New in our CD collection: the Selmanaires and Gentleman Jesse

For the last seven years, the Selmanaires have been steadily expanding their fan base with a musical style that has been compared to Wire, the Kinks, Talking Heads and Devo. Formed in Atlanta, the band derived their name from the street on which their practice space was located (Selman Street, in Reynoldstown). More recently, band members have been involved in side projects (such as Noot d'Noot) and experimenting with an Asian-inspired psychedelic sound. Check out their first album, and original sound, here.

Now that the Carbonas are on an indefinite hiatus, bassist Jesse Smith and drummer Dave Rahn have more time to devote to their other band, Gentleman Jesse & His Men. Reminiscent of early Elvis Costello and Jonathan Richman (whom Smith cites as a direct influence), the band have been touring the country for the past couple of months as opening act for another Atlanta favorite, The Black Lips. Hook up with Gentleman Jesse's eponymous CD today .

In Our DVD Section: THE BICYCLE THIEF

Shot on location in Rome with a cast of nonactors, Vittorio de Sica's Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief) is hailed as a masterpiece of the Italian neo-realist film movement. It tells the story of Antonio Ricci, who needs his stolen bike to find work, and who together with his son, must confront his place in the morally complex world of post-war Italy. The 1948 film was honored with awards worldwide and is considered by many in the film community to be among the best films ever made.

Visit the library catalog here.

In Our CD Section: MESHUGGA BEACH PARTY

Meshugga Beach Party's been performing in California's Bay Area since 2003, combining surf music with favorite Jewish melodies like "Hava Nagila" and "Dreidel Dreidel," with a raucous rockin' sound that will make you boyker and freylekhs like a meshuggener. Don't be the boring beach bunny, Gidget...reserve this CD today!

In Our DVD Section: THE BAT (1959)

Campy movies are often the best movies, which is why they keep popping up in late night movie fests and nostalgia channels. And who doesn't like Vincent Price? In 1959, The Bat, starring Price and Agnes Moorehead was released. The story, involving a series of murders, a bat researcher, and a hunt for hidden treasure that involves the whole town, may not be the scariest movie you've ever seen...but add a big bowl of popcorn and a roomful of wisecracking friends, and you've got a recipe for a fun night. Heck, add a couple more movies (we suggest The Raven, also starring Vincent Price) and have a campy movie fest of your own.

See it in the catalog here.

In Our CD section: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

The movie Slumdog Millionaire won eight Academy Awards at the Oscars, including "Best Original Score" and "Best Original Song" for the A. R. Rahman-composed work. Surprisingly, according to published reports, the soundtrack took less than three months to plan and pull together. Standouts on the soundtrack include Rahman's award-winning "Jai Ho!" and M.I.A.'s "Paper Airplanes" (in which fans of the Clash might recognize a sampled riff from Combat Rock's "Straight to Hell," a song that has been rerecorded by Lily Allen, Moby, and as a duet by Elvis Costello and Jakob Dylan).

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In our DVD section: SILENT WINGS

They were silent and nearly undetectable, especially at night. Their trips were one way, without a motor. Once they reached their destinations, they had to fight their way back out. The glider infantry of WWII suffered some of the heaviest casualties of the war. Learn a little about their history in this documentary, narrated by Hal Holbrook and featuring archival footage and interviews, including WWII glider riders Andy Rooney and Walter Cronkite.

See it in the catalog here.

In Our CD Section: The Chess Box/Muddy Waters

McKinley Morganfield was born April 4, 1913 in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. By his late teens, he was performing at parties, playing blues in a style heavily influenced by bluesmen like Son House. Using a nickname given him by his grandmother, he adopted the stage name Muddy Waters and bounced between Chicago and Mississippi for a few years, recording a few songs that gained interest but no real notoriety. In the latter half of the 1940s, Waters signed with Aristocrat Records (later Chess Records), changed from acoustic to electric guitar, and finally found widespread success with 1948's "Rollin' Stone." By the late 1950's, he was touring Europe, influencing a slew of English bands, including Cream, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones (who took their name from Waters' signature song). He continued to perform and record for the next twenty-five years, until declining health in 1982 forced him to retire; he would pass away at his home in Illinois the following year. The Chess Box Muddy Waters covers the breadth of Waters' phenominal career from 1947 to 1972 on three discs, and includes previously unreleased titles in the mix. Muddy Waters once said, "I wanted to definitely be a musician or a good preacher or a heck of a baseball player. I couldn't play ball too good - I hurt my finger, and I stopped that. I couldn't preach, and well, all I had left was getting into the music thing. " Lucky for us, he did.

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In Our DVD Section: a Dose of Downey, Jr.

It's raining, it's pouring. Why not settle in for a Robert Downey, Jr. movie fest? The actor, who turns 44 on April 4th, suffered through a whirlwind romance with addiction for a few years, but seems to have hit his stride again at the box office in films like Tropic Thunder and Iron Man. Look for more Downey in the soon-to-be-released The Soloist, as an L.A. journalist who befriends a homeless classical musician, and as the title role in Sherlock Holmes, which just wrapped up filming in Europe.

In The Pickup Artist, his first leading role, Downey plays opposite Molly Ringwald as a quick-talking player who realizes he's met the woman of his dreams. Unfortunately, she and her father(Dennis Hopper) have money troubles with the mob. What will Downey do? Hilarity ensues.

He appears as journalist Joseph Wershba in Good Night, and Good Luck, the multiple award-winning story of journalist Edward R. Murrow's battle to bring down Joseph McCartney.

And as the smarmy Dr. Kozac in The Shaggy Dog, the 2006 remake that placed Tim Allen in Fred MacMurray's role as a shapeshifting deputy district attorney who sets out to thwart the evil doctor's plans to acquire the elixir for immortality. What will Allen do? Hilarity ensues.

And then there was last year's megahit Iron Man. According to a recent tweet by director Jon Favreau, Iron Man 2 has the cast on site and is set to begin filming in L.A. on Monday (April 6). Rumors abound concerning the final cast, though Mickey Rourke (as "Whiplash") and Scarlett Johansson (as "the Black Widow") look to be definite.

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In Our CD Section: Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass/Ricky Scaggs & Kentucky Thunder

What was then known as "hillbilly music" originated in the 1940's, a blend of Scots-Irish folk traditions and the more modern sounds of jazz and ragtime. But it would be Kentuckian Bill Munroe and his Blue Grass Boys, featuring the groundbreaking three-fingered banjo-picking style of a 21-year-old named Earl Scruggs, who would both popularize this new form of country music and give it a name: bluegrass. On this CD, which won the 2009 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, Scruggs joins Ricky Scaggs and Kentucky Thunder in an homage to Bill Munroe and the birth of a new American musical style.

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