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Hold on to your hats, folks! It's all here. Or, most of it's here. A lot of it is here! Everything that will be coming out in the next couple of months, including this month and yes, even last month. Not to mention what I missed last edition. It's chock full of the artists you love, some of them you don't even know you love yet and some you may not be particularly fond of. Passions will run wild, opinions will fly and there will be equal parts cheers and jeers. Hopefully more cheers. But open up your hearts and minds as well as your pocketbooks and you never know what you will find. Sometimes you stick to the tried and true and sometimes you've just got to try something that, for whatever reason, you just don't think you'll dig. That's where the surprises come in. Variety is the spice of Life and Life is the spice of variety. (I don't know what that means either.) The point is, stick to what you know, sure, but occasionally veer sharply into the unknown and check out some of the artists you've been hearing about, reading about, your friends are telling you about and discover some new audio companions.

So here's how this works: you've got your tried and true `comfort food' artists, but then let's just say you weren't familiar with The Arcade Fire, for example. If you were to add The Arcade Fire to your repertoire, they might be the marshmallows in your beverage. Then, let's say you add in Kings of Leon. They might be your nutmeg. And, let's say, if you added Great Big Sea, they would be your cinnamon. Or, it could be vice-versa. Great Big Sea would be the nutmeg and the Kings would be the cinnamon. Perhaps you want to add a dollop of Yeah Yeah Yeah's. That's understandable. They might be the honey. I have no idea who might be the whipped cream. But, seems to me, you've got a pretty tasty beverage here no matter how you shake it up, stir it up or puree it. It's all in the ingredients. You could drink it with crushed ice or cubes. You could drink it hot but then decide the temperature outside is not conducive for a toasty drink. It is August after all. Hey, no matter. That's what the SPICE is all about! Spice it up, that's the mantra. 

You get the idea. There's more than plenty here to choose from. Choose wisely and if you don't, just choose again and start over.

There's also more here than meets the eye. My advice: break down into small morsels and chew slowly to get the most out of it. Or, to stick with the above metaphor, sip slowly and savor all the choices Life has to offer.

 All of the July releases are left under the date they came out, even though they are technically recently released.

Enjoy!  

Recently released and not mentioned in last edition:

* Andrew Osenga - a few free downloads at his website
* The Choir - Burning Like the Midnight Sun
* Pernice Brothers - Goodbye Killer
* Cary Brothers - Under Control
* Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers - Glow in the Dark: Live (download.)
* Natalie Merchant - Clubhouse Studio Sessions, Dec. `09 (iTunes.)
* Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Live from London (iTunes.)
* Jesca Hoop - Hunting My Dress (w/EP.)
* The Books - The Way Out
* Dead Country - S/T (EP.)
* Teddy Porter - S/T
* Red Collar - Pilgrim
* Jody Porter - Close to the Sun
* Jonathan Tyler - Pardon Me
* Matt Koger - Armadillo Time
* Kate Miller-Heidke - Curiouser
* Honeymoon Thrillers - S/T
* Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
* Silver Columns - Yes & Dance
* Pulled Apart by Horses - S/T
* Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme
* Young Guns - All Our Kings Are Dead (import.)
* The Morning Benders - Big Echo
* Fang Island - S/T
* Devo - Something for Everybody
* Oasis - Time Flies...1994-2009
* Porcupine Tree - Live in Atlanta
* Seven Mary Three - Backbooth: Live Acoustic
* Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle (Deluxe edition.)
+ No Kidding, Me Too (directed by Joe Pantoliano.)

7/6

* The Innocence Mission - My Room in the Trees
* Ed Kowalczyk - Alive (LIVE's front man goes solo.)
* Brandon Boyd - The Wild Trapeze (Front man of Incubus.)
* Bret Michaels - Custom Built
* Steve Poltz - Dreamhouse
* Richard Page - Peculiar Life
* The Cat Empire - Cinema
* Converge - Axe to Fall
* Lights On - Here Comes the Ocean
+ Brooklyn's Finest
+ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
+ A Single Man

7/13

* Sting - Symphonicities (Sting and Police classics recorded w/the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.)
* Great Big Sea - Safe Upon the Shore
* Crowded House - Intriguer
* Red Horse - S/T (John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky & Eliza Gilkyson.)
* Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul (Many guests.)
* M.I.A. - Maya
* Blue Giant - S/T
* Jenny Lewis & Johnathan Rice - We're Having Fun Now  
* Tim O'Brien - Chicken and Egg
* Tracy Bonham - Masts of Manhattan
* Matt Morris - When Everything Breaks Open
* School of Seven Bells - Disconnect from Desire
* Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises
* The Love Language - Libraries
* Nottingham - Talk to Strangers
* Wolfspring - S/T
* Ali Baba's Tahini - Living Room
* Mystery Jets - Serotonin
* Korn - Remember Who You Are
* Lonesome River Band - Still Learning
* Barry Goudreau - S/T (reissue.)
* Steve Walsh - Schemer Dreamer (reissue.)
* Elvis Costello - Pomp & Pout: the Universal Years
* Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting (20th anniversary edition.)
* R.E.M. - Fables of the Reconstruction (25th anniversary Deluxe edition.)
+ Brian Setzer Orchestra - Don't Mess with a Big Band (CD/DVD.)
+ Greenberg
+ The Bounty Hunter
+ Saint John of Las Vegas
+ Chloe
+ Our Family Wedding

7/20
 
* Amanda Palmer - Performs the Songs of Radiohead on Ukulele
* Marc Cohn - Listening Booth 1970 (Covers of songs released in the year 1970.)
* Sheryl Crow - 100 Miles from Memphis
* Prince - 20Ten
* Big Head Todd & the Monsters - Rocksteady
* Jimmy Gnecco - The Heart
* These United States - What Lasts
* The Acacia Strain - Wormwood
* Brian Culbertson - XII
* Frazey Ford - Obidah
* Francis and the Lights - It'll Be Better
* John M. Keane - Everything Changed
* Lower Dens - Twin Hand Movement
* Mahjongg - Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger
* Lillian Axe - Deep Red Shadows
+ The Runaways
+ Cop Out
+ The Black Narcissus (Blu-ray.)

7/27

* Mark Olson - Many Colored Kite
* Evans Blue - S/T
* Far From Finished - Forgettable
* J. Roddy Walston - S/T
* Best Coast - Crazy for You
* Menomena - Mines
* Yoso - Elements (Members of Yes and Toto.)
* Tony Harnell - Round Trip (retrospective.)
* Billy Squier - Don't Say No (30th anniversary edition.)
* Stevie Ray Vaughn - Couldn't Stand the Weather (Deluxe edition.)
+ Robert Cray Band ­ Cookin' in Mobile (CD/DVD.)
+ Ringo Starr - Live at the Greek Theater 2008
+ Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition: Live in London (40th anniversary.)
+ Clash of the Titans
+ Repo Men
+ Vincere

8/3

* John Mellencamp - No Better Than This (produced by T-Bone Burnett.)
* The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
* Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust
* Squeeze - Spot the Difference
* Gaelic Storm - Cabbage
* Gov't Mule - Mulennium
* Katie Melua - The House
* The Tellers - Hands Full of Ink
* Wavves - King of the Beach
* House of Heroes - Suburba
* La Roux - Sidetracked
* Shapes and Sizes - Candle to Your Eyes
* Ferraby Lionheart - The Jack of Hearts 
* Secondhand Serenade - Hear Me Now
* Autolux - Transit
* Versus - On the Ones and Threes
* Paul Gilbert - Fuzz Universe
* Buckcherry - All Night Long
* Reel Big Fish - Best of
* The Black Crowes - Croweology (2 CD's; acoustic reworkings.)
* Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R (Deluxe edition.)
* The Kids Are All Right soundtrack
+ Kick Ass
+ The Ghost Writer
+ A Prophet
+ To Save a Life
+ Diary of a Wimpy Kid
+ The Breakfast Club (25th anniversary edition.)
+ Woodstock (Blu-ray.)

8/10

* Sarah Spencer & Steve Morse - Angelfire
* Gasoline Silver - S/T
* Mike Posner ­ 31 Minutes to Takeoff
* Scott Pilgrim vs. the World soundtrack
+ Roy Orbison - The Last Concert: Live in Cincinnati 1988
+ Date Night
+ The Joneses
+ My Name is Khan
+ Letters to God
+ Death at a Funeral

8/17
 
* Iron Maiden ­ The Final Frontier
* David Gray ­ Foundling (2 CD's.)
* Brian Wilson - Reimagines Gershwin
* Lissie - Catching a Tiger
* Megan McCormick - Honest Words
* Filter - The Trouble with Angels
* The Toadies - Feeler
* Matt Hires - EP
* Matthew Dear - Black City
* Soundcarriers - Celeste
* Just Surrender - Phoenix
* The Maine - Black and White
* Hey Monday - Beneath It All
* NOFX - The Longest EP
* Brad - Best Friends
* Darker My Love - Alive As You Are
* Peter Sallett - Addicted to Distraction
* The Debutaunts - Why Can't We Have Fun
* Ray Lamontagne - God Willing and the Creek Don't Rise 
* Steep Canyon Rangers - Deep in the Shade
* REO Speedwagon - Not So Silent Night (expanded reissue.)
* A-ha - 25: the Collection
* Charlie St. Cloud soundtrack
+ Jackson Browne - Going Home
+ Taking Back Sunday - Live from Orensanz
+ The City of Your Final Destination
+ Furry Vengeance
+ The Last Song

8/24

* Sixpence None the Richer - Strange Conversation
* Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
* The Eels - Tomorrow Morning
* Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Hawk
* Bad City - Welcome to the Wasteland
* Land of Talk - Cloak and Cipher
* Little Big Town - The Reason Why
* The Boxer Rebellion - S/T
* Klaxons - Surfing the Void
* The Sword - Warp Riders
* Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time
* Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard
* Aberfeldy - Somewhere to Jump From
* Terrapin Pond - Hello All Stations 
* Paul Collins - King of Power Pop
* Dylan Leblanc - Pauper's Field
* Brad Laner - Natural Selections
* Natalie Grant - Love Revolution
* Never Shout Never - Harmony 
* The Devil Wears Prada - Zombies (EP.)
* Fitz and the Tantrums - Picking Up the Pieces
* Todd Rundgren - For Lack of Honest Work
* Marty Stuart - Ghost Train
* Maximum Balloon - S/T
* The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass (Expanded reissues.)
+ Mogwai - Special Moves: Live
+ Cactus - Live, Loud & Proud
+ Les Paul: Live in New York City
+ The Back Up Plan
+ City Island

8/31

* Richard Thompson - Dream Attic: Live
* Ryan Bingham - Junky Star
* The Goo Goo Dolls - Something for the Rest of Us
* Heart - Red Velvet Car (produced by Ben Mink.)
* Street Dogs - S/T
* 10 Years - Feeding the Wolves
* Sum 41 - Screaming Bloody Murder
* Comeback Kid - Symptoms & Cures
* Terrible Things - S/T
* Helmet - Seeing Eye Dog
* Abigail Washburn - City of Refuge
* Alain Johannes - Spark
* The John Henrys - White Linen
* The Weepies - Be My Thrill
* The Graduate - Only Every Time
* Jimmy Barnes - Rage & Ruin
* Matt Freeman - Devil's Brigade 
* Carl Broemel - All Birds Say
* American Bang - S/T
* Magic Kids - Memphis
* Phil Selway - Familial (import; drummer of Radiohead.)
* Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (2 CD's/1 DVD Deluxe edition.)
* Kristin Hersh - Rat Girl: A Memoir (Book.)
+ Jane's Addiction - Live Voodoo
+ Legends of the Canyon
+ Harry Brown
+ Marmaduke

9/7

* Sara Bareilles - Kaleidoscope Heart
* Interpol - S/T
* Serj Tankian - Imperfect Harmonies
* The Acorn - No Ghost
* The Factory - S/T
* Bachman Turner Overdrive - Bachman & Turner
* Porcupine Tree - Recordings
* Megadeth - Rust in Peace: Live (CD/DVD.)
* Rick Nelson - The Last Time Around: 1970-1982 (Box set.)
+ The Beatles - Complete Ed Sullivan Shows
+ The Airborne Toxic Event - All I Ever Wanted: Live from the Walt Disney Concert Hall
+ Killers
+ MacGruber
+ Solitary Man
+ Tommy (Blu-ray.)

9/14

* Robert Plant - Band of Joy (Patty Griffin, Darrell Scott and Buddy Miller guest.)
* The Gracious Few - S/T (The guitarist, bassist and drummer of LIVE with the singer of Candlebox.)
* Brandon Flowers - Flamingo (Singer of The Killers.)
* Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
* Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone
* James - The Morning After the Night Before
* Of Montreal - False Priest
* Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
* Peter Himmelman - The Mystery and the Hum
* Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns
* Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep
* Michelle Branch - Everything Comes and Goes (EP.)
* The Script - Science and Faith (import.)
* The Charlatans - Who We Touch
* Junip - Fields
* Thriving Ivory - Through Yourself and Back Again
* The Walkmen - Lisbon
* The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream
* Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle
* The Chapin Sisters - Two
* Azure Ray - Drawing Down the Moon
* Andy Jackson - End Sounds
* The New Czars - Doomsday Revolution
* Accept - Blood of the Nations 
* Flotsam & Jetsam - The Cold
* Dragonforce - Twilight Dementia: Live
* Queensryche - Empire (20th anniversary Deluxe edition.)
* Pantera - Cowboys from Hell (Deluxe edition.)
+ Leonard Cohen - Songs from the Road
+ Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time
+ Just Wright
+ Letters to Juliet
+ Paper Man

9/21

* Santana - Guitar Heaven (surprise. Many guests!)
* Zac Brown Band - You Get What You Give
* Paula Cole - Ithaca
* Maroon 5 - Hands All Over
* Caedmon's Call - Raising Up the Dead
* Anberlin - Dark is the Way, Light is a Place
* John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up (covers project.)
* Michael Franti & Spearhead - The Sound of Sunshine
* Margot and the Nuclear So and So's - Buzzard
* Justin Rutledge - Early Windos
* Rain Perry - Internal Combustion
* Matt Costa - Mobile Chateau
* Fake Problems - Real Ghosts Caught on Tape
* Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
* Black Country Communion - S/T (Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, Derek Sherinian & Jason Bonham.)
+ Robin Hood
+ Ondine

9/28

* Gin Blossoms - No Chocolate Cake
* KT Tunstall - Tiger Suit
* Pete Yorn - S/T
* Tired Pony - The Place We Ran From (Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and producer `Jacknife' Lee.)
* The Posies - Blood/Candy
* Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue
* Nellie McKay - Home Sweet Mobile Home 
* Manic Street Preachers - Postcards from a Young Man
* Jimmy Eat World - Invented
* Fences - S/T
* Three Mile Pilot - The Inevitable Past is the Future Forgotten
* Adam Haworth - We Live on Cliffs
* August Burns Red - Home: Live (CD/DVD.)
* Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
* James Labrie - Static Impulse (Singer of Dream Theater.)
* UFO - Best of a Decade
* The Doobie Brothers - World Gone Crazy
* Eric Clapton - Clapton
* Phil Collins - Going Back (Covers.)
* Lucky Peterson - You Can Always Turn Around (Covers.)
* Paul McCartney - Band on the Run (Deluxe edition.)
* David Bowie - Station to Station (Deluxe edition.)
+ Iron Man 2
+ Get Him to the Greek

10/5

* Elvis Costello - National Ransom
* Guster - Easy Wonderful
* Fefe Dobson - Joy
* Fran Healy - Wreckorder (Front man of Travis.)
* Weezer - Pinkerton (Deluxe edition.)
* Soundgarden - Telephantasm: a Retrospective
* Crimson Glory - In Dark Places: 1986-2000 (5 CD box set.)
+ Todd Snider - Live from Nashville
+ Holy Rollers
+ Splice
+ A Nightmare on Elm Street

10/12

* Darius Rucker - Charleston, SC 1966
* The Indigo Girls - Holly Happydays
* Shawn Mullins - Light You Up
* Kelly Stoltz - To Dreamers
* Lauren Pritchard - Wasted in Jackson
* Lynn Miles - Fall for Beauty
* Steve Lukather - All's Well That Ends Well
* Unknown Component - The Infinite Definitive
* Idlewild - Post Electric Blues
* Pomegranate - One of Us
* Spiritual Beggars - Return to Zero
* Zodiac Mindwarp & the Love Reaction - We Are Volsung
* Stryper - The Covering (The Yellow and Black Attack cover their 70's and 80's hard rock heroes.)
+ Los Lonely Boys - Live at the Fillmore

10/15

+ How to Train Your Dragon

10/19

* Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown
* Elton John & Leon Russell - The Union (Produced by T-Bone Burnett.)
* Sugarland - Incredible Machine
* Honor Bright - Action! Drama! Suspense!
* Wooden Hand - Death Seat  
* Brooke Fraser - TBA
+ Michael Schenker Group - Live in Tokyo: 30th anniversary Japan Tour
+ Please Give
+ Oceans

10/26

* Taylor Swift - Speak Now
* Bryan Ferry - Olympia (many guests.)
* Good Charlotte ­ Cardiology
+ The Girl Who Played with Fire
+ Back to the Future (25th anniversary box set.)

LYRICS of the MONTH:

In the suburbs I
I learned to drive
And you told me we'd never survive
Grab your mother's keys we're leaving
You always seemed so sure
That one day we'd be fighting
In a suburban war
Your part of town against mine
I saw you standing on the opposite shore
But by the time the first bombs fell
We were already bored
We were already, already bored
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling again
The kids want to be so hard
But in my dreams we're still screaming and running through the yard
When all of the walls that they built in the seventies finally fall
And all of the houses they build in the seventies finally fall
Meant nothing at all?
Meant nothing at all
It meant nothing
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling and into the night
So can you understand
Why I want a daughter while I'm still young?
I want to hold her hand
And show her some beauty
Before all this damage is done
But if it's too much to ask, if it's too much to ask
Then send me a son
Under the overpass
In the parking lot we're still waiting
It's already past
So move your feet from hot pavement and into the grass
`Cause it's already past
It's already, already past
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling again
I'm moving past the feeling
I'm moving past the feeling
In my dreams we're still screaming
We're still screaming
We're still screaming.
The Arcade Fire, the title track off the new album The Suburbs released this month.
http://www.arcadefire.com
See you in September.

Stay cool!

Chris Barlow

Correspondence here: 
cbcrossing@yahoo.com