For the past several years, Los Angeles’ Jane’s Addiction has occasionally reassembled for a reunion tour and/or gig. This 2009 show, held on Halloween in New Orleans, featured the original line-up of singer Perry Farrell, drummer Stephen Perkins, bassist Eric Avery and guitarist Dave Navarro. Playing to an arena full of fans, the band puts on quite a show. Farrell, for one, is certainly up for the occasion. Wearing a cape and drinking from a bottle of wine as he launches into the opening tune, “Up the Beach,” he looks a bit like Dracula. His ghoulish vibe is only amplified as costumed dancers arrived on stage for the woozy “Three Days,” which features a extensive Navarro guitar solo and turns into an epic jam. While Jane’s certainly doesn’t embarrass itself during this show, it doesn’t pack enough raw power, either. Perkins has slowed down on the drums and Farrell is most concerned with being flamboyant and mugging for the video cameras. Still, tunes such as “Been Caught Stealing” and “Jane Says” are classics that the group clearly still enjoys playing live. Bonus tracks include footage of the band performing “1%” and “Ocean Size” in Los Angeles in 2008 as well as a collection of photos and a short feature put together by the British magazine NME.

Not just another pretty singer-songwriter (though she is quite easy on the eyes), Hayley Taylor just released her full-length debut, One Foot in Front of the Other, this week. It comes in the wake of her acclaimed 2006 EP, Waking, which was produced by A.J. Mogis (Bright Eyes). Taylor, who sounds a bit like a folksier Liz Phair if backed by a small orchestra, writes about falling in and out of love with a real frankness. She recently phoned in from her L.A. home to talk about the album and how recent tragic events inspired many of the songs.

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“I ain’t your repo man,” husky voiced Ray LaMontagne sings on “Repo Man,” the opening tune on his new album, God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise. Backed by the feisty Pariah Dogs, LaMontagne sounds invigorated as he delves into the bluesy side of his sound with abandon. Too bad he doesn’t sustain the energy over the course of the album. “New York City’s Killing Me,” is a quiet number that features pensive vocals and purring pedal steel guitar. LaMontagne says he’s “tired of all this concrete” in a tune filled with clichés about country living.

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On Foundling, his seventh album, Brit singer-songwriter David Gray sticks to the rather rote folk and blues-derived songs that barely register a pulse. While singer-songwriter guys like Jeff Buckley and Josh Ritter have proved that less can sometimes be more, that’s generally the exception rather than the rule.  Gray opts to keep things sparse here and while he undoubtedly thinks his pensive voice will win you over, he’s not likely to make any new converts with this somber album. (more…)

Based on a graphic novel series, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a nifty indie flick that tries to capture a comic book feel with a series of animated sequences and exaggerated fight scenes. Michael Cera stars as Scott Pilgrim, a loveable loser who plays in a cute punk rock group called Sex Bob-omb. He’s dating a 17-year-old Asian girl named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) when he meets the blue-haired Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and instantly falls for her. T

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One of the oldest acts on the schedule for this year’s Lollapalooza, Devo played a rousing pre-festival show at Chicago’s Congress Theatre last night that showed the band continues to be relevant. While there were certainly plenty of old timers at the gig, there were also lots of younger fans, too. While the band certainly has kitsch appeal, its spunky synth-based punk rock still sounds sharp.

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“That was the album where life was never going to be the same,” singer-guitarist Tom Petty says at the beginning of the new “Classic Albums” DVD dedicated to the making of his 1979 album Damn the Torpedoes. A litany of talking heads attest to the fact that Petty and the Heartbreakers didn’t compromise in the making of the album, even as disco was on the upswing and rock ’n’ roll was going through a rough patch. The documentary takes us back to the band’s Gainesville, Florida roots and an early UK tour that helped turn the band into superstars.

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Much like the rogue action hero Jason Bourne, Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a CIA agent who can seemingly find her way out of any scrap. In the opening scenes of Salt, she’s outed as a Russian spy by a defector named Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) who informs her boss Ted (Liev Schrieber) that she’s secretly in charge of a plot to kill the Russian President. When the CIA tries to detain Evelyn, she flees, leading them through downtown Washington D.C. in an elaborate escape. She eventually makes her way to New York but CIA agents once again fail to capture her.

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Opening with the evocative Josh Rouse tune, “Flight Attendant,” this soundtrack – an indie store exclusive that arrives in stores today – is one of the more eclectic releases you’ll hear this year. It segues from Rouse’s stripped down ballad into Gato Barbieri’s elegant take on “Last Tango in Paris (Suite 2)” and then gives way to Sly & the Family Stone’s funk workout, “Thank You (Fallettin Me Be Mice Elf Agin).”

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Even though its plot centers on a young kid who wants to learn magic, it’s not likely you’ll confuse The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the new Disney fantasy adventure film, with the Harry Potter films. Potter is a franchise; The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is just summer fun.

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