Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello, Cheap Trick, Ice Cube - New Album Releases, Week of 6-6-2006

We got some pretty good action going in new releases this week. The big Kahuna of the menu is the Allen Toussaint/Elvis Costello River in Reverse. Elvis and the Katrina survivor wrote five new songs, to go with Elvis singing Toussaint classics as the author plays piano on it all.

Cheap Trick has a new album for the hometown, Rockford. I've found it too painful to sit all the way through recent Cheap Trick albums, but this one is getting exceptionally good marks. Tom Johnson, for one, will tell you that this is their best album in 20 years.

Ice Cube has a new joint as well, Laugh Now, Cry Later. Given the Boston controversy around the specific phrase, I'm curious what Brother Cube might have to say about "Stop Snitchin'."

In the archive material, there's a particularly choice jazz label retrospective, starring their first signing in 1961, John Coltrane in The House That Trane Built: Story of Impulse Records.

Here's the complete list of this week's major new album releases, courtesy AMG:

AFI decemberunderground Interscope
Alternative Pop/Rock, Punk Revival, Emo, Goth Rock, New Wave, Hardcore Punk

Cheap Trick Rockford Cheap Trick Unlimited/Big3 
Pop/Rock, Power Pop, Hard Rock, Album Rock, Arena Rock

Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint River in Reverse Verve Forecast
Retro-Soul, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, New Orleans R&B, Singer/Songwriter, Modern Electric Blues, Soul, Blue-Eyed Soul, Pop/Rock, New Orleans Blues

Live Songs from Black Mountain Epic/Red Ink
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Post-Grunge, Alternative Pop/Rock

Smoosh Free to Stay Barsuk
Indie Rock

Amps for Christ Every Eleven Seconds 5 Rue Christine
Appalachian Folk, Experimental Rock, Traditional Scottish Folk, Lo-Fi, British Folk, Electro-Acoustic, Electronic

The Au Pairs Stepping Out of Line: The Anthology Castle
Post-Punk, New Wave

Be Your Own Pet Be Your Own Pet [Ecstatic Peace!/Universal] Ecstatic Peace!/Universal
Noise Pop, Indie Rock

Art Blakey Holiday for Skins Blue Note
Hard Bop

The Bottle Rockets Zoysia Bloodshot
Alternative Country-Rock, Roots Rock

Holly Brook Like Blood Like Honey Warner Bros./Machine Shop
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock

William Brown Swing Along: The Songs of Will Marion Cook Albany
Modern Vocal Music

Camera Obscura Let's Get Out of This Country Merge
Indie Pop

Cracker Greenland Cooking Vinyl
American Trad Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock

DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince The Very Best of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince Jive/Legacy
Pop-Rap, Urban, Hip-Hop, Comedy Rap, Golden Age

EMO Ensemble Maasta of the Earth Alba
Contemporary Choral Music

Gil Evans The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings Blue Note
Modern Big Band, Cool, Progressive Big Band

Donavon Frankenreiter Move by Yourself Lost Highway
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Jam Bands

Veronique Gens Tragediennes Virgin
Operatic Selections

Thomas Hampson To the Soul EMI
Modern Vocal Music

Head Automatica Popaganda Warner Bros.
Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock

(hed) pe The Best of (hed) Planet Earth Jive/Legacy
Rap-Metal, Alternative Metal, Heavy Metal, Punk Metal

Andrew Hill Pax Blue Note
Avant-Garde Jazz, Hard Bop, Modern Creative

Hot Tuna Keep on Truckin': The Very Best of Hot Tuna RCA
Blues-Rock, Rock & Roll, Folk-Rock

Ice Cube Laugh Now, Cry Later Lench Mob
West Coast Rap, Gangsta Rap, Hardcore Rap

Kottonmouth Kings Koast II Koast Suburban Noize
Rap-Metal, Alternative Metal

Ray Manzarek Love Her Madly Oglio
Soundtracks, Electronica, Original Score, Prog-Rock/Art Rock, Techno

Mojave 3 Puzzles Like You 4AD
Indie Pop, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock

Charlotte Mueller Woman's Work: Music for Solo Piano MSR
Post-Romantic and Modern Piano Music

The New Cars It's Alive Eleven Seven
Pop/Rock, New Wave, Arena Rock, Album Rock

Paul Oakenfold A Lively Mind Maverick
House, Club/Dance, Progressive Trance, Trance

Original Soundtrack Cars [Original Soundtrack] Disney
Soundtracks

Jean-Luc Ponty Canteloupe Island Beat Goes On
Fusion, Structured Improvisation, Modern Composition, Avant-Garde

Portastatic Who Loves the Sun Merge
Indie Pop, Chamber Pop, Film Music

Psapp The Only Thing I Ever Wanted Domino
Experimental Rock, Electronica, Alternative Pop/Rock, Bossa Nova, Post-Rock/Experimental

John Ralston Needle Bed Vagrant
Indie Pop, Indie Rock

The Ramones Greatest Hits Rhino
American Punk, New York Punk, Punk, College Rock

Lou Rawls The Very Best of Lou Rawls: You'll Never Find Another Capitol
Vocal Jazz, Pop-Soul

Scanners Violence Is Golden Dim Mak
Indie Rock

Marvin Sease Candy Licker: The Sex & Soul of Marvin Sease Jive/Legacy
Retro-Soul, Modern Electric Blues, Soul-Blues

Sarah Silverman Jesus Is Magic Interscope
Blue Humor, Standup Comedy, Musical Comedy, Observational Humor

Frank Sinatra, Jr. That Face! Rhino
Vocal Jazz, Big Band, Traditional Pop, American Popular Song

Sound Team Movie Monster Capitol
Indie Rock

Survivor The Best of Survivor Volcano
Album Rock, Pop/Rock, Rock & Roll, Arena Rock, Hard Rock

Various Artists The House That Trane Built: Story of Impulse Records Impulse
Experimental Big Band, Cuban Jazz, Avant-Garde Jazz, Standards, Progressive Jazz, Modal Music, Afro-Cuban Jazz, Jazz Blues, Third Stream, West Coast Jazz, Modern Big Band, New Orleans Jazz, Classic Jazz, Early Creative, Hard Bop, Modern Free, Latin Jazz, Soul-Jazz, Ballads, Progressive Big Band, Bop, Modern Creative

The Wailin' Jennys Firecracker Red House
Neo-Traditional Folk, Contemporary Folk

Scott Walker The Drift 4AD
Experimental, Avant-Garde, Experimental Rock

Katharine Whalen Dirty Little Secret M.C.
Retro Swing, Vocal Pop

Whodini Funky Beat: The Best of Whodini Jive/Legacy
Golden Age, Old-School Rap, Urban, Hip-Hop

Zero 7 The Garden Atlantic
Ambient Pop, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Downbeat