JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #403.4!

Halfacre Gunroom – Wrecked (Icarus) :: You say halfacre, I say half-assed, let’s call the whole thing off.

Rolling Blackouts – Black Is Beautiful (True Love) :: Despite liberally quoting everyone from Be Bop Deluxe to the Who to the Dolls, this spry toe-snapper is one of the better retro rock ’n’ pop albums to wash ashore this year.

Lethal Dose (First Look DVD) :: Alien vs. PETA. PETA loses.

The Whitesnakes – Hot Snakes! Live At Copperfield’s 1989 (Blue Wave) :: What’s cooler than cool? This classic blues band with Kenny Baker and Deacon Jones in tow, covering “Cissy Strut” years before Jackie Brown.

Todd Kerns – Go Time! (HRM) :: He’s got the lanky glam looks and the guitar glam hooks. Now all he needs is a bar of soap to wash out his dirty mouth ’cause Mick Ronson never had to cuss to be cool.

Various Artists – It Was 40 Years Ago Today: A Tribute To The Beatles (Bullseye) :: Three years in the making, this joyous labor of love is the absolute best Beatles tribute album you’re likely to hear. Fifty creative covers by 50 eclectic artists ranging from Al Kooper to Andrew Gold, with every cut a genuine gem.

SIZZLING PLATTER OF THE WEEK: Death From Above 1979 – You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine (Last Gang) :: Don’t let their unwieldy moniker put you off because this minimalist dynamic duo from Toronto (Jesse F. Keeler on synthesizers and bass; Sebastien Grainger on drums and vocals) successfully combines the plaintive wailing vocals of Robert Plant with the primitive psycho synths of Suicide and the bludgeoning big beats of Killing Joke. And that’s no laughing matter.

Be seeing you!