The Riff Report: New music this week

By Sarah Zupko / PopMatters.com

>> Kanye West — “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”: Rap’s biggest star releases the best album of his career. Essential. ’Nuff said.

>> Michael Jackson — “Michael Jackson’s Vision”: The King of Pop was also the Maestro of the Music Video, having pushed the video form into true art-form status with his filmic interpretations of his tunes. The video for “Thriller” was probably one of the most influential ever and this new set celebrates that aspect of Jackson’s art by compiling all 35 of the short films from his storied career.

>> The Who — “Live at Leeds (Super Deluxe Edition)”: One of the best live rock recordings gets the super deluxe treatment across four CDs, a vinyl LP of the original album and a seven-inch single. The Leeds discs add the full performance of “Tommy,” as does the previously unreleased performance in Hull from the same week. The perfect gift for classic rock fans this year.

Other notable releases this week:

The Benedictine Nuns and Abbaye de Notre-Dame de l’Annonciation — “Voices”
Curren$y — “Pilot Talk 2”
The Doors — “The Doors — Live in Vancouver 1970”
Alan Jackson — “34 Number Ones”
Jay-Z — “The Hits Collection, Vol. 1”
Ke$ha — “Cannibal”
My Chemical Romance — “Danger Days — “The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys”
Nicki Minaj — “Pink Friday”
Nine Inch Nails — “Pretty Hate Machine” (Remastered)
Pantera — “Cowboys From Hell” (Ultimate Edition)
Robyn — “Body Talk”
Jessica Simpson — “Happy Christmas”
Sting — “Sting Live in Berlin” (CD / DVD)

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TUNES ON THE TUBE … BEST MUSIC ON TV THIS WEEK

“Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC): Ke$ha (Tue), Metric (Wed), Nelly (Thu), Atomic Tom (Fri).
“Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS): Sahara Smith (Wed), Taylor Swift (Thu), Bon Jovi (Fri).
“The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (NBC): Kevin Eubanks (Tue), Robyn (Wed), Aaron Neville (Fri).
“Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” (NBC): Regina Spektor (Tue), N.E.R.D. (Wed), Ronnie Milsap (Thu).
“Last Call with Carson Daly” (NBC): OFF! (Tue), City and Colour (Wed), Lissie (Thu), Black Dub and She & Him (Fri).
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC): Kanye West (Sat).
“Austin City Limits” (PBS): R.E.M. (repeat) (Sat).

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