Train Pavilion, Aug 26 @ Mountain view’s Shoreline Amphitheater and Aug 27 @ Marysville’s Sleep Train Amphitheater.

Slackbaba
...And The Beat Goes Om
www.Liquid-Records.com
Uber techno chill and sensuous dance trancers from Brighton (UK) electronic producer Jonathan Smith aka Slackbaba will fill your mind with phantasmagorical and psychedelic light shows. With seductive flows perfect for yoga gurus, sucking face and relaxing from all the stress in the world you won’ need a chill pill. My picks: “Drink More Tea,” “Sea Of Green,” “The Golden Apple” and “And The Beat Goes Om.”

ChillArt
Aqua
www.ChillArt.tv
Split into the four elements of earth, air, water and fire – Koch Records’ ChillArt: Aqua DVD uses stunning video work with original chilled soundtracks by a dozen world-class composes to deliver trippy, elegant and yes, chilled visual journeys. Exploring underwater creatures, overhead landmasses, fireworks from the inside, street-life in Delhi and even hanging with horses are amongst the lush, engaging and inventive trips. Not only a musical exploration but also a nice use of short-from filmmaking that even little kids will love.

Big Sty
Stycology
www.AccurateMusicGroup.com
Richmond, Virginia indie hip hop artists Big Sty’s debut release is a mixed bag with plenty to offer for those looking for thuggy and gritty real life dramas. I’m not one of those folks but I was surprised to find poetically hip and socially progressive bumping tracks exploring life’s journey and even calling President Bush for racism and classism for turning his back on New Orleans. My picks: “Menage A Trois” featuring Dempais, “Temptations” featuring Chief, “The One,” “Block Boy” and “804 Anthem” featuring Chief.

Aasha
Dream
www.AashaMusic.com
Breaking all sorts of records is blonde Chinese pop sensation Aasha who predicted to be one of the first independent solo artists to go platinum with a worldwide fan base of over a billion and the first Caucasian artists to write, produce and record Chinese pop music and sell it in the US top ten pop charts. This benefit CD raises monies for the Humane Society and animal shelters to honor Dream (Year of The Dog). My picks: “So Crazy,” “Dao Ma Dan,” “LOVE dot com” and “So Good.”

Luka
Sick Of Love
www.FunzaloRecords.com
Fronted by singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Nick Luka, Luka – the band – serves up poetic indie rock for the masses. From “If Love” – “If love were a sentence – would it make perfect sense? Words and punctuation, syntax and senses and through the years the meaning would change with the time…” My picks: “Find Me There,” “This Tiny Room,” “If Love” and “Evening Blue.” Gig alert! Luka will poet slam Aug 19 @ SF’s The Starry Plough and Aug 21 at The Make-Out Room.

French Kicks
Two Thousand
www.FrenchKicks.com
With a Californian surf-rock relaxed chill undertone and sound walls of rocked angst washing over it all for lush rock compositions of the human condition. My picks: “Also Ran,” “Cloche,” “Knee High,” “England Just Will Not Let You Recover” and “Hey I Wait I.” Gig alert! French Kicks paint rockwall landscapes Aug 18/19 @ SF’s Café du Nord.