Welcome to HNGN's weekly top picks, where we cull the best and brightest releases in music, fashion, tech, and pop culture. Come back each week for more of-the-moment goodness.
MUSIC
Jason Aldean: Old Boots New Dirt (Broken Bow)
The biggest release of the week comes from country mega-star Jason Aldean, whose sixth studio record "Old Boots, New Dirt," dropped Tuesday. The album's lead single, "Burnin' It Down," already reached the top of the U.S. Hot Country Songs Chart, so expect big sales numbers from the Georgia native.
You can check out the video for "Burnin' It Down" below:
Macy Gray: The Way (KOBALT Music Group)
There's nothing subtle about the video for Macy Gray's new song "Hands" - she literally runs her hands over a man's nude body (see it below).
"Hands" is taken from "The Way," Gray's eighth studio release.
Johnny Marr: Playland (New Voodoo Records)
With the outspoken and captivating Morrissey fronting The Cure, you had to be paying close attention to appreciate guitarist and co-songwriter Johnny Marr. After years of leading bands and even joining Modest Mouse for a spell, Marr has embarked on a solo career that has now yielded two albums in two short years: last year's "The Messenger," and "Playland," out this week.
"I always liked bands' second albums," Marr told Rolling Stone in August. "I like the Talking Heads' second album a lot. I liked Wire's second album. And I liked Buzzcocks' second album. I couldn't wait to get the follow-up record from my favorite new band."
Trey Anastasio: Bounce
Phish frontman Trey Anastasio has been busy lately, to put it mildly. Phish released its acclaimed new album, "Fuego," he played tour dates with both Phish and the Trey Anastasio Band (TAB) and he performed at The Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 26 with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra.
Somehow, Anastasio found time to record a new studio album, "Paper Wheels," which he announced Tuesday in conjunction with a fall TAB tour. While a release date for the album has not been set yet (we are told "early 2015"), Anastasio has made a new song from the record, "Bounce," available for free download via his official website.
Stevie Nicks: 24-Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault (Reprise)
For her latest release, Fleetwood Mac songstress Stevie Nicks mined her back catalog of outtakes and re-recorded them, essentially creating her eighth studio album.
She told Billboard that her previous album, "In Your Dreams," took a year and two months to record, but "24 Karat Gold" only took three.
"[Producer Dave Stewart] told me, 'In Nashville, you hire the best studio musicians, and they record two songs a day. On a really good day, they might even do three,'" she told Billboard. "I was laughing, because I didn't believe him. But we were there for three weeks, and we recorded 17 songs in 15 days."
Sixx:AM: Modern Vintage (Eleven Seven Music)
Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx's band Sixx:A.M. has dropped "Modern Vintage," the third studio effort from the group, which also features Guns N' Roses guitarist DJ Ashba. With Motley Crue recently wrapping up what it claims is its final tour, Sixx, who also wrote the New York Times bestseller "The Heroin Diaries" (2007), should have a lot more time to focus on Sixx:A.M.
Not sure whether you should drop the cash for "Modern Vintage"? Listen before you buy, thanks to Eleven Seven Music's full-album stream on YouTube:
HNGN's Top Pumpkin Products
After Starbucks debuted its Pumpkin Spice Latte in 2003, the start of autumn is looked forward to as the season where everything becomes pumpkin-flavored. Over 10 years later in 2014 if you can think of a product that has a flavor, it comes in pumpkin during the month of October. Check out some of the tastiest, weirdest and most puzzling pumpkin products we've seen:
Pumpkin Spice Pringles
Pringles come in a bunch of awesome flavors, but customers only get a limited time to stuff their faces with the pumpkin pie spice chips.
Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk
Everyone already goes crazy over coconut milk, which is probably why So Delicious Dairy Free jumped on the pumpkin spice bandwagon with their coconut milk.
Pumpkin Spice Butter
Country Crock's butter is available in pumpkin spice. This butter tastes great on everything from bread, to bagels and even graham crackers!
Pumpkin Spice...Deodorant? Yep, you read correctly.
Etsy seller Rachel Rene saw that deodorant was one product actually missing from the world's October pumpkin line. She hand makes pumpkin pie vegan deodorant sticks and sells them for $8.50 each.
And then, of course, the internet made up these fake products, which had people excited for a while.
Pumpkin Spice Four Loko
Elite Daily writer Connor Toole is proudly taking responsibility for this internet rumor. He created a list of fake pumpkin spice products and somehow the internet stole his fake pumpkin Four Loko idea and shared this Photoshopped picture as though it were a real product.
Pumpkin Spice Durex Condom
No one is really sure where this pumpkin spice condom originated, but it wasn't from Durex. After a Photoshopped picture of the prophylactic circulated Twitter, the condom company tweeted the following statement: "We've heard talk that we launched a Pumpkin Spice condom. We can't claim this one, but we do love it when people spice it up in the bedroom."
TECH
Mercedes-Benz's Self-Driving Truck
Mercedes-Benz has designed a semi-truck with the ability to drive itself. This automobile, called the Future Truck 2025, was created as a way to help bring down the number of accidents that happen on the road each year and save thousands of drivers' lives. The truck can sense cars and other things around it with help from radar sensors, advanced dual cameras and blind-spot tech.
Robot Designed to Kill Ebola
Xenex Disinfection Services from San Antonio has introduced a robot that is aimed at disinfecting hospital rooms holding Ebola virus patients. The $115,000 robot is capable of killing bacteria, fungi, and other viruses as well, and does so with help from strong pulses of UV light. The bot would be used in empty hospital rooms and can destroy all traces of Ebola within a three-meter radius.
FASHION
-Moto jacket /oversized sweater: As we move into serious fall weather territory, it's time to break out the chunky sweaters and moto jackets, which are must-have staples for any fall wardrobe.
Free People is a good clothing brand for cozy sweaters that feel like a warm hug from your grandma, because who doesn't want a hug from grandma?
Iconic moto jackets, though they ooze sex appeal, can put a strain on a gal's bank account. So for those of us who can't afford real leather, Armani Exchange and Guess have good quality faux leather motos.
-Pro Lips Lipstick by Napoleon Perdis: It's the lipstick to end all lipsticks. The two shades, black and white, are designed to "lighten, brighten, tint, and add dimension and depth," according to Perdis' website. In regular girl speak- the shades are applied as a base to darken or lighten any lipstick you apply on top, creating a custom color.
Now you have an excuse to use that one lipstick you weren't sure about but bought anyway because it was on sale. Oh the possibilities....
Noir (to deepen) and Blanc (to brighten) and the accompanying lip glosses launched last month and are available starting at $20.
-The Scough: For those germaphobe fashionistas out there, the Scough - see what they did there - is a scarf that also functions as a surgeon's mask covering your mouth and nose to keep you from catching the flu and other airborne diseases.
After consulting with medical experts, New York City-based creators Ari Klaristenfeld and Andrew Kessler developed a scarf inserted with filters made of silver-impregnated activated carbon, the same used by the military to protect against chemical warfare.
The scarf actually traps and kills incoming germs while catching the ones that leave the wearer's mouth, according to Metro. Be stylish and stealth with your Scough while the passenger next to you on the train goes on a coughing fit without covering their mouth.
The Scough starts at $29 and can be shipped overseas.
-Tyra Beauty: Tyra Banks dominated the world of modeling, reality TV and talk shows and now she's taking over your face. The model- turned-entrepreneur announced last weekend her Tyra Beauty makeup line- which includes shiny and matte lipsticks and a liquid eyeliner pen with a corrector to erase mistakes and maximize your "smize."
Other collections include a fierce, black "Smack My Fat Lash" mascara that thickens and extends eyelashes. Banks' entire line is reasonably priced, with products ranging from $24 to $74.50 for a five-piece face kit.
"I don't believe in outrageously expensive beauty products," Banks previously told InStyle magazine.
-Victorinox I.N.O.X. timepiece: Victorinox, the maker of Swiss Army Knives, marked its 130-year anniversary in September by debuting the toughest wristwatch ever created.
Forged from solid steel, you can drop the Inox watch in boiling water, run it over with a car, take it for a spin in the washing machine, smash it on concrete and it still wouldn't break. Seriously, the makers tried 130 hardcore tests and it was still ticking, 2luxury2.com noted.
The Victorinox I.N.O.X Swiss Army watch comes in black, navy blue and khaki green and costs $525, which is steep, but it's worth it because it will probably survive Armageddon.
(Reporting by: Michael Lello, Oulimata Ba, Amanda Bernocco and John Nassivera. Editing by: Maxine Wally and Michael Lello. Want to be considered for Coveted? Send your product information, with photos, to m.bullerdick@hngn.com or send product samples to Michael Q. Bullerdick HNGN/33 Universal, 33 Whitehall Street – 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001 )
