New stuff (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Action Bronson | “Mr. Wonderful” (producers: The Alchemist, Mark Ronson, Noah “40” Shebib, Omen, Party Supplies, Statik Selektah, 88-Keys; guests: Chance the Rapper, Party Supplies, Black Atlass; new single: “Baby Blue”; Hear here; MP3) | (Vice / Atlantic, March 23) |
| Courtney Barnett | “Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit” (first single: “Pedestrian At Best”; Hear here; See here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Mom+Pop Music, March 23) |
| James Bay | “Chaos and the Calm” (producer: Jacquire King; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Republic, March 23) |
| Big Data | “2.0” (guests: Rivers Cuomo, Kimbra, Dragonette, Jamie Lidell, Twin Shadow, White Sea, Jenn Wasner, Joywave, etc.; first single: “Dangerous”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Warner, March 23) |
| Björk | “Vulnicura” (released on iTunes on Jan. 20; producers: Björk, Arca, The Haxan Cloak; guest: Antony; first single: “Stonemilker”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (One Little Indian, March 23) |
| Blancmange | “Semi Detached” (first single: “Paddington”; Hear here; Read here; MP3) | (U.K. – Cherry Red, March 23) |
| Bombadil | “Hold On” (first single: “Amy’s Friend”; Hear here; Vinyl) | (Ramseur, March 23) |
| Courage My Love (female rock trio from Toronto) | “Becoming” (Hear here; MP3) | (InVogue, March 23) |
| The Cribs | “For All My Sisters” (producer: Ric Ocasek; first single: “Burning For No One”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Arts & Crafts, March 23) |
| Kevin Eubanks & Stanley Jordan | “Duets” (includes covers of “Nature Boy,” “Blue in Green,” “Summertime,” “A Child Is Born,” Adele’s “Someone Like You” and Ellie Goulding’s “Lights”; Read here; MP3) | (Mack Avenue, March 23) |
| Andy Gabbard (of Buffalo Killers) | “Fluff” (Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Alive Naturalsound) |
| Geographer (San Francisco-based romantic indie pop outfit) | “Ghost Modern” (first single: “I’m Ready”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Roll Call, March 23) |
| The Go! Team | “The Scene Between” (Hear/read here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Memphis Industries) |
| Steve Grand | “All American Boy” (producer: Aaron Johnson; Hear here; MP3) | (Grand Nation, March 23) |
| Happyness (South London trio) | “Weird Little Birthday” (new single: “A Whole New Shape”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Bar/None, March 23) |
| Hidden Hospitals (Chicago alt-rock band) | “Surface Tension” (producer: J. Hall; Hear here; Vinyl) | (Hidden Hospitals) |
| Humming House (Nashville quintet) | “Revelries” (Hear here; See here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Rock Ridge Music, March 23) |
| Jam City | “Dream a Garden” (new single: “Proud”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Night Slugs) |
| Jeff the Brotherhood (Nashville melodic rockers) | “Wasted on the Dream” (producers: Jeff the Brotherhood, Joe Chiccarelli; new single: “Coat Check Girl”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Warner) |
| The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | “Freedom Tower – No Wave Dance Party 2015” (first single: “Do the Get Down”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Mom+Pop Music, March 23) |
| Kidz Bop Kids | “Kidz Bop 28” (MP3) | (Razor & Tie, March 23) |
| Laura Marling | “Short Movie” (first single: “Short Movie”; See here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Ribbon Music, March 23) |
| Nellie McKay | “My Weekly Reader” (covers of 1960s songs, from the likes of The Beatles, The Beatles, The Kinks, Small Faces, Frank Zappa, Herman’s Hermits, etc.; recorded with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (429, March 23) |
| Van Morrison | “Duets: Re-Working The Catalogue” (producers: Morrison, Don Was, Bob Rock; guests: Michael Bublé, Steve Winwood, Georgie Fame, Natalie Cole, Shana Morrison, the late Bobby Womack, George Benson, etc.; first single: “Real Real Gone”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Exile Productions / RCA, March 23) |
| The Myrrors | “Arena Negra” (Hear here; Vinyl) | (Beyond Beyond is Beyond) |
| Michael Schenker’s Temple of Rock | “Spirit On a Mission” (Hear here; Vinyl; Deluxe Edition; MP3) | (Inakustik) |
| Seasick Steve | “Sonic Soul Surfer” (producer: Seasick Steve; first single: “Bring It On”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3, with four bonus tracks) | (Bronze Rat) |
| Smallpools (L.A. quartet) | “Lovetap!” (producers: Ricky Reed, John Ryan; first single: “Karaoke”; Hear here; See here; Vinyl; MP3) | (RCA, March 23) |
| Sorcerer | “In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross” (Hear here) | (Metal Blade, March 23) |
| Ray Stevens | “Here We Go Again!” (first single: “Taylor Swift Is Stalkin’ Me”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Clyde, March 23) |
| Striking Matches (Nashville guitar-wielding duo) | “Nothing But the Silence” (producer: T Bone Burnett; first single: “Missing You Tonight”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (I.R.S., March 23) |
| Strung Out | “Transmission.Alpha.Delta” (producer: Kyle Black; Hear here; Vinyl) | (Fat Wreck Chords, March 23) |
| Toto | “Toto XIV” (their first album of new material since 2006’s “Falling In Between”; Joseph Williams returns on lead vocals; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Frontiers, March 23) |
| Various artists | “The Fortress of Solitude (Original Cast Recording)” (a coming-of-age story about 1970s Brooklyn and beyond; based on the national best-selling novel of the same name by Jonathan Lethem; music and lyrics by Michael Friedman; directed by Daniel Aukin; Hear/read here; See here; MP3) | (Ghostlight, March 23) |
| Various artists | “Home (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (3D computer-animated buddy comedy film, featuring the voices of Rihanna, Steve Martin and Jim Parsons, opens March 27; See here; MP3) | (Roc Nation, March 23) |
| Various artists | “While We’re Young (Original Soundtrack Album)” (comedy-drama film starring Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts opens March 27; original score by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem; features tracks by Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Lionel Richie, Foreigner, Haim, Survivor, etc.; See here; MP3) | (Milan, March 23) |
| Vetiver | “Complete Strangers” (first single: “Current Carry”; Hear here; Read here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Easy Sound, March 23) |
More Releases for the Week of March 24, 2015
New stuff (MP3s)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Zack Biss | “Brand New” (first single: “Brand New”; ReverbNation) | (Zack Biss) |
| Broken Water | “Wrought” (first single: “High-Lo”; Hear here) | (Night-People) |
| Earl Sweatshirt | “I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside” (guests: Da$H, Wiki, Na-kel, Vince Staples; first single: “Grief”; Hear here; See here) | (Tan Cressida / Columbia, March 23) |
| Glee Cast | “Glee: The Music – 2009” (four songs) | (Columbia) |
| Taarka | “Making Tracks Home” (Hear here) | (Taarka) |
More Digital Releases for the Week of March 24, 2015
Reissues (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Bananarama | “Megarama: The Mixes” (three CDs containing 36 remixes) | (U.K. – Edsel, March 23) |
| Bee Gees | “Bee Gees 1974-1979” (five-CD collection includes the albums “Mr. Natural,” “Main Course,” “Children of the World” and “Spirits Having Flown,” with a bonus disc of non-album singles and B-sides titled “The Miami Years”) | (RGE / BeeGees Music / Reprise, March 23) |
| Tony Bennett | “Original Album Classics” (five discs) | (Columbia / Legacy, March 23) |
| The Brecker Brothers | “The Bottom Line Archive Series (Live 1976)” (MP3) | (The Bottom Line Record Company, March 23) |
| James Brown | “I’m Real (Deluxe Edition)” (1988 album, produced by Full Force; remastered, with a second CD containing 10 bonus tracks; Hear/read here; See here) | (Funky Town Grooves) |
| Buena Vista Social Club | “Lost and Found” (previously unreleased tracks, most of which were recorded during the 1997 “Buena Vista Social Club” sessions, produced by Ry Cooder; Hear here; MP3) | (World Circuit / Nonesuch, March 23) |
| Johnny Cash | “American Recordings Vinyl Box Set” (seven LPs) | (American Recordings / UMe, March 23) |
| Floyd Cramer | “The Essential Recordings” (two CDs, 40 songs; Read here) | (U.K. – Primo, March 23) |
| Tyrone Davis | “Let’s Be Closer Together (Expanded Edition)” (1977 album; remastered, with two bonus tracks) | (Funky Town Grooves) |
| John Denver | “Original Album Classics” (five discs) | (RCA / Legacy, March 23) |
| Eminem | “The Vinyl LPs [Box set]” (10-LP collection includes every album, from 1996’s “Infinite” to 2013’s “The Marshall Mathers LP 2”) | (Aftermath / Interscope, March 23) |
| England Dan & John Ford Coley | “The Atlantic Albums +” (four albums, from 1976-79, on two CDs; remastered, with three bonus tracks; Track list) | (U.K. – Edsel, March 23) |
| The Farm | “The Complete Studio Recordings 1983-2004” (seven-CD box set includes their first four albums, non-album tracks and B-sides, BBC sessions and remixes; Track list) | (U.K. – Edsel, March 23) |
| Bobbie Gentry | “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again: The Best Of” (22 songs; Track list) | (U.K. – Spectrum / UMC, March 23) |
| Ian Gillan | “The Complete Studio Recordings” (six-CD box set features five studio albums with the bonus CD “For Gillan Fans Only”; Track list) | (U.K. – Edsel, March 23) |
| Groovie Ghoulies | “Appetite For Adrenochrome” (1989 album; remastered; Vinyl; MP3) | (Green Door Recording Co.) |
| Phyllis Hyman | “Phyllis Hyman” (1977 album; remastered), “You Know How to Love Me” (1979 album; remastered) | (Funky Town Grooves) |
| Janis Joplin | “Original Album Classics” (five discs) | (Columbia / Legacy, March 23) |
| Kansas | “Original Album Classics” (five discs) | (Epic / Legacy, March 23) |
| Curtis Knight & The Squires feat. Jimi Hendrix | “You Can’t Use My Name: The RSVP/PPX Sessions” (recordings from 1965-1967, newly mixed by Eddie Kramer; Vinyl; MP3) | (Legacy Recordings, March 23) |
| Dean Martin | “Original Album Classics” (five discs) | (Columbia / Legacy, March 23) |
| Meat Loaf | “Original Album Classics” (five CDs, featuring his 1981-87 albums, from “Dead Ringer” to “Live At Wembley”) | (U.K. – Sony, March 23) |
| Willie Nile | “The Bottom Line Archive Series (Live 1980 & 2000)” (MP3) | (The Bottom Line Record Company, March 23) |
| Quiet Riot | “Original Album Classics” (five-CD set) | (U.K. – Sony, March 23) |
| Kenny Rankin | “The Bottom Line Archive Series: Plays the Beatles & More (Live 1990)” (MP3) | (The Bottom Line Record Company, March 23) |
| Paul Simon | “Original Album Classics” | (Columbia / Legacy, March 23) |
| Smokie | “Smokie 1975 | 2015” (two-CD, 36-song 40th anniversary gold edition, featuring such hits as “Living Next Door to Alice,” plus rarities, new songs and solo songs; See here; MP3) | (U.K. – Sony, March 23) |
| Starship | “Original Album Classics” (three-CD set includes “Knee Deep in the Hoopla,” “No Protection” and “Love Among the Cannibals”) | (U.K. – Sony, March 23) |
| Tavares | “Love Storm (Expanded Edition)” (1977 album; remastered, with a bonus remix of “Whodunit”) | (U.K. – Soulmusic, March 23) |
| Thursday | “Waiting: 15-Year Anniversary Deluxe Edition” (1999 album; remastered, with three bonus tracks; See here; Vinyl) | (Collect) |
| Train | “Platinum Album Collection” (five complete albums) | (Columbia / Legacy, March 23) |
| Various artists | “Smash Hits 1980” (20 tracks; Track list), “Smash Hits 1981” (20 tracks; Track list), “Smash Hits 1982” (20 tracks; Track list), “Smash Hits 1983” (20 tracks; Track list), “Smash Hits 1984” (20 tracks; Track list), “Smash Hits 1985” (20 tracks; Track list) | (U.K. – Rhino, March 23) |
| Various artists | “Strictly DJ T.: 25 Years of Strictly Rhythm [Box set]” (four CDs, 52 songs; Hear here; Read here) | (Strictly Rhythm, March 23) |
| Wham! | “Original Album Classics” (three-CD set includes “Fantastic,” “Make It Big” and “Music From the Edge of Heaven”) | (U.K. – Sony, March 23) |
More Releases for the Week of March 24, 2015
Reissues (MP3s)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| The Delfonics | “The Essential Delfonics” (40 songs) | (Arista / Legacy, March 23) |
| Janie Fricke | “After Midnight” (1987 album), “Labor of Love” (1989 album) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| Evelyn “Champagne” King | “The Essential Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King” (30 songs) | (RCA / Legacy, March 23) |
| Gladys Knight & The Pips | “The Essential Gladys Knight & The Pips: The Buddah & Columbia Years” (30 songs) | (Columbia / Legacy, March 23) |
| The men’s choir from the Dar Jnah in Muharraq | “Bahrain: Fidjeri: Songs of the Pearl Divers” | (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / Auvidis-UNESCO) |
| Melba Moore | “The Essential Melba Moore” (30 songs) | (RCA / Legacy, March 23) |
| Various artists | “Classic American Ballads from Smithsonian Folkways” (25 songs) | (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings) |
| Various artists | “Madagascar: Land of the Betsimisaraka” (16 songs) | (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / Auvidis-UNESCO) |
| Various artists | “25 Years of Perfecto Records” (36 songs, mixed by Paul Oakenfold; Import CD) | (Perfecto) |
More Digital Releases for the Week of March 24, 2015
DVD / Blu-ray
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Joe Bonamassa | “Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks [DVD]” (Blu-ray; CD; MP3) | (J&R Adventures, March 23) |
| John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, et al | “The Sure Thing (30th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]” (1985 film) | (Shout! Factory) |
| Miley Cyrus | “Bangerz Tour [DVD]” (features performances in Barcelona and Lisbon, along with behind-the-scenes content focusing on the tour and her personal life; Blu-ray) | (RCA, March 23) |
| Anne Hathaway, Johnny Flynn, et al | “Song One [DVD]” (2015 film; Blu-ray) | (Cinedigm) |
| Kansas | “Kansas: Miracles Out of Nowhere [DVD]” (documentary film directed by Emmy-nominated Charley Randazzo, featuring interviews with Garth Brooks, Brian May, Brendan O’Brien, Rolling Stone journalist David Wild, etc.; with a companion greatest-hits CD; Hear/read here; MP3) | (Epic / Legacy, March 23) |
| Kylie Minogue | “Kiss Me Once Live at the SSE Hydro [DVD]” (See here; Read here; Blu-ray; MP3) | (Warner, March 23) |
| Meryl Streep, Anna Kendrick, et al | “In the Woods [DVD]” (2014 film; Blu-ray) | (Walt Disney) |
| Various artists | “A MusiCares Tribute to Paul McCartney [DVD]” (2012 special featuring Duane Eddy, Alicia Keys, Cirque du Soleil featuring “The Beatles Love” cast, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, James Taylor, Sergio Mendes, Joe Walsh, Neil Young, etc.; See here; Blu-ray) | (Shout! Factory, March 23) |
More DVD/Blu-ray Releases for the Week of March 24, 2015
Music books
| Subject/ Author(s): | Title: | Publisher: |
| Leonard Cohen | “A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen” (Paperback; author: Liel Leibovitz) | (W.W. Norton & Company, March 23) |
| Zoe Cormier | “Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll: The Science of Hedonism and the Hedonism of Science” (Hardcover; Kindle) | (Da Capo Press) |
| Nelson George | “The Hippest Trip in America: Soul Train and the Evolution of Culture and Style” (Paperback; Hardcover; Kindle) | (William Morrow Paperbacks) |
More Book Releases for the Week of March 24, 2015
Now See Here:
“Short Movie,” Laura Marling