CDs:

9^th Wonder & Murs -The Final Adventure CD (It’s A Wonderful World Music Group)

The final collaboration between the hip-hop veterans.

9^th Wonder & Buckshot – Solution CD (Duck Down)

9th Wonder & Buckshot’s third collaboration.

Christina Aguilara – Lotus CD (RCA)

Fifth studio album from the pop/R&B superstar — available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe features four bonus tracks.

The Babies – Our House On The Hill CD/LP+MP3 (Woodsist)

The second full length from band lead by Kevin Morby (Woods) and Cassie Ramone (Vivian Girls) is a mix of hushed dirges, melancholic traveling odes and squealing rave-ups.

Bobby Bare – Darker Than Light CD/LP+MP3 (Plowboy)

Features Bare’s interpretations of songs by Bob Dylan, U2 Alejandro Escovedo (who also makes a guest appearance), Lead Belly and others, plus new originals.

Travis Barker/Yelawolf – Psycho White CDEP (Lasalle)

Collaborative EP includes guest vocals from Tim Armstrong (Rancid, Operation Ivy, Transplants), and Skinhead Rob (Transplants), as well as scratches and cuts by Mixmaster Mike (Beastie Boys).

Susan Boyle – Standing Ovation: The Greatest Songs From The Stage CD (Columbia)

Boyle takes on songs from the golden era of film and stage.

Bush Tetras – Happy CD/LP (ROIR)

Happy is only the second studio album to ever be released by the ’80s post-punk/new wavers, not that they didn’t try. It had been mired in major label limbo since 1998.

John Butcher – Bell Trove Spools CD (Northern-Spy)

Butcher uses PhD expertise in theoretical physics to develop a thoroughly unique saxophone language where environment is key. This is his latest experiment in moving soundwaves through space. This album features two locations, a Houston art gallery and a high-ceiling marble room in Brooklyn, where Butcher is heard playing soprano and tenor.

[Read more…] about New Releases for November 13, 2012

CDs:

Aerosmith – Music From Another Dimension! CD/2xCD+DVD/2xLP+CD (Sony)

Aerosmith’s 15^th solo album and their first in 11 years. Available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds a disc of bonus tracks and a DVD featuring live videos and interviews with band members.

All That Remains – A War You Cannot Win CD/LP (Razor & Tie)

The band’s seventh studio album is the culmination of an intense writing period for the group that began shortly after 18 months of touring in support of their last album For We Are Many. Free bandana with purchase — while supplies last!

Anaal Nathrakh – Vanitas CD (Candlelight)

New album from dominant UK extreme metal duo — a union of black metal and grindcore.

Blue Oyster Cult – The Complete Columbia Albums Collection 16xCD+DVD+MP3 (Sony Legacy)

Brings together the group’s 14 official Columbia Records albums — including newly-mastered editions of On Your Feet Or On Your Knees, Fire Of Unknown Origin, The Revolution By Night, Mirrors, Cultosaurus Erectus, Extraterrestrial Live, Club Ninja, and Imaginos — alongside two newly-curated bonus discs: Rarities And Radios Appear: The Best Of The Broadcasts (a special collection of classic live performances).

Nathan Bowles – A Bottle, A Buckeye CD (Soft Abuse)

After years of playing in celebrated ensembles, touring the world, and honing his skill on a host of instruments, Bowles unveils his first solo effort. This spacious, rollicking, meditative, and powerful record bridges the methods and constructs of his two most notable groups, The Black Twig Pickers (old-time) and PELT (outer limits), while inhabiting a space all its own.

[Read more…] about New Releases for November 6, 2012

CDs:

Atriarch – Ritual Of Passing CD (Profound Lore)

A unique amalgamation of death rock, classic ’80s goth, doom and black metal.

The Barbaras – 2006-2008 CD/LP (Goner)

The Barbaras, out of Memphis, made goofy, rough-edged, addictively tuneful garage pop. They performed with props and costumes, putting on elaborate shows for scanty punk crowds. A fixture in the Memphis scene of the late aughts, their recorded output was, up until now, a 7″ single put out by Goner in 2010. The a-side, “Summertime Road,” got a fair amount of blog love, its bleary good cheer nearly drowned in distortion and bottom-of-a-deep-well sonics.

Andrew Bird – Hands Of Glory CD (Mom + Pop)

Andrew Bird – Hands Of Glory/Break It Yourself 2xCD (Mom + Pop)

Companion to Break It Yourself features a brand new original track, a pair of re-worked tracks from that album, and covers of songs by The Carter Family, The Handsome Family, Alpha Consumer and others.

Black Country Communion – Afterglow CD (J&R Adventures)

New from the supergroup featuring guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater).

Black Marble – A Different Arrangement CD/LP+MP3 (Hardly Art)

A Different Arrangement surveys a wide variety of sounds, from radiant, bouncing ebullience to layers of sentimental synth melodies and main vocalist Chris Stewart’s resonant, reverb-smeared baritone that is at times so distinctly manipulated and sculpted, it sounds otherworldly.

Jesse Boykins III/MeLo-X – Zulu Guru CD/2xLP (Ninja Tune)

Zulu Guru is the first full-length collaboration from singer/songwriter Jesse Boykins III and producer/emcee MeLo-X. Both Jesse and MeLo-X have critically acclaimed self-released albums and duets. With Zulu Guru, they bring together a solid collection of songs that reflect and define a new direction in hip-hop and R&B, both lyrically and musically. 

Cody Chesnutt – Landing On A Hundred CD/2xLP (Vibration Vineyard)

An unvarnished collection of songs from the soul troubadour that alchemize his love of a multitude of styles: classic rock, R&B, pop, punk and gospel. Universally hailed as a thrilling new figure in music for his edgy, lo-fi debut, The Headphone Masterpiece, back in 2002.

The Coup – Sorry For Your Brother CD/2xLP+CD (Anti)

The Coup consists of vocalist-writer and activist Boots Riley accompanied by a versatile cadre of musicians, with guests including Anti-Flag, Das Racist, Killer Mike, Vernon Reid, Jolie Holland, and Joe Henry. With this eclectic guest list, The Coup have created an album that merges danceable beats, punk urgency and the astute social commentary of hip-hop.

Cowbell – Beat Stampede CD/LP (Damaged Goods)

“Hard-hitting, bold, but as buzzy as proper rock & roll should ever be, the music thrills to its influences: Stax, Motown, Mississippi blues, The Zombies, with The Troggs filtering through. Taking a cue from the White and Auerbach approach, in showing that retro guitars and vintage gear doesn’t necessarily mean being out of time, it deftly sidesteps the pitfalls and clichés of the genre past and present. By way of gifted phrasing and clever songwriting, combined with the kind of innocent love affair with ‘50s R&B, that Ray Davies would approve of.” — Louder Than War

Cradle Of Filth – Manticore & Other Horrors CD (Nuclear Blast)

10th album from the extreme metal band — available in Regular and Deluxe editions. Deluxe adds two bonus tracks.

Cusses – Cusses CD/LP (Ha!/CD Baby)

This Savannah, GA three-piece delivers a blend of raw, forceful and energetic rock.

[Read more…] about New Releases for October 30, 2012