CULTURE JAMMING -- SEPTEMBER 2

TOP PICK

The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season

(Twentieth Century Fox)

The 12^th season’s best outings – “HOMR,” “The Worst Episode Ever,” “Trilogy of Error” – focus on the series’ enduring strengths: pop-culture jabs, smart historical skewering and Homer. This four-DVD box includes all 21 episodes, plus deleted scenes, featurettes, commentary and some Easter eggs. D’oh!

CD

Woody Guthrie: My Dusty Road

(Rounder)

This four-disc box gathers more than 50 songs from Guthrie’s peak years. The spare intimate tunes – American folk classics like “This Land Is Your Land,” “Hard Travelin’” and “Pretty Boy Floyd” – have influenced everyone from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen to Conor Oberst. And the remastered 60-year-old recordings have never sounded better.

CD

Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live at Woburn

(Dagger)

The sound on this “official bootleg” is kinda crappy. And some songs aren’t complete. But this 1968 concert – from one of the U.K.’s first music fests – includes some fierce performances, especially an 11-minute “Red House.” Too bad “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” isn’t all there, but the first-ever live “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” makes up for it.

VIDEO

Heroes: Season 3

(Universal)

This geek-approved sci-fi series settled into a for-the-fans rhythm during its third season. The 25 episodes are divided into “Villains” and “Fugitives” volumes, boosting the comic-book tone. This six-disc set includes deleted scenes, alternate stories, commentary and more. Be sure to pick up the Blu-ray version for the total HD geek experience.

VIDEO

State of Play

(Universal)

Russell Crowe rarely lets us down, and he’s explosive here as a Washington, D.C., reporter investigating a pair of deaths that may or may not be related to a congressman. You can tell he does things his own way because he has Eddie Vedder hair. He’s also pretty sure there’s a conspiracy going on. The Blu-ray includes deleted scenes and interactive features. --Michael Gallucci