This week's new releases
Each title listed below will go on sale beginning Tuesday, July 10 unless otherwise indicated. Click on any LISTEN link to listen to a free, streaming version of the entire album (typically, available only during the week of release); streaming links go to AOL Music unless otherwise indicated. The week's most noteworthy releases are starred.
Aesop Rock
Skelethon- The indie hip hop artist has had a relatively quiet five years—his last album was 2007's None Shall Pass 74—but 2012 is shaping up to be much busier. First up is Skelethon, the MC's first entirely self-produced release, out Tuesday on Rhymesayers; expect contributions from Kimya Dawson, Allyson Baker of Dirty Ghosts, Hanni El Khatib, Rob Sonic, DJ Big Wiz and the Grimace Federation. Rock will likely have a second album out later in 2012 as well: a collaboration with Dawson under the band name The Uncluded.
- Azealia Banks Fantasea
- Mixtape; available 7/11
Beak>
>> [Beak 2]LISTEN (3voor12)- Geoff Barrow has been a busy man over the past few years, touring with his main band Portishead, starting his own label (Invada), releasing an album of songs inspired by Judge Dredd comics (Drokk), and, now, putting the finishing touches on the second album for his side project Beak>. That band's 2009 debut Beak> 72 played up the Krautrock/motorik beats heard to a lesser extent on Portishead's excellent Third 85, and while that sound is still a part of >>, there are a few moments on this heavier second album when "rock" alone seems a more appropriate term.
- Zac Brown Band Uncaged
- Clare And The Reasons KR-51 LISTEN
- Debo Band Debo Band LISTEN
- Deep Time Deep Time LISTEN (3voor12)
- Delicate Steve Positive Force LISTEN
- Digitalism DJ-Kicks LISTEN
Dirty Projectors
Swing Lo Magellan LISTEN- After hitting the indie big time with their 2009 breakthrough Bitte Orca 85, the arty group has been relatively silent, save for a collaborative EP (Mount Wittenberg Orca 79) with Bjork last year. But this week, Dirty Projectors finally return with a proper follow-up. Leader David Longstreth crafted the album alone in a rural upstate New York house, and that "creepy," wintry vibe would seem to be a good fit for the band's music. Lead single "Gun Has No Trigger," though, is anything but chilly, coming off as a smooth slice of pop, and early reviews suggest another success.
- Duran Duran A Diamond in the Mind: Live 2011 DVD/Blu-ray
- December performance from Manchester, England
- Dusted Total Dust LISTEN (3voor12)
- The Early November In Currents LISTEN
- The (English) Beat The Complete Beat 5xCD LISTEN
- Shout! Factory box set includes every commercially released song (including remastered versions of all three albums), plus rarities and live tracks; also available is a single-disc Keep The Beat: The Very Best Of The English Beat
- Jimi Hendrix Jimi Plays Berkeley DVD/Blu-ray
- Expanded version of concert film shot May 30, 1970
- Holograms Holograms
- House of Heroes Cold Hard Want
- Husky Forever So LISTEN
- Debut album for Australian band signed to Sub Pop
- Brendan James Hope in Transition LISTEN
- Jjamz Suicide Pact LISTEN
- Kadaver Kadaver
- Land Night Within
- Eleni Mandell I Can See the Future LISTEN
- Marina And The Diamonds Electra Heart
- US release
Mission of Burma
Unsound LISTEN- Post-punk legends Mission of Burma are famously one of the least prolific bands ever to gain the respect of music fans, with just a single album and one EP released during their early 1980s tenure. But an unlikely reunion a decade ago has turned into an even more improbable fruitful period that has produced four additional LPs, including this week's new Unsound. Following 2009's The Sound The Speed The Light 74 (actually, the worst-reviewed of the band's three post-reunion albums), the new disc finds MoB on a new label (Fire Records) but looks to retain the urgency of all of their recent work. Unsound sees the group working once again with producer/unofficial fourth member Bob Weston (Shellac) but finds the band members experimenting by writing their songs on instruments they normally don't play.
- Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones Live At The Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981 DVD+CD
- Concert performance recorded November 22, 1981
- Mike Patton and Luciano Berio Laborintus II
- Robert Plant & the Band of Joy Live from the Artists Den DVD/Blu-ray
- Concert performance recorded in Nashville on February 9, 2011
- P.O.D. Murdered Love LISTEN
- John Powell Ice Age: Continental Drift OST
- Staind Live From Mohegan Sun
- Supreme Cuts Whispers in the Dark LISTEN (Spin)
- Serj Tankian Harakiri LISTEN
- Third solo album from System of a Down frontman
- Twin Shadow Confess LISTEN (The Fly)
- Rhonda Vincent Sunday Mornin Singin' LISTEN
- Live album
- Hank Williams Jr. Old School New Rules
More streaming and downloadable new music
- 50 Cent
- ALBUM 5 (Murder By Numbers) available as a free download at the artist's official site.
- Alberta Cross
- ALBUM Songs of Patience streaming until its 7/17 release at Rolling Stone.
- Baroness
- ALBUM Yellow and Green streaming until its 7/17 release at NPR.
- Childish Gambino
- MIXTAPE Royalty (including collabs with Tina Fey, RZA, Ab-Soul, Ghostface Killah, Bun B, and Danny Brown) available as a free download.
- Dub Pistols
- TRACK "Countermeasure" downloadable from Rolling Stone.
- Fang Island
- ALBUM Major streaming until its 7/24 release at NPR.
- Husky
- TRACK "Tidal Wave" downloadable from Rolling Stone.
- Icky Blossoms
- ALBUM Icky Blossoms (out next week) streaming now at Spin.
- JEFF the Brotherhood
- ALBUM Hypnotic Nights streaming until its 7/17 release at NPR.
- Nas
- TRACK "Loco-Motive," featuring Large Professor, streaming at Soundcloud.
- Nguzunguzu
- ALBUM Warm Pulse EP streaming at Soundcloud.
- Frank Ocean
- TRACK "Sweet Life" downloadable from Pitchfork.
- Passion Pit
- TRACK "Constant Conversations" streaming at Pitchfork.
- Pink
- TRACK "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" streaming at YouTube (audio only).
- Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
- TRACK "Only In My Dreams" downloadable from Pitchfork.
- Planningtorock
- TRACK "Patriarchy Over And Out" streaming at Soundcloud.
- Iggy Pop and Bethany Cosentino
- TRACK "Let's Boot and Rally," from the HBO series True Blood, streaming at KCRW.
- Tame Impala
- TRACK "Apocalypse Dreams," from their forthcoming album Lonerism, downloadable from Stereogum.
- The Very Best
- ALBUM MTMTMK streaming until its 7/17 release at NPR.
- Kanye West
- TRACK "New God Flow," featuring Pusha-T, streaming at West's official site.
- Yelawolf
- MIXTAPE Heart of Dixie available as a free download.
On TV this week (new episodes only)
- Monday: Kimbra (Leno), Marina and the Diamonds (Kimmel), Frank Ocean (Fallon), Tom Waits (Letterman)
- Tuesday: B.o.B. (Leno), Cory Chisel (Letterman), The Dirty Heads (Kimmel), Tom Waits (Fallon)
- Wednesday: Zac Brown Band (Letterman), Jana Kramer (Leno), Serj Tankian (Kimmel)
- Thursday: Kenny Chesney (Leno), Cloud Nothings (Fallon), Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (Kimmel), Loudon Wainwright (Letterman)
- Friday: Joe Jackson (Fallon), Nicki Minaj (Leno)
Recent artist and industry news
- Dead Oceans, home to artists such as The Tallest Man on Earth and A Place to Bury Strangers, is the latest indie music label to begin offering a subscription service, which includes two albums a month and other goodies.
- Bassist Peter Hook is writing a history of his former band Joy Division, which is due for publication this fall. - NME
- Multi-instrumentalist Robbie Guertin and bassist Tyler Sargent have departed Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. - Stereogum
- A Kickstarter-funded documentary about Devo is in the works; you can watch the trailer and donate (though the funding target has been met) at the official Kickstarter page.
The latest music videos
Blur, "Under the Westway":
The Walkmen, "The Love You Love":
Matthew Dear, "Her Fantasy":
Charli XCX, "You're The One":
JEFF the Brotherhood, "Sixpack" [NSFW]:
CAN, "Dead Pigeon Suite":
Porcelain Raft, "The Way In":
Muse, "Survival":
Zac Brown Band, "The Wind" [directed by Mike Judge]:
Bombay Bicycle Club, "Beg":
Zola Jesus, "Seekir":
múm, "Hvernig Á Að Særa Vini Sína":
In the studio / coming soon
- Rapper Kanye West has begun work on his sixth solo album, reports MTV.
- Grizzly Bear's upcoming September 18 release for Warp now has a title: Shields. Go to Pitchfork for a glimpse at the cover art.
- Deftones are finishing up their next studio album, which they hope to release in October. - Billboard
- Tom Tom Club will release their first new music in over a decade this fall with a digital EP called Downtown Rockers arriving September 4th. - Exclaim
- October 2nd brings Transcendental Youth, a new album from The Mountain Goats. - Stereogum
- A limited-edition vinyl reissue of the soundtrack to David Lynch's 1977 film Eraserhead is coming August 6th via Sacred Bones; the package includes a 16-page book and a 7-inch single for the song "In Heaven," backed with the previously unreleased track "Pete's Boogie." - FACT
- Matthew Herbert will release a new album under his slightly more club-oriented side project Wishmountain next month, though don't expect Tesco (out August 6th) to be any less conceptual than Herbert's usual work: each of the LP's tracks is composed of eight sounds generated from a particular item found on supermarket shelves. - Resident Advisor
- Put together DOOM and Jneiro Jarel and you have JJ DOOM; their debut LP Key to the Kuffs will be out August 21st, and it features appearances by Damon Albarn and Portishead's Beth Gibbons.
- Singer Pink will return with The Truth About Love, her first album in four years, on September 18.
- The Strokes have begun work on their next studio album, reports NME.
- Rickie Lee Jones has a Ben Harper-produced covers album, The Devil You Know, arriving August 28th.
- Though Of Montreal will likely have some new singles ready for release shortly, their next album (coming this fall) will be a collection of outtakes. - Billboard
- A second posthumous album of unreleased Amy Winehouse recordings could be on the way. - FACT
Visit Metacritic's Album Release Calendar for a full listing of upcoming release dates, updated daily.
Tours and festivals
- Find new North American dates for Squarepusher at Prefix.
- D'Angelo and Mary J. Blige are planning a 20-date joint tour for August, according to Rolling Stone, though only four of those dates have been confirmed so far (get those at Consequence of Sound).
- Go to Pitchfork for dates for Frightened Rabbit.
