This week's new releases

Each title listed below will go on sale beginning Tuesday, March 20 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.

Anti-Flag The General Strike LISTEN

The B-52's With The Wild Crowd! Live In Athens, GA DVD/Blu-ray

Live 2011 concert

Frank Black & The Catholics Live at Melkweg

Live 2001 performance in Amsterdam

Ben Browning Lover Motion EP

Solo debut for Cut Copy member

Conduits Conduits LISTEN (3voor12)

Diggy Unexpected Arrival

DVA Pretty Ugly

Melanie Fiona The MF Life

Second LP for Canadian R&B artist includes appearances by B.o.B., T-Pain, Nas, and John Legend

The Host The Host

New project for Barry Lynn (aka Boxcutter)

Penelope Houston On Market Street LISTEN

Casey James Casey James

Jesse Ruins Dream Analysis

Kindness World, You Need a Change of Mind LISTEN (3voor12)

Masabumi Kikuchi Trio Sunrise

Trio includes Paul Motian and Thomas Morgan

B.B. King Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2011 DVD/Blu-ray

King's band includes Susan Tedeschi, Ronnie Wood, and Slash

Lost in the Trees A Church That Fits Our Needs LISTEN (3voor12)

Margot & The Nuclear So and So's Rot Gut, Domestic LISTEN

Produced by John Congleton

Dario Marianelli Salmon Fishing in the Yemen OST

Brad Mehldau Trio Ode

Mirroring Foreign Body

New collaboration between Liz Harris of Grouper and Jesy Fortino of Tiny Vipers

Nedry In a Dim Light LISTEN (3voor12)

Odd Future The OF Tape Vol. 2

Includes new music by Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean, Hodgy Beats, The Internet, and more

Lee Ranaldo
Between the Times and the Tides

Do you miss the recently disbanded Sonic Youth? This could be as close as you get in the near future. That band's guitarist and occasional singer and songwriter—who typically could be heard on a few tracks on each SY album—gets the spotlight all to himself with his first song-oriented solo LP, and if you've liked his SY contributions in the past, you should like this. John Agnello produces, and Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley can be heard on drums (along with Alan Licht on guitar and John Medeski on keyboards).

Robert Pollard Mouseman Cloud

Luke Roberts Iron Gates at Throop and Newport LISTEN (3voor12)

Daniel Rossen Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP LISTEN

5-track set from Grizzly Bear member

s / s / s Beak & Claw EP

New collaboration between Sufjan Stevens and anticon artists Son Lux and Serengeti

Sharks No Gods

The Shins
Port of Morrow LISTEN

The Shins' first album in five years finds the James Mercer-led band with a new record label (Columbia, instead of Sub Pop) and a new roster (after Mercer fired his previous crew). With the jump to the major label comes a slicker, more polished sound, and reviews are solid, even if critics aren't exactly blown away.

Esperanza Spalding Radio Music Society LISTEN

Q-Tip is among the guests on the Grammy-winning jazz artist's new LP; a deluxe version comes with a bonus DVD

Chris Standring Electric Wonderland

Tanlines Mixed Emotions

Thieves Like Us Bleed Bleed Bleed

Unsane Wreck

First album in five years

Vacationer Gone

Various
The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond OST

This week's highly anticipated film The Hunger Games is preceded by a song-oriented soundtrack album that includes new material by Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, Taylor Swift, the Civil Wars, Neko Case, Pistol Annies, Kid Cudi, Secret Sisters, and more. Note that James Newton Howard's film score will be released as a separate album next week.

The Wedding Present Valentina

White Hills Frying on This Rock LISTEN (3voor12)

Yukon Blonde Tiger Talk LISTEN (Paste)

More streaming and downloadable new music

Balam Acab

TRACKS "Come True" and "Just Stay," both previously unreleased, downloadable at BPM.

Death Grips

TRACK "Lost Boys" streaming at Spin.

Garbage

TRACK "Blood for Poppies," the band's new single, downloadable at HitFix.

Gift of Gab

ALBUM The Next Logical Progression streaming this week at NPR prior to its 3/27 release.

Gossip

TRACK "Perfect World," the first single from their upcoming May album, streaming at Soundcloud.

Kid Cudi

TRACK "The Ruler and the Killer," from The Hunger Games soundtrack, downloadable at Idolator.

Killer Mike

TRACK "Untitled," featuring Scar and produced by El-P, streaming at Spin.

Lotus Plaza

TRACK "Strangers," from the side project for Deerhunter's Lockett Pundt, streaming at Stereogum.

Melvins

ALBUM The Bulls & The Bees EP available as a free download at Prefix.

Miike Snow

ALBUM Happy to You streaming at 3voor12.

Rhett Miller

TRACK "Out of Love" available as a free download at Soundcloud.

Nas

TRACK "The Don" streaming at Pitchfork.

Quakers

TRACK "Smoke" (feat. Jonwayne) streaming at Stereogum.

Real Estate

TRACK "Exactly Nothing," the B-side to new single "Easy," streaming at Soundcloud.

The Shins

TRACK "Pariah King," which failed to make the final cut for their new album Port of Morrow, streaming at BPM.

THEESatisfaction

ALBUM Awe Naturale streaming this week at NPR prior to its release next week.

Titus Andronicus

TRACK "Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape With the Flood of Detritus," the band's new single, downloadable at Pitchfork.

Paul Weller

ALBUM Sonik Kicks (out this week in the UK and next week in the US) streaming at The Quietus.

Jack White

TRACK "Sixteen Saltines" streaming at Stereogum.

Wiz Khalifa

ALBUM Taylor Allerdice, a free mixtape, downloadable at Billboard.

World Tour

TRACK "Believe" from the Swedish band's debut EP of the same name, streaming at BPM.

Zeus

TRACK "Love/Pain" streaming at KCRW.

On TV this week (new episodes only)

• Monday: Eric Church (Fallon), Robert Glasper Experiment feat. Ledisi (Leno), The Naked and Famous (Kimmel), Esperanza Spalding (Letterman), Thee Oh Sees (Carson Daly)
• Tuesday: Melanie Fiona (Fallon), KISS (Kimmel), Kendrick Lamar (Carson Daly), Meat Loaf (Tavis Smiley), The Shins (Letterman), Sharon Van Etten (Conan), The Wanted (Leno)
• Wednesday: Birdy (Conan), Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem feat. Travis Barker (Kimmel), Oberhofer (Letterman), Roll the Tanks (Carson Daly), Tennis (Leno)
• Thursday: The Game (VH1's Behind the Music, 9p), Girls (Conan), Neon Trees (Kimmel), Schoolboy Q (Carson Daly), The Secret Sisters (Leno)
• Friday: Dr. Dog (Fallon), Melanie Fiona feat. J. Cole (Leno)

Recent artist and industry news

• YouTube will provide live streaming coverage of four of this year's biggest music festivals: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (April 27 – May 6, 2012), Bonnaroo (June 7-10), Lollapalooza (Aug. 3-5), and Austin City Limits (Oct. 12-14).
• Adele's 23-week (nonconsecutive) stay atop the Billboard 200 album chart was ended last week by Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball. Springsteen now ties Elvis Presley for the third-highest total of #1 albums in history (with 10), behind only The Beatles (19) and Jay-Z (12). - Billboard
• The Rolling Stones have cancelled their planned 50th anniversary tour, though they may reschedule for 2013. However, a documentary chronicling the band's 50 years together is expected to arrive this fall.
• New York's great indie record shop Other Music is launching its own record label in conjunction with Fat Possum. - Pitchfork
• The Shins have made another Funny or Die video; this one is called My Own Worst Enemy.
• Thanks to research done at the University of Colorado Denver, we now know that nearly half of all artists who placed singles on Billboard's weekly Hot 100 chart since 1955 are one-hit wonders, never to chart again. - Prefix
• The Flaming Lips' 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots has been turned into a stage musical that will make its debut in La Jolla, California at the end of this year. - Los Angeles Times.
• Turntable.fm has now signed licensing deals with all four major music labels. Billboard has the details, and Spin examines the pros and cons.
• In October, Rizzoli will publish a photo-filled autobiography by M.I.A. - Pitchfork
• Fans of Diplo's Mad Decent label can become members of a $10/month digital subscription service that provides an advance listen for all releases as well as mixtapes, videos, and more. - Pitchfork

The latest music videos

Hot Chip, "Flutes":

Spiritualized, "Hey Jane" [NSFW]:

Spiritualized, "Little Girl" [live at the BBC]:

Orbital feat. Zola Jesus, "New France":

The Horrors, "Changing the Rain":

J. Cole feat. Missy Elliott, "Nobody's Perfect":

Diplo feat. Nicky Da B, "Express Yourself" [NSFW-ish]:

Danny Brown, "Radio Song":

Miike Snow, "The Wave":

In the studio / coming soon

• Diplo, Pharrell Williams, and Calvin Harris are among the guests on the next Scissor Sisters album, Magic Hour, out May 28. - Pitchfork
• May 22nd brings a new Gossip album, A Joyful Noise. - Pitchfork
• Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller returns with his sixth solo album, The Dreamer, on June 5. Closer to the alt-country sound of his main band than his previous solo work, the self-produced album features appearances by Rosanne Cash and Rachael Yamagata.
• Michael Gira is working on a new Swans double album to be titled The Seer; Karen O and members of Low and Akron/Family are lending a hand. Expect a summer release. - Spin
• Ludacris is planning a September 11 release for his next album, Ludaversal.
• Singer-songwriter Regina Spektor returns with the Mike Elizondo-produced What We Saw from the Cheap Seats on May 29. - Billboard
• Curren$y will release The Stoned Immaculate on May 22nd. - Prefix
• Rolling Stone has a track-by-track preview of The-Dream's upcoming Love IV MMXII album, which is still lacking a release date.
• While Boards of Canada are in fact working on new music, don't expect a release anytime soon. - Pitchfork
• Lisa Marie Presley's first album in seven years, Storm and Grace, finds her collaborating with songwriters Richard Hawley and Ed Harcourt and producer T-Bone Burnett. It's due in May. - Rolling Stone
• Also recording with T-Bone Burnett is Elton John; the result is a new album, The Diving Board, due this fall. - Rolling Stone
• R.E.M.'s Peter Buck has been recording a solo album in Seattle. - Stereogum
• Massive Attack has been spending time in the studio with Damon Albarn, though the exact nature of their collaboration is unknown. - Prefix
• British Sea Power are working on their second film soundtrack; this one accompanies Out Of The Present (which looks at the Russian space program), and will be performed live at CERN's Large Hadron Collider next week. - The Quietus

Visit Metacritic's Album Release Calendar for a full listing of upcoming release dates, updated daily.

Tours and festivals

• Lineups were announced last week for the UK's two biggest summer music festivals at Leeds and Reading. The Cure, Foo Fighters, and Kasabian are the headliners; view the full rosters at Stereogum.
• The 5th annual Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival will take place at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park the weekend of August 10-12; no artists have been announced yet, but tickets are now on sale at the official site.
• Antony Hegarty will curate this year's Meltdown Festival in London from August 1-12. Expect a lineup announcement in April. - The Quietus
• The Roots are once again curating (and performing at) their Philadelphia music festival Roots Picnic, which will be held the weekend of June 2-3. Kid Cudi, De La Soul, James Murphy, St. Vincent, and Major Lazer are among the other performers. - Pitchfork
• Artists have been announced for this year's Newport Jazz Festival, taking place August 3-5 in Rhode Island. - Pollstar
• Hot Chip have scheduled a handful of West Coast dates in September to go with a few other North American dates in July. - Pitchfork
• Get dates for Danny Brown at Pitchfork.
• Find summer dates for Crosby, Stills & Nash at Pollstar.