Probst talks 'Survivor Guatemala'
Two familiar faces are returning to ‘Survivor’ but host Jeff Probst isn’t saying who the former players might be.
“I supported the idea because I think socially it is a really great question. People see it very differently and I think people are going to react very differently. So people will say…’No. No. No. You had your chance. Go away.’ In my thinking that is shortsightedness. That is putting some silly ego or pride ahead of the goal and the goal is…How do I get further in the game?,” Probst told Jam! Showbiz of the latest ‘Survivor’ twist.
Probst revealed that the producers did mull the twist over and created a list of potential candidates before they decided who would get a second chance to play the game. Probst nixed the idea of allowing America to pick the returning Survivors.
“My feeling was you cannot trust America to vote in two people that have the qualities we need. People can get on the Internet and people can have their friends call in and suddenly we are left with someone who was voted out first from four seasons ago who nobody remembers. You can’t do that,” said Probst stating that the two most important criteria to the producers were who the audience would like to see again and that there must be clear justification for bringing those people back. The gossip mill claims Bobby Jon Drinkard and Stephenie Lagrossa from the doomed Ulong Tribe from ‘Survivor Palau’ will be coming back to captain the two rival tribes on ‘Guatemala’ and possibly redeem themselves.
In the back of his mind, Probst realized that the twist could fail miserably if both returning players were targeted immediately and voted off but producer and series creator Mark Burnett supported the decision.
“(Mark) Burnett allows us to take risks, knowing we might fail but believing even if we did people would come back and give us another chance,” said Probst, who is still very much in love with ‘Survivor Vanuatu’ contestant Julie Berry. In fact, Berry lived on the set of ‘Guatemala’ while Probst worked on the series.
‘Survivor Guatemala’ will also feature another familiar face: former NFL quarterback Gary Hogeboom. During his career, Hogeboom played for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Phoenix Cardinals. According to Probst, Hogeboom persistently lied about his football background so he would not be targeted by the other players. During the series, Hogeboom claimed to be Gary Hawkins, a lowly real estate developer, which is Hogeboom’s current vocation. During one of the first challenges, Danny Boatwright, a sports radio talk show host, recognized Hogeboom but he refused to acknowledge his true identity.
“He didn’t hesitate to lie,” Probst said of Hogeboom. “He’s got to run this little game of…I’m good enough to keep around. I am not so good that I can beat you and no, my name is not Hogeboom. It is Hawkins.”
Set in the Mayan ruins of northern Guatemala, the series begins with a punishing eleven mile overnight hike through the jungle as the tribes race against each other to win fire and their choice of a camp site. The trek was designed by planners from Mark Burnett’s ‘Eco-Challenge’ series.
“It is the toughest beginning ever,” said Probst revealing that many of the players passed out or became sick from the ordeal. Probst termed contestant Margaret Bobonich, the family nurse practitioner, as the star of the first episode since she looked after many of the ill players.
As the series rolls into its eleventh season and running out of islands to visit, Probst claims that ‘Survivor’ is still above other reality shows because it has more soul and integrity.
“There is so much reality on television but ‘Survivor’ is in a category of its own now,” he said.
‘Survivor Guatemala’ debuts this Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
Probst’s assessment of the ‘Survivor Guatemala’ contestants
BRANDON BELLINGER: Has a smart mouth and pretended to be the dumb farmer. He is very likeable.
DANNI BOATWRIGHT: Is an athlete and comes from a family of strong competitors. Does not like to lose.
MARGARET BOBONICH: Star of the first episode and was seriously concerned about one of the players during and after the hike.
BRIAN CORRIDAN: Thinks he is ‘Richard Hatch Lite’.
CINDY HALL: More comfortable around animals than people. As a zoo keeper, she knows a lot about the outdoors and the animals which populate Guatemala.
GARY HOGEBOOM: Used an alternate persona to hide the fact that he is a former NFL football player. Might not have given his all at the start to hide his athletic background.
RAFE JUDKINS: An understated personality who studied Mayan culture before he even knew he was selected to be on the series. Probst believes viewers will rally behind him.
JIM LYNCH: A know-it-all who likes things done his way.
MORGAN McDEVITT: Probst didn’t have faith in her at the start. She changed his mind and is seen as sort of an underdog.
LYDIA MORALES: Knowledge of fish won’t come into play as there is not much opportunity to fish where the camps are situated. The water there is muddy and dense. Very charming. A survivor in her own life.
JAMIE NEWTON: Has a chip on his shoulder. Always intends to do the right thing and has a good heart.
AMY O'HARA: Has a little bit of Twila in her. She has a big mouth but is very, very tough.
JUDD SERGEANT: A hot head but is a strong player because he has studied and understands the game. He knows what he has to do to endear himself to the other players.
BROOKE STRUCK: Sharp and calm. A leader.
BLAKE TOWSLEY: Most of the men involved in the casting liked him. The women didn’t.
BRIANNA VARELA: She had another reason for being on the series. Probst: Something else was going on. He is not sure what she was looking for from the experience.
Canyon wins four at CCMAs
What a difference a year can make.
Last year, Alberta's George Canyon was named the Canadian Country Music Association's rising star of the year.
They couldn't have been more right -- this year the gentleman cowboy swept the awards, winning four CCMAs, including the night's biggest prize, the Fan's Choice award.
The runner-up on the hit U.S. series Nashville Star, a variation on American Idol, also took home trophies for male artist, as well as single and song for My Name, a touching tune he wrote to help friends cope with a miscarriage.
"I wasn't really expecting this ... Thank you, I'm very touched," said an emotional Canyon after receiving his first prize of the night.
By the time Canyon collected his fourth trophy he had trouble keeping it together.
"You'll have to excuse me I have something in my eye," he said after a long pause.
Even after the show finished, the quadruple win still hadn't sunk in.
"I'm fans of the folks who are in the category with me, so to win is to go above and beyond what I've dreamt," said Canyon, who admitted the stomach flu he was suffering from also contributed to his shock factor.
HAMMERING IT HOME
The only other artist to win multiple awards last night at the Saddledome was Calgarian and host Paul Brandt, whose album This Time Around was named the best of the year, as was his Convoy video -- which perhaps got a boost from a guest appearance by Canyon.
Despite joking during the show that he very much wanted to take home the Fans' Choice award, Brandt was gracious about the loss.
"I thought it was great. George has become a really good friend over the years. And he has proven he isn't just another talent show winner," Brandt said backstage.
The Road Hammers, who went into the night with a whopping six nominations, were only able to nab the group of the year award.
Bonnyville's Clayton Bellamy was particularly touched by the win.
"This has been a cinderella year for me," said Bellamy, who had given up on the music biz before becoming a Road Hammer. Backstage, Bellamy was still trying to accept his good fortune. "It just spun my head around tonight."
Perhaps the hot new trio's most surprising loss was in the rising star category.
That prize went to Amanda Wilkinson. It was her first win as a solo artist -- she won previously when she fronted the family group the Wilkinsons with her father Steve and brother Tyler.
A teary Wilkinson was shocked: "This is freakin' crazy man. I don't know what to say. I have to thank (my family) for always loving and supporting me."
Backstage, Wilkinson admitted her family had already been on the phone to congratulate her.
"I have the best family in the world -- I miss them tonight."
CLARK HONOURED
The evening appeared to belong to the men of country, as the only other woman to go to the podium was Alberta's Terri Clark.
Though she didn't win the top prize of Fans' Choice -- as she has for the past four years --she didn't go home empty-handed. Clark was named the female artist of the year.
Backstage, it was difficult to tell what made Clark beam brighter -- looking at her trophy or catching the eye of her fiance Greg Kaczor across the room.
When asked what was more important, last night's win or her wedding Saturday, she had to admit saying 'I do.'
"Getting married ... that's what will be there for me when I'm 85."
She also wasn't bitter about Canyon winning Fans' Choice: "He deserved it. I was happy to see him win it. It's kinda embarrassing when you keep winning it."
The Corb Lund Band won the roots artist title.
The top-selling album, which is not voted on, was given to Shania Twain's Greatest Hits. Twain was not in attendance.
The Couch Potato Report - September 13th, 2005
This week The Couch Potato Report features a synopsis of some of the films that were released over the past few weeks, some from this week, and three from next week!
The Report will return soon in its well-known form, but in the interim, here are some notable newer releases.
In the incredibly interesting film CRASH several people's lives in Los Angeles are intersected following a random car-jacking. Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton and Sandra Bullock star.
The Universal Studios Legacy Series Collection is full of stars!
Presented in lovingly created Limited Edition two-disc DVD sets, The Legacy Series releases are all critically-acclaimed, Academy Award winning Hollywood gems. They are all digitally remastered for unsurpassed state-of-the-art picture quality. They feature fully restored audio with all-new enhanced 5.1 tracks, collectible packaging and unique extras bringing even more value to this one-of-a-kind series.
The inagural titles are: THE DEER HUNTER, winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, The film is one of the greatest films ever made about friendship and the personal impact of war.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is quite simply one of the finest family-oriented dramas ever made. A beautiful and deeply affecting adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee, the film retains a timeless quality that transcends its historically dated subject matter (racism in the Depression-era South) and remains powerfully resonant in present-day America with its advocacy of tolerance, justice, integrity, and loving, responsible parenthood.
Finally, THE STING was a winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay. This critical and box-office hit from 1973 provided a perfect reunion for director George Roy Hill and stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford, who previously delighted audiences with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Set in 1936, the movie's about a pair of Chicago con artists (Newman and Redford) who find themselves in a high-stakes game against the master of all cheating mobsters (Robert Shaw) when they set out to avenge the murder of a mutual friend and partner.
Also now available on video and DVD is the film version of the classic book THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. As in the tome earth is leveled to make way for hyperspace express route. Is it as good as the book? Are any movies based on books?
That said, this one is pretty damn entertaining! Martin Freeman from THE OFFICE plays Arthur Dent, and the cast also includes Mos Def and Zooey Deschanel.
FEVER PITCH is also based on a book, and the Farelly Brothers ruin NIck Hornby's wonderful story! In this version SNL reject Jimmy Fallon is a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan who has an unlucky love life akin to his team. Drew Barrymore is the latest woman in his life and trust me! It sucks, ignore it!! Read the book instead.
Or you can watch TOY STORY: THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION. The edition of the landmark film repackages most of the extras found in the original Ultimate Toy Box set plus a few more. Two keen retrospectives are new, one with an assortment of talents including Roy Disney and Peter Jackson chiming in on the film's impact. The other is a roundtable with Lasseter and three of the creators simply talking about the experiences without--thankfully--any cutaways to noisy film clips. There's a load of other extras since the Ultimate Toy Box was one of the first and best DVD sets. Missing (besides the second film, which will be released separately) is the effects- and music-only tracks. Added is a whopping DTS soundtrack along with a remixed Dolby 5.1 track. The DVD has a higher transfer bit rate for a better picture, but only high-end enthusiasts will notice it. Since the film is a digital-to-digital transfer, both versions are eye-popping. A must-have set unless you have the Ultimate Toy Box.
Another must have box set is FRAGGLE ROCK - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON.
Man did I enjoy my time re-watching this set about a fun-loving group of furry subterranean creatures. C'mon! Dance your cares away with the complete first season of Fraggle Rock, Featuring all 24 episodes - never before available on DVD! Filled with all the Fraggley Fun you've been waiting for. Share in the music and memories that have kept fans rockin' for more than 20 years! So save your worries for another day and experience 715 minutes of frag-tastic fun in the untimate Fraggle Rock collection.
And our final title that is currently available in this synopsis filled edition of The Report is LAS VEGAS - SEASON TWO. The unparalleled Nikki Cox stars with James Caan in one of television's greatest guilty pleasures. If you love it, admit it.
If you don't skip it!
Okay, lets re-cap: CRASH, THE DEER HUNTER, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, THE STING, THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, FEVER PITCH, the TOY STORY: THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, FRAGGLE ROCK - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON and LAS VEGAS - SEASON TWO are all available now at a store near you!
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - SEASON ONE is a complete re-imagining of the 1970s series – upping the ante on the action, adventure, and drama that made the original so popular. Now, experience all 13 thrilling episodes of Season 1 and the four hour TV miniseries that started it all in this 5 disc DVD set loaded with explosive bonus features and presented in Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound.
On the DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - SEASON ONE DVD set, the 23 episodes are presented in widescreen format, and six of the episodes can also be viewed in "unrated, extended" versions. The additions--usually one scene, and no racier than the regular broadcast versions--are seamlessly integrated into the episodes, but series creator Marc Cherry's introductions help the viewer figure out what they are, and he explain how he thinks each addition affects the episode.
Finally, more up my alley, i sthe MALLRATS 10th ANNIVERSARY EXTENED EDITION. As with CLERKS X, Kevin Smith and his staff are striving to give us fans a lot of material with this upgrade. Ten years down the road MALLRATS is still a very funny little film. So press play and enjoy it!
Coming soon: The Return of the weekly Couch Potato Report!
Alternate endings tweak interest
What if you could change the ending to your favorite movie?
Hilary Swank makes a full recovery in Million Dollar Baby. The princess in Shrek stays desirable. E.T. decides to make Earth his home.
Those plot-smashing endings are a stretch, but more DVDs are offering viewers a look at alternate endings that once wound up on the cutting-room floor.
"An alternate ending is a great way to provide added value because it brings film fans into the creative process," says Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
Universal will release The Interpreter, starring Nicole Kidman, with two endings — the one shown theatrically and the other premiering on the DVD — on Oct. 4.
"Sydney Pollack had actually shot two different conclusions to the film, but obviously only one could make it into the theatrical version," Graffeo says.
Universal's research has identified alternate endings as consumers' favorite bonus feature. The studio offered viewers an alternate ending on The Bourne Identity DVD in 2003. And New Line Home Entertainment has offered alternate endings on DVDs going back to 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, which came to DVD in 1999.
"It differentiates the DVD experience from the theatrical experience," says New Line executive vice president Matt Lasorsa. "Before when you heard there was an alternate ending in which, say, the character dies, you could only read about it. Now, with DVD, we have the opportunity to bring that to the consumer."
On the Final Destination DVD, New Line tacked on an alternate ending and created a 15-minute featurette about the test screening and the poor audience reaction that led to that ending being scrapped, Lasorsa says.
"It provides an inside look at how studios test movies," Lasorsa says.
DVDs of Joy Ride, with Paul Walker, and Hide and Seek, with Robert De Niro, came out this year with four alternate endings, and Alien vs. Predator has another beginning.
Fever Pitch arrives on DVD today in two versions: the movie that showed in theaters and a "collector's edition" with several more minutes from the film-ending scene in which the Red Sox win the World Series.
"The hardest thing in the world about making a movie is to satisfactorily end it," FeverPitch co-director Bobby Farrelly says. "We almost always have a couple of different endings in mind, and it's informative to show the audience the different direction you might have gone."
On Dumb and Dumber, Farrelly says he and his brother, Peter, shot five endings before settling on the scene in which Lloyd and Harry pass up a chance to board a bus filled with bikini-clad women.
The alternates, including one in which the two turn down a cushy job, "just didn't work," Farrelly says. "They were amusing but left the audience a little unsatisfied."
On There's Something About Mary, Ted (Ben Stiller) "was going to get hit by a bus after all he'd been through, but it wasn't good at all, so we went back to a traditional happy ending."
Those endings didn't make it onto DVD — at least, not yet.
Other do-overs due soon
It's not exactly Gone with the Wind's Rhett Butler deciding he gives a damn after all, but here are some alternate endings coming out on DVD:
• In The Outsiders DVD, due Sept. 20, the redone ending is closer to the S.E. Hinton book.
• In The Interpreter, due on DVD Oct. 4, Nicole Kidman's character appears on the floor of the United Nations for a dramatic showdown.
• In a nine-minute alternate ending to Titanic, due Oct. 25, shipwreck explorer Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) has a meaningful confrontation with the elderly Rose (Gloria Stuart) as she is about to toss her diamond necklace overboard.
•The Perfect Man, starring Heather Locklear and due Nov. 1, has two endings and two beginnings.
NEW CD RELEASES FOR SEPTEMBER 13, 2005
A Dozen Furies A Concept from Fire (Sanctuary)
Jon Philip Alman When You Get Home (LML Music)
American Werewolves 1968 (Fractured Transmitter)
Shawn Amos Thank You Shirl-ee May (A Love Story) (Shout! Factory)
Anom So It's Come to This (Eastern Fiction)
Aphasia Fact & Fiction (DRT Entertainment)
Apollo Sunshine Apollo Sunshine (spinART)
Arizona Amp and Alternator (Giant Sand's Howie Gelb) Arizona Amp and Alternator (guests M. Ward, Scout Nibblet and members of Grandaddy and Arcade Fire) (Thrill Jockey)
Antonio Arnedo Colombia (Adventure Music)
Badi Assad Verde (w/covers of U2's "One" and Björk's "Bachelorette") (eDGe/Deutsche Grammophon)
Baby Mongoose Enter the (Dionysus)
Devendra Banhart Cripple Crow (XL Recordings)
Bedsit Poets The Summer That Changed (Bongo Beat)
David Benoit Orchestral Stories (Peak)
Black Eyed Peas Maximum (audio biography) (Chrome Dreams)
Brian Blain Overqualified for the Blues (NorthernBlues)
Steve Blanchard Northbound Train (LML Music)
Blue Rodeo Are You Ready (Rounder)
Blues Traveler Bastardos! (Vanguard)
The Bomb (w/ex-Naked Raygun's Jeff Pezzati) Indecision (Thick)
Brakes (members of British Sea Power, Tenderfoot and Electric Soft Parade) Give Blood (Rough Trade)
Dee Dee Bridgewater J'ai Deux Amours (renditions of French songs) (Sovereign Artists)
Pieta Brown In the Cool (Valley Entertainment)
Eric Burdon It's My Life (Snapper)
Cantoma Cantoma (Quango)
Carlos Guitarlos Hell Can Wait (Nomad)
Casino Royal Back to Back Bacharach (all covers of Burt Bacharach tunes) (Varèse Vintage)
Cave In Perfect Pitch Black (Hydra Head)
The Celebrity Pilots Beneath the Pavement, a Beach! (Sunken Treasure)
Sam Champion Slow Rewind (Razor & Tie)
Tracy Chapman Where You Live (co-produced by Tchad Blake) (Elektra/Atlantic)
Cherry Monroe The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful (formerly titled "Cherry Monroe") (Rust/Universal)
The Clayton Brothers Back in the Swing of Things (Hyena)
CocoRosie Noah's Ark (Touch and Go)
Dana Cooper Made of Mud (King Easy)
Doug Cox and Sam Hurrie Hungry Ghosts (NorthernBlues)
The Cranes Particles & Waves (w/bonus DVD featuring live performance) (Manifesto)
Creations End The Con of Man EP (HCNL)
The Crimea Tragedy Rocks (Warner Bros.)
Crombie Forest Walking... (This Generation Tapes)
Dandy Warhols Odditorium or Warlords of Mars (Capitol)
Steve Dawson Sweet Is the Anchor (Undertow)
Dengue Fever Escape from Dragon House (M80)
Desert City Soundtrack Perfect Addiction (Deep Elm)
Despised Icon The Healing Process (Goodfellow)
Diamond Nights Popsicle (Kemado)
Rob Dickinson (ex-Catherine Wheel) Fresh Wine for the Horses (Sanctuary)
DJ Quik Trauma (w/Ludacris, the Game, Chingy, Wyclef, B-Real, Jodeci and more) (Mad Science)
The Double Loose in the Air (Matador)
Dreamscapes of the Perverse Gignesthai (Tribunal)
Eugene Edwards My Favorite Revolution (Flagship)
The Evil Queens First It Boils, Then It Spills (w/four bonus tracks) (Addison)
Exceptor Alternation (Kill Rock Stars)
Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer Scat Like That (Rounder)
Tim Fite Gone Ain't Gone (Epitaph)
Five.Bolt.Main Venting (Rock Ridge Music)
Mary Flower Bywater Dance (Yellow Dog)
Jack Foster III Raptorgnosis (Muse-Wrapped)
The Fray How to Save a Life (Epic)
Freakwater Thinking of You (featuring Califone) (Thrill Jockey)
From Monument to Masses Schools of Thought Contend (remixes w/two new studio tracks) (Dim Mak)
Gas Huffer Lemonade for Vampires (Touch and Go)
Giant Drag Heart and Unicorns (Interscope)
Go Betty Go Go Betty Go (SideOneDummy)
David Gray Life in Slow Motion (DualDisc same day) (ATO/RCA)
Brian Lane Green Waiting for the Glaciers to Melt (LML Music)
Gustafsson/Stackenas Plays the Blues (Atavistic)
H.I.M. Greatest Love Songs - Vol. 666 (Universal)
Halifax The Inevitably of a Strange World (Drive-Thru)
Annie Hayden The Enemy of Love (Merge)
Horrorpops Bring It on! (Epitaph)
Imperial Crowns Hymn Book (Ruf)
In-Quest The Comatose Quandaries (Good Life)
Institute (w/ex-Bush's Gavin Rossdale) Distort Yourself (DualDisc same day; produced by Helmet's Page Hamilton) (Interscope)
Irish Tenors Sacred (Razor & Tie)
Iron and Wine/Calexico In the Reins EP (collaborative effort) (Touch and Go)
Jazzanova Blue Note Trip (mix CD of the label's jazz classics) (Blue Note)
Jessy Rain (Water Music)
Marc Johnson Shades of Jade (ECM)
Syleena Johnson Chapter 3: The Flesh (guests Kanye West, Jermaine Dupri, R. Kelly, Common and Twista) (Jive)
George Jones Hits I Missed...and One I Didn't (guest Dolly Parton) (Bandit/Welk)
The Juliana Theory Deadbeat Sweetheartbeat (Paper Fist/Abacus)
Eugene Kelly (formerly of the Vaselines and Eugenius) Man Alive (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
Killing the Dream In Place, Apart (Deathwish)
B.B. King 80 (Geffen)
Knuckledust Unbreakable (GSR)
Lake Trout Not Them, You (Palm Pictures)
Mike LeDonne Night Song (Savant)
Levy Rotten Love (One Little Indian)
The Like Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? (produced by ex-Prince and the Revolution's Wendy Melvoin) (Geffen)
Line of Fire Line of Fire (Tribunal)
Little Brother The Minstrel Show (Atlantic)
The Living Jarboe The Conduit (limited edition) (Atavistic)
Lonestar Coming Home (BNA)
Patty Loveless Dreaming My Dreams (Epic)
Jason Mackenroth (ex-Rollins Band/Mother Superior drummer) Mack (Wrecked)
Manfred Mann's Earth Band 2006 (Friday Music)
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley Welcome to Jamrock (w/Stephen Marley, the Roots' Black Thought, Nas, Bobby Brown and more; features tracks using samples of Bob Marley tunes) (Universal Motown)
The Mass Perfect Picture of Wisdom and Boldness (Crucial Blast)
Paul McCartney Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard (co-produced by Nigel Godrich) (Capitol)
Mike + the Mechanics Rewired (Rhino)
Natasha Miller Don't Move (Poignant)
Sister Gertrude Morgan King Britt Presents (remixes of rare classic New Orleans artist) (Ropeadope)
Mr. Greenweedz & Griot G-Strings (Touch and Go)
The Muckrakers Front of the Parade (Toucan Cove)
My Chemical Romance Maximum (audio biography) (Chrome Dreams)
Neon Blonde (members of the Blood Brothers) Chandeliers in the Savannah (Dim Mak)
Numbers We're Animals (Kill Rock Stars)
Shannon O'Connor Low in Paradise (Varrga)
Ohmega Watts The Find (Ubiquity)
Old Time Relijun 2012 (enhanced CD w/live performance video) (K Records)
OOIOO (w/Yoshimi of the Boredoms) Gold and Green (Thrill Jockey)
Opeth Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner)
Judith Owen Lost and Found (guests Cassandra Wilson and Keb' Mo') (Courgette/ADA/Warner Music Group)
John Parish Once Upon a Little Time (w/members of Portishead and the Bad Seeds) (Thrill Jockey)
Maceo Parker School's In (Phantom/BHM)
Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Ensemble The Eleventh Hour (ECM)
Chris Pierce Static Trampoline (Prana Entertainment)
Jimmy Ponder What's New (HighNote)
Princess Superstar My Machine (!K7)
PussyCat Dolls PCD (A&M/Interscope)
Queen + Paul Rodgers Return of the Champions (Hollywood)
Queenadreena The Butcher and the Butterfly (One Little Indian)
Bonnie Raitt Souls Alike (Capitol)
The Reigning Sound Home for Orphans (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
The Rosebuds Birds Make Good Neighbors (Merge)
Safety Scissors Tainted Lunch (Scape)
Dieter Scherf Trio Inside-Outside Reflections (Atavistic)
Secondhand Stores From the Talking Machine (Deep Elm)
Charlie Sexton Cruel and Gentle Things (Back Porch/EMI)
Sigur Rós Takk... (Geffen)
Smif N Wesson (aka Cocoa Brovaz) Reloaded (guest members of Boot Camp Clik plus Talib Kweli, dead prez, Roc Raida and more) (Duck Down)
Soulive Breakout (w/Robert Randolph on cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic;" also guests Living Colour's Corey Glover, Chaka Khan and Ivan Neville) (Concord)
Sourvein Emerald Vulture (enhanced CD) (Dark Reign)
Steep Canyon Rangers One Dime at a Time (Rebel)
Stellastarr* Harmonies for the Haunted (RCA)
Bobo Stenson Trio Goodbye (ECM)
Stiffed Burned Again (produced by Daryl Jenifer of Bad Brains) (Outlook)
Nicola Stilo and Toninho Horta Duets (Adventure Music)
Stratovarius Stratovarius (Sanctuary)
Stretch Arm Strong Free at Last (We Put Out Records)
Subtract by Two Agoniser Ecrire (This Generation Tapes)
Stacy Sullivan Cold Enough to Snow (new and traditional Christmas songs) (LML Music)
Super Furry Animals Love Kraft (produced by Mario Caldato, Jr.; string arrangements by the High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan) (XL Recordings)
Switchfoot Nothing Is Sound (DualDisc available same day) (Columbia)
Rosie Thomas If Songs Could Be Held (guest Ed Harcourt on "Let It Be Me") (Sub Pop)
Billy Bob Thornton Hobo (Big Deal)
Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate In the Heart of the Moon (Nonesuch)
Trapt Someone in Control (Warner Bros.)
Turn Me on Dead Man God Bless the Electric Freak (Alternative Tentacles)
Vandermark 5 The Color of Memory (Atavistic)
Andreas Vollenweider Vox (Kin Kou/Savoy)
Paul Wall The People's Champ (Atlantic)
Russell Watson Amore Musica (Decca)
Dar Williams My Better Self (w/Ani DiFranco, Marshall Crenshaw, Soulive and more) (Razor & Tie)
Charlie Wilson Charlie, Last Name Wilson (Jive/ZLG)
Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice Buck Dharma (Kill Rock Stars)
xbxrx Sixth in Sixes (Polyvinyl)
XCarnation Grounded (guest members of Winger and King Crimson) (Muse-Wrapped)
Trisha Yearwood Jasper County (MCA Nashville)
VA Mean It Man (new, previously unreleased tracks from Horace Pinker, the Methadones, the Bomb and more) (Thick)
VA Metro Weekender Presents - Amika (Varèse Sarabande)
VA Music Is My Art (hip-hop/electronica compilation) (Ubiquity)
VA Old Skars & Upstarts 2005 (rare and unreleased tracks from Turbonegro, the Skulls, Epoxies and more) (Disaster)
VA Rose & Thistle: English and Scottish Music from the Christmas Revels (Revels/Allegro)
VA Sacred Ground: A Tribute to Mother Earth (traditional and contemporary Native American songs) (Silver Wave)
VA The Enlightened Family: A Collection of Lost Songs (Touch and Go)
OCR Mary Poppins (Walt Disney)
OST Elizabethtown (Cameron Crowe film starring Orlando Bloom; includes original music by Heart's Nancy Wilson plus songs by My Morning Jacket, Ryan Adams, Tom Petty and more; box set available same day) (RCA)
OST Four Brothers (Mark Wahlberg film) (Universal Motown)
OST Four Brothers (score by David Arnold) (Varèse Sarabande)
OST Just Like Heaven (originals and covers from the Cure, Amos Lee, Beck, Pete Yorn and more) (Columbia)
OST Proof (score by Stephen Warbeck) (Varèse Sarabande)
OST The Aristocrats (all-star comedy documentary w/George Carlin, Robin Williams, Chris Rock and many more) (V2)
OST Thumbsucker (score by the Polyphonic Spree's Tim DeLaughter, plus three previously unreleased songs by Elliott Smith, including covers of Big Star's "Thirteen" and Cat Stevens' "Trouble") (Hollywood)
DVD East of Sunset (w/covers of Tom Waits songs by Alex Chilton, Lydia Lunch and more) (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Amici Forever In Concert (RCA Victor)
DVD The Chesterfield Kings Where Is the Chesterfield King?!?! (sci-fi action/comedy starring the band; w/bonus live performance footage) (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Lydia Lunch Willing Victim (2003 concert w/members of Godflesh, Foetus, Swans and Unsane) (Music Video Distributors)
DVD Mara'akate Congratulations on Your Impending Geography (footage of 2003 tour) (HCNL)
DVD Duke Robillard A Special Evening with and Friends (Stony Plain)
'SNL' Star Tina Fey Gives Birth to Girl
NEW YORK - This just in: "Saturday Night Live" comedian-writer Tina Fey has given birth to her first child.
Fey, co-anchor of Weekend Update, the fake news desk of "SNL," gave birth Saturday in New York to a daughter, Alice Richmond, an NBC spokesman said Monday.
"Safe, home, happy, thrilled to death," said Marc Liepis, a spokesman for the sketch comedy show. The baby weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces, he said.
Fey, 35, and her husband, Jeff Richmond, were married in 2001. Fey has been head writer at "SNL" for five years; Richmond is a composer for the show.
She will take a brief maternity leave from "Saturday Night Live," which premieres its 31st season Oct. 1.
Jackson: Mariah Carey to perform on Katrina song
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson has recruited pop superstar Mariah Carey, rappers Snoop Dogg and Jay Z, "Godfather of Soul" James Brown and other top artists to perform on a charity single for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, his spokeswoman said on Monday.
Also joining Jackson will be retro-rocker Lenny Kravitz; rappers Wyclef Jean, Laryn Hill and Missy Elliott; R&B crooners Ciara, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Yolanda Adams, R. Kelly and Mary J. Blige; and 1970s soul icons the O'Jays, spokeswoman Raymone Bain said.
"Mr. Jackson is continuing to reach out to artists who would like to work with him on this project, which he humbly hopes will make a tremendous difference to all individuals who have been affected by this tragedy, Bain said.
Jackson, who raised more than $60 million for African famine relief in the mid-1980s with a campaign built around his anthem "We Are the World," announced last week that he had been moved by images of Katrina's devastation to write a song for the hurricane's victims.
Bain has said that the 47-year-old singer, who left his Neverland Valley Ranch in California for Bahrain after his June acquittal on sex abuse charges, will return to the United States to record the song, tentatively titled "From the Bottom of My Heart."
All proceeds will be donated to hurricane victims, she said.
McCartney's New Album Deemed Best in Years
NEW YORK - It sounds cruel, but let's face it: Except for the occasional highlight like "Vanilla Sky" or "My Brave Face," for the past 20 years, Paul McCartney's catalogue has been pretty barren. So the former Beatle wanted to make his new solo album, "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard," stand out.
"I decided to lay it on the line for myself and challenge myself and say, 'You're going to make a good album here.' It was a good motivator," he told The Associated Press.
Time magazine breathlessly declared "Chaos" to be McCartney's first album that matters since the Beatles broke up 35 years ago. But it's simply unlike anything he's done before, a quiet disc with complicated emotional shadings — the album that generations of critics who derided his sunny, silly love songs have been asking him to make.
He'll never be mistaken for Nine Inch Nails. But the heartache of "Too Much Rain" and smoldering anger of "Riding to Vanity Fair" are unusual for McCartney. When the 63-year-old struggles for the notes in the "Blackbird" successor "Jenny Wren," he even sounds fragile.
"Even though I'm essentially an optimist, an enthusiast, like anyone else I have down moments in my life," he said. "You just can't help it. Life throws them at you.
"In the past I may have written tongue-in-cheek, like `Maxwell's Silver Hammer,' and dealt with matters of fate in a kind of comical, parody manner. It just so happens in this batch of songs I would look at these subjects and thought it was good for writing. If it's good enough to take to your psychiatrist, it's good enough to make a song of."
McCartney also was pushed by the blunt Nigel Godrich, a producer known for his work with Radiohead and Beck.
His method was to force the music legend out of his comfort zone. McCartney brought his touring band in to record; after two weeks Godrich dispatched them. Much like he did with his very first solo album, McCartney played virtually every instrument himself — on "Friends to Go" alone, he's credited on the grand piano, acoustic/bass/electric guitars, harpsichord, drums, tambourine, flugelhorn, melodica and shakers.
Producer and artist particularly clashed on "Riding to Vanity Fair," which McCartney brought in as a fast song and Godrich kept trying to slow down.
"There were one or two moments on the album when I had to think to myself, `You know, I could just fire this guy,'" McCartney said.
Widening his emotional palette doesn't necessarily belittle his optimism, McCartney said. He's not disowning anything. He spoke of talking with Bruce Springsteen a few years ago at a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction where the Boss admitted he didn't really get "Silly Love Songs" at the time it came out in 1976. He feels differently now that he's a family man.
"It took a little nerve to hold on, knowing that people were going to take a cheap shot," McCartney said.
Obviously he never set out to log many years of lackluster recordings.
"You're not really aware of that," he said. "You can maybe get a little complacent, or you're not hitting a good patch, or you can think it's great and it isn't. There are a multitude of reasons why."
For a man who seemingly tumbled out of bed every morning of his youth with a brilliant melody, the struggles were painful to listen to. Think "Freedom." What was once effortless seemed forced.
Writing songs isn't necessarily harder for him as he gets older, McCartney said. And for whatever reasons — time, a happy remarriage and new fatherhood — he feels he's writing better than he has in a long time.
"I still have this deep love for melody in particular and writing songs," he said. "It isn't any more difficult. Obviously what made it easier then was writing with John (Lennon). He was such a great collaborator. The two of us were on fire every time we sat down to write.
"If he was stuck, I knew that I could help him out and vice versa. We normally sat down for three hours and bingo, a pretty good song came out. We never had a dry session. Every time we sat down, we came out with a song."
That happened up to the end; Lennon even asked for advice on "The Ballad of John and Yoko," he said. "We're not stupid," McCartney said. "We knew a good thing."
Yet it put in place the essential dilemma of his solo years. McCartney seems to intrinsically understand the value of a strong collaborator, but what can compare when you've had a partnership for the ages?
He enjoyed, for example, a brief songwriting collaboration with Elvis Costello that produced some good music ("My Brave Face"). But "you do something like that and it makes it even more obvious that there's no replacing John for me and no replacing me for him."
McCartney spoke by telephone from a car driving to band rehearsals in Miami for his American tour. He's long past the period where he felt he had to prove himself post-Beatles so, twistedly, he avoided the band's work in concert.
Now the whole catalogue is up for grabs, and it's easy to find songs he's never played live before — like the voice-shredding "Helter Skelter," which he brought out for the Live 8 concert.
One last query as the car pulled up: Has he ever thought over the years, I've put a pretty good songbook together, maybe it's just time to let it be?
"Pardon the pun," he said. "The trouble is, I like it too much. If I was asked to retire tomorrow, if I was forcibly removed from my contract, I'd just do it for fun."