Artist:	Title:	Label/Due date:
Al B. Sure!	"Honey I'm Home" (his first solo album since 1992; includes covers of Sting's "Fragile" and Michael Jackson's "Lady in My Life"; producers: Sure, Kyle West; first single: "I Love It [Papi Aye Aye Aye]"; Hear here; Twitter; MP3 Download)	(Hidden Beach, June 23, 2009)
Alexisonfire	"Old Crows/Young Cardinals" (producer: Julius "Juice" Butty; first single: "Young Cardinals"; Hear here)	(Vagrant, June 23, 2009)
Neal E. Boyd (2008 winner of "America's Got Talent")	"My American Dream" (Hear here; MP3 Download)	(Decca, June 23, 2009)
Cheap Trick	"The Latest" (producer: Julian Raymond; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(Cheap Trick, June 23, 2009)
Shawn Colvin	"Live" (12-song set recorded in 2008 at Yoshi's in San Francisco; producers: Colvin, John Leventhal; Read here; MP3 Download)	(Nonesuch, June 23, 2009)
Christina Courtin	"Christina Courtin" (producers: Courtin, Greg Cohen, Ryan Scott; guests: Benmont Tench, Jim Keltner, Greg Leisz, Gabe Witcher, Jon Brion; Hear here; MP3 Download)	(Nonesuch, June 23, 2009)
Darkest Hour	"The Eternal Return" (producer: Brian McTernan; Hear here; MP3 Download)	(Victory, June 23, 2009)
dead prez	"Pulse of the People" (producer: DJ Green Lantern; guests: Chuck D, Bun B, Styles P, K'Naan; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(Invasion Music Group/Boss Up Inc./The Orchard, June 23, 2009)
Dear Hunter, The	"Act III: Life and Death" (producers: singer/multi-instrumentalist Casey Crescenzo, guitarist Andy Wildrick; Hear here)	(Triple Crown, June 23, 2009)
Dinosaur Jr.	"Farm" (producer: frontman J Mascis; Hear here; Read here; Deluxe edition; Vinyl; MP3 Download)	(Jagjaguwar, June 23, 2009)
Dream Theater	"Black Clouds & Silver Linings" (producers: drummer Mike Portnoy, guitarist John Petrucci; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(Roadrunner, June 23, 2009)
Kurt Elling	"Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman" (recorded live at the Lincoln Center in January 2009; guests: Ernie Watts, the Laurence Hobgood Trio, ETHEL; Hear here; Read here)	(Concord Jazz, June 23, 2009)
Escala ("Britain's Got Talent" 2008 finalists)	"Escala" (featuring Slash on a version of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir"; producer: Trevor Horn; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(Syco/Columbia, June 23, 2009)
Ginuwine	"A Man's Thoughts" (producer: Bryan Michael Cox; guests: Tyrese Gibson, Lisa Raye, Ray J, Alex Thomas; first single: "Last Chance"; Hear here; MP3 Download)	(Notifi/Asylum/Warner, June 23, 2009)
God Help the Girl (Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch, with various female singers)	"God Help the Girl" (Hear here; Vinyl; MP3 Download)	(Matador, June 23, 2009)
Goodnight Sunrise	"Stop, Drop, & Roll [MP3 Download]" (Hear here)	(Goodnight Sunrise, June 23, 2009)
Grand Puba (of Brand Nubian)	"RetroActive" (Hear here; MP3 Download)	(Babygrande, June 23, 2009)
Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers frontman)	"Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)" (Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(Ruth St., June 23, 2009)
Hotspur	"You Should Know Better By Now [MP3 Download]" (producer: Bryan Russell; Hear here)	(Hotspur Music, June 23, 2009)
Michael Johns ("American Idol" season 7 finalist)	"Hold Back My Heart" (first single: "Heart On My Sleeve"; Hear here)	(TRP/Downtown/ Fontana, June 23, 2009)
July for Kings	"Monochrome" (Hear here; Read here)	(Machines & Dreams, June 23, 2009)
LANDy (actor-director Adam Goldberg)	"Everything Must Go" (guests: The Flaming Lips' Stephen Drozd, Earlimart's Aaron Espinoza, The Black Pine; Hear here)	(Apology Music, June 23, 2009)
Lemonheads, The	"Varshons" (covers of Gram Parsons, Leonard Cohen, Christina Aguilera, Wire, G.G. Allin, Townes Van Zandt, etc.; producer: Butthole Surfers' Gibby Haynes; guests: Liv Tyler, Kate Moss, John Perry; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(The End, June 23, 2009)
Mars Volta, The	"Octahedron" (producer: guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(Strummer/Universal, June 23, 2009)
Maylene and The Sons of Disaster	"III" (Hear here; MP3 Download)	(Ferret, June 23, 2009)
John Mellencamp	"Life Death LIVE and Freedom" (8-song live companion piece to his 2008 album "Life Death Love and Freedom"; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download; see related reissue below)	(Hear Music, June 23, 2009)
Tift Merritt	"Buckingham Solo" (November 2008 show at the Radcliffe Centre in Buckingham, England; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(Vella Recordings, June 23, 2009)
Miss Derringer	"Winter Hill" (guest: Clem Burke; Hear here; MP3 Download)	(Nickel and Dime/Triple X, June 23, 2009)
Noah	"Human Geometry [MP3 Download]" (Hear here)	(Technofavrik, June 23, 2009)
Paulina Rubio	"Gran City Pop" (first single: "Causa y Efecto"; Hear here; Read here; CD/DVD; MP3 Download)	(Universal Latino, June 23, 2009)
Leon Russell	"Best of Hank Wilson [MP3 Download]" (19 Hank Wilson songs plus three bonus tracks)	(Leon Russell, June 23, 2009)
Regina Spektor	"Far" (producers: David Kahne, Garret "Jacknife" Lee, Mike Elizondo, Jeff Lynne; Hear here; Read here; CD/DVD; MP3 Download)	(Sire, June 23, 2009)
Tall Pines, The	"Campfire Songs [MP3 Download]" (Hear here; Read here)	(MMAM, June 23, 2009)
Otis Taylor	"Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs" (guests: Gary Moore, Jason Moran; Hear here; Read here)	(Telarc/Concord, June 23, 2009)
Therefore I Am	"The Sound of Human Lives" (producer: Mike Poorman; Hear here; MP3 Download)	(Equal Vision, June 23, 2009)
Tortoise	"Beacons of Ancestorship" (first album in five years; Hear here; Read here; Vinyl; MP3 Download)	(Thrill Jockey, June 23, 2009)

BTW: For "Beacons of Ancestorship," multi-intrumentalist Dan Bitney tells P&P, the biggest goal "was to write songs that we all liked and to make a record that doesn't sound like anything we've done in the past, which I think we achieved."

With five years between Tortoise albums, did it take them that long to piece together the album or were there other projects that kept them busy?

"I would estimate that it took about three months total to produce this record," Bitney says. "This includes a week of studio demo sessions. We then started weekly rehearsal/writing sessions last summer that gave us a few tunes, but the majority of the music really came together in the last month and a half in the studio."

"All the members of Tortoise are very active with many other projects, some of which include but are not limited to Bumps, The Sea And Cake, Exploding Star Orchestra, Fflashlights. In these last five years, we've released 'A Lazarus Taxon,' a box set of rarities and reissues, made a covers record with Will Oldham and continued to rock some small tours and festival dates worldwide."

Various artists	"I Love You, Beth Cooper [Film soundtrack]" (Chris Columbus-directed movie opens July 10; See here)	(ABKCO, June 23, 2009)
Various artists	"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen [Film soundtrack]" (Michael Bay-directed sequel opens June 24; See here; MP3 Download)	(Reprise, June 23, 2009)
VNV Nation	"Of Faith, Power and Glory" (Hear here; MP3 Download)	(Anachron America/RED, June 23, 2009)
Voivod	"Infini" (includes the last songs written by late guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(The End, June 23, 2009)
Eric Woolfson	"Eric Woolfson Sings The Alan Parsons Project That Never Was" (singer completes some unfinished APP songs that were never used; Hear here; Read here)	(Limelight, June 23, 2009)
Pete Yorn	"Back & Fourth" (producer: Mike Mogis; guests: Joey Waronker, Nate Wolcott, Jonny Polonsky, Joe Karnes, Orenda Fink; Hear here; Read here; MP3 Download)	(Columbia, June 23, 2009)