Each week, Playlist’s Glenn Peoples looks at special tracks offered by the iTunes Music Store and other select online music merchants. Here are the selections for the week of June 13th.
Carrie Underwood won the most recent season of “American Idol” and a recording contract to go along with it. Arista wasted no time in putting out her “Inside Your Heaven” single with a free digital booklet. Expect a full length album before Christmas.
Another key pre-release is DMX’s “ Give ‘Em What They “Want.”
For years electronic fans have swayed and jerked to the futuristic music of Funkstorung. iTunes has an exclusive on the duo’s new !K7 Records album The Return of Acid Planet 10.
Most jam bands aren’t well known for their record sales—at least outside of sales at concert venues. One exception is the String Cheese Incident, a Colorado band that has its own mini-empire built around touring and merchandise sales. iTunes’ exclusive One Step Closer EP has three songs. Catch the band on tour in July as they headline the Big Summer Classic 2005 (which also features Michael Franti & Spearhead, Keller Williams, and Yonder Mountain String Band).
Bob Mould, formerly of seminal post-punk band Husker Du and ’90s college rock staple Sugar, has continued through this decade to have a successful DIY career. iTunes has an exclusive on his single “Paralyzed.” The album, Body of Song , is out in late July. It’s a very strong album that triumphantly melds his guitar-based legacy with his current interests in electronic music.
Glam-rock and ambient-music pioneer, Brian Eno, issues his first vocal album in decades. The album, Another Day On Earth, combines the ambient influences of his recent work with the sensibilities of his mid-70s albums Before and after Science and Another Green World.
iTunes free download of the week is “U Must Be” by Gina Rene. Owners of the “Mean Girls” soundtrack willl be familiar with her laid back R&B—her songs “Mean Gurls” appeared on the 2004 album.
Notable additions to Rhapsody: Alice Coltrane’s Transfiguration , The Get Up Kids’ Live @ The Granada Theater , Erlend Oye’s “Sheltered Life” single, The Metric’s Old World Underground Where Are You Now? , Annie’s Anniemal and The Adverts’ Anthology on Fire Records. The Abandoned Pools’ The Reverb EP has been added. The band is the creation of former Eels member Tommy Walter. Don’t expect a similar sound—the band cranks out urgent, melodic rock and has toured with the likes of Tool.
Napster has an exclusive Ryan Adams track, “Operator Operator,” to coincide with the release of his new double-album, Cold Roses .
Yahoo! Music has an exclusive Erika Jo track, “Who You Are,” that is not on her new self-titled album.
The Foo Fighters’ MySpace.com page has an exclusive interview with Dave Grohl that is available as a podcast or a stream. Former Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan is previewing his new solo album, The Future Embrace , at his MySpace.com page. (Grab a snack and settle in, the forward button is disabled.) Hip hop legend Guru is previewing his album Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures , out June 21st, at his MySpace.com page.