New stuff (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Joey Calderazzo | “Going Home” (Hear here) | (Sunnyside) |
| Camouflage | “Greyscale” (guest: Peter Heppner of Wolfsheim; first single: “Shine”; Hear/read here; Vinyl) | (Bureau B) |
| David Clayton-Thomas (of Blood, Sweat & Tears) | “Soul Ballads” (producer: Lou Pomanti; Hear here) | (Airline) |
| The Coasters | “Magical Favorites” (their first new recordings in 35 years; MP3) | (Stardust / Cleopatra) |
| Hannah Cohen | “Pleasure Boy” (producer: Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Bella Union) |
| Death Cab For Cutie | “Kintsugi” (their first album since Chris Walla departed last year; producer: Rich Costey; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Atlantic) |
| Eliane Elias | “Made in Brazil” (producers: Elias, Steve Rodby, Marc Johnson; guests: Take 6, Mark Kibble, Amanda Brecker, Ed Motta, Robert Menescal; Hear here; MP3) | (Concord) |
| Föllakzoid | “III” (first single: “Electric”; Hear here) | (Sacred Bones) |
| Robben Ford (guitar virtuoso) | “Into the Sun” (guests: Keb’ Mo’, ZZ Ward, Warren Haynes, Sonny Landreth, Robert Randolph, Tyler Bryant; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Mascot Label Group) |
| Full Devil Jacket | “Valley of Bones” (the rock group’s first album in 15 years; producer: Justin Rimer; Hear here) | (eOne Music) |
| Richie Furay | “Hand in Hand” (guests: Neil Young, Kenny Loggins, Keb’ Mo’; first single: “We Were the Dreamers”; MP3) | (eOne) |
| Hilary Hahn (Grammy Award-winning violinist) | “Mozart 5, Vieuxtemps 4 Violin Concertos” (with Paavo Järvi and his orchestra The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen; MP3) | (Deutsche Grammophon) |
| Hollywood Undead | “Day of the Dead” (first single: “Day of the Dead”; Hear here; See here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Interscope) |
| Nick Höppner (Berlin-based DJ-producer) | “Folk” (Hear here; MP3) | (Ostgut Ton) |
| José James | “Yesterday I Had the Blues: The Music of Billie Holiday” (producer: Don Was; guests: pianist Jason Moran, bassist John Patitucci, drummer Eric Harland; Hear here; MP3) | (Blue Note) |
| Janita (Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter) | “Didn’t You, My Dear?” (producer: Blake Morgan; Hear/read here; MP3) | (ECR Music Group) |
| Jodeci | “The Past, The Present, The Future” (their first album in nearly 20 years; co-producer: Timbaland; guests: B.o.B, Liana Banks; new single: “Every Moment”; Hear here; MP3) | (Epic / Sphinx Music Entertainmen) |
| Katatonia | “Sanctitude” (concert film recorded at London’s Union Chapel; See here; Blu-ray; MP3) | (Kscope) |
| Angélique Kidjo | “Sings” (with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg; Hear here; MP3) | (429) |
| Kitty, Daisy & Lewis | “The Third” (producer: Mick Jones of The Clash; first single: “Baby Bye Bye”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Sunday Best Recordings) |
| Dayna Kurtz (New Orleans-based singer-guitarist-producer) | “Rise and Fall” (producers: Kurtz, Randy Crafton; Hear here; MP3) | (M.C.) |
| Lower Dens | “Escape From Evil” (Hear/read here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Ribbon Music) |
| Ludacris | “Ludaversal” (guests: Monica, Big K.R.I.T.; new single: “Good Lovin’,” feat. Miguel; Hear here; See here; Deluxe Edition; MP3) | (Def Jam) |
| Jesse Malin | “New York Before the War” (his first album in five years; producers: Malin, Derek Cruz; guests: Peter Buck, Craig Finn, Alejandro Escovedo, Wayne Kramer, etc.; first single: “Addicted”; Hear here; Read here; Vinyl; MP3) | (One Little Indian) |
| Marching Church (Copenhagen-based project fronted by Iceage’s Elias Bender Rønnenfelt) | “This World Is Not Enough” (first single: “Hungry For Love”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Sacred Bones) |
| Missy Mazzoli | “Vespers For a New Dark Age” (with her ensemble Victoire, Glenn Kotche, synth producer Lorna Dune and vocalists Mellissa Hughes, Martha Cluver and Virginia Warnken; the album was commissioned by Carnegie Hall; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (New Amsterdam) |
| Nightwish (Finnish symphonic power metal band) | “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” (album was inspired by the work of naturalist Charles Darwin; producer: Tuomas Holopainen; new single: “Shudder Before the Beautiful”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Nuclear Blast) |
| Mark Olson (The Jayhawks co-founder) | “Good-bye Lizelle” (dueting with Norwegian singer and multi-instrumentalist Ingunn Ringvold; Hear here; See here; Read here; Vinyl) | (Glitterhouse) |
| Andreas Ottensamer (Austrian clarinettist) | “Brahms: The Hungarian Connection” (with the Brahms Clarinet Quintet; MP3) | (Mercury Classics) |
| Plain White T’s | “American Nights” (first single: “Pause”; Hear here; MP3) | (MRI) |
| The Prodigy | “The Day Is My Enemy” (guests: Flux Pavilion, Sleaford Mods; first single: “Nasty”; Read here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Take Me to the Hospital / Three Six Zero / Warner) |
| Reptar (indie-electro pop band) | “Lurid Glow” (Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Joyful Noise Recordings) |
| Darius Rucker | “Southern Style” (producer: Frank Rogers; first single: “Homegrown Honey”; Hear here; MP3) | (Capitol Nashville) |
| Boz Scaggs | “A Fool to Care” (producer: Steve Jordan; guests: Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (429) |
| Ron Sexsmith | “Carousel One” (producer: Jim Scott; Hear here; MP3) | (Compass) |
| The Soft Moon | “Deeper” (first single: “Wasting”; Hear/read here; Vinyl) | (Captured Tracks) |
| The Sonics | “This Is The Sonics” (the ’60s-era Tacoma garage rock band’s first album since 1980; producer: Jim Diamond; Hear here; MP3) | (Revox) |
| Ringo Starr | “Postcards From Paradise” (producer: Starr; guests: Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Dave Stewart, Richard Marx, Benmont Tench, Amy Keys, Nathan East, Glen Ballard, etc.; Hear here; MP3) | (Rockabella / Universal Music Enterprises) |
| The Staves (U.K. acoustic folk rock trio of sisters) | “If I Was” (producer: Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon; Hear here; See here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Nonesuch) |
| Sufjan Stevens | “Carrie & Lowell” (Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Asthmatic Kitty) |
| Teenage Bottlerocket (Laramie, Wo., punk band) | “Tales From Wyoming” (first single: “Nothing Else Matters [When I’m With You]”; Hear here; See here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Rise) |
| Three Days Grace | “Human” (producer: Gavin Brown; new single: “I Am Machine”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (RCA) |
| Van Halen | “Tokyo Dome In Concert” (recorded on June 21, 2013; 23 songs, featuring David Lee Roth on vocals; Vinyl; MP3; see related reissues below) | (Rhino) |
| Various artists | “Galavant (Original Soundtrack)” (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater; producers: Michael Kosarin, Christopher Lennertz, Menken; TV cast includes Joshua Sasse, Mallory Jansen, Timothy Omundson; guests: “Weird Al” Jankovic, Hugh Bonneville, Ricky Gervais; See here; MP3) | (Hollywood) |
| Various artists | “NOW That’s What I Call Music! 90” (two CDs, 45 songs; Read here) | (U.K. – Now! Music, March 30) |
| Wale | “The Album About Nothing” (guests: Usher, J. Cole, Jeremih, SZA; Hear here; MP3) | (MMG / Atlantic) |
| Ryley Walker (singer/songwriter-guitarist from Chicago) | “Primrose Green” (first single: “Primrose Green”; Hear/read here; MP3) | (Dead Oceans) |
| Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts | “Blaster” (producer: Rick Parker; Read here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Softdrive) |
| Jon Wolfe (country singer) | “Natural Man” (producers: Wolfe, Lex Lipsitz, Billy Decker; first single: “Smile On Mine”; Hear here) | (Fool Hearted Productions / Tone Tree Music) |
More Releases for the Week of March 31, 2015
New stuff (MP3s)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Avan Lava (NYC dance pop trio) | “Make It Real” (six-song EP; first single: “Leave It All Behind”; Hear here) | (Atlas Chair) |
| Graham Czach (Chicago space-rock pioneer) | “Star By Star” (seven-song EP; first single: “Fake It”; Hear here) | (Sliced Tomato) |
| Thom Douvan (composer-guitarist) | “All Over Again” (producers: Douvan, Michael Parlett; Hear here) | (Redwood Road, April 1) |
| Yonatan Gat (former Monotonix guitarist) | “Director” (Hear here; Vinyl) | (Joyful Noise Recordings) |
| Himalia (U.K.-based multi instrumentalist musician and producer) | “Distances” (guests: Laurelle, Sakima, Alex Jordahl; first single: “Kingdom”; Hear here) | (Pegdoll, March 30) |
| Lost Boy ? (Brooklyn-based group led by songwriter Davey Jones) | “Canned” (first single: “About the Future”; Hear here) | (PaperCup Music) |
| Madeon (20-year-old French producer) | “Adventure” (guests: Passion Pit, Foster the People’s Mark Foster, Aquilo, Bastille’s Dan Smith; first single: “You’re On”; Hear/read here; Deluxe Edition) | (Columbia) |
| Polar Bear | “Same As You” (Hear here; Vinyl; CD) | (The Leaf Label, March 30) |
| The Quireboys | “St Cecilia and The Gypsy Soul” (new album, with bonus cuts, along with “Halfpenny Dancer” and the previously unreleased 2010 “Halfpenny Dancer” live show; Hear here; CD) | (Off Yer Rocka Recordings, March 30) |
| Sweet Bump It (Echo Park rock, funk and soul septet) | “Sweet Bump It” (seven-song EP; first single: “Slow Down”; Hear here; See here) | (Sweet Bump It) |
| Temple Invisible (Romanian electronica trio) | “Enter_” (six-song EP, with three bonus remixes; Hear here) | (Temple Invisible, March 30) |
More Digital Releases for the Week of March 31, 2015
Reissues (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| The Apartments | “the evening visits … and stays for years (Expanded Edition)” (1985 album; remastered, with bonus rarities and unreleased demos; Vinyl; MP3) | (Captured Tracks) |
| Andrew Bird | “Weather Systems” (2003 album; Vinyl) | (Wegman) |
| Blind Boy Fuller | “The Rough Guide To Blues Legends: Blind Boy Fuller” (25 songs; MP3) | (World Music Network) |
| Erica Campbell | “Help 2.0” (2014 album, with two bonus tracks, “More Love” and “I Luh God”; MP3) | (eOne Music) |
| Glen Campbell | “Rhinestone Cowboy (40th Anniversary Edition)” (1975 album; remastered, with five bonus tracks, including the previously unreleased “Quits”; Vinyl; MP3) | (Capitol Nashville / UMe) |
| Vikki Carr | “Intimamente” (20-song best-of; MP3) | (Sony Music Latin) |
| Coheed & Cambria | “The Essential Coheed & Cambria” (two CDs, 27 songs; MP3) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| Ornette Coleman | “Beauty Is a Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings” (six-CD box set, originally released in 1993; Read here) | (Rhino / Atlantic) |
| Country Joe and The Fish | “Carousel Ballroom 14-02-68” (Hear here) | (Keyhole) |
| Jason Crabb | “Through the Fire: The Best of Jason Crabb” | (Spring House) |
| Taylor Dayne | “Tell It To My Heart (Deluxe Edition)” (1988 album; remastered, with 10 bonus tracks and a second CD of mixes; Read here) | (U.K. – Cherry Pop, March 30) |
| Dion | “Dion Recorded Live At The Bitter End, August 1971” (17 tracks; Hear/read here; MP3) | (U.K. – Ace, March 30) |
| Emerson, Lake & Palmer | “Once Upon a Time Live in South America” (four-CD live set, recorded in April 1993) | (RockBeat) |
| Jeff Golub (died from a rare brain disease on New Year’s Day 2015) | “The Vault” (longtime collaborators Steven Miller, Rick Braun and Bud Harner gathered up rare recordings from the jazz guitarist; MP3) | (eOne Music) |
| Grateful Dead | “The Best of The Grateful Dead” (two CDs, 32 songs, including the rare “Dark Star” single; mastered in HDCD; MP3) | (Grateful Dead / Rhino) |
| Grateful Dead | “Dick’s Picks, Volume Nine: Madison Square Garden, September 16, 1990” (three CDs, 20 tracks), “Dick’s Picks, Volume Eleven: Stanley Theatre, September 27, 1972” (three CDs, 25 tracks) | (Real Gone Music) |
| Rob Halford | “The Essential Rob Halford” (two CDs, 30 songs; MP3) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| Hawkwind | “This Is Your Captain Speaking … Your Captain Is Dead” (11-CD box set of albums and singles from their 1970-1974 stint on United Artists; Read here) | (U.K. – PLG UK Catalog, March 30) |
| Rupert Hine | “Unshy on the Skyline: The Best of Rupert Hine” (12-song collection of music from his 1981-83 solo albums, compiled by Hine; Read here) | (U.K. – Esoteric Recordings / Cherry Red, March 30) |
| Billie Holiday | “The Centennial Collection” (20 tracks; MP3) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| Jagged Edge | “Greatest Hits” (12 tracks) | (Cleopatra) |
| Jefferson Airplane | “Return To The Matrix: February 1, 1968” (two-CD live set, recorded at the San Francisco venue; band lineup: Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Spencer Dryden) | (Relayer) |
| Judas Priest | “The Essential Judas Priest” (two CDs, 34 songs; MP3) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| King Curtis | “Soul Twist: The Best of the Early Sixties” | (Nasjon / Airline) |
| The Main Ingredient | “L.T.D. / Black Seeds” (1970, 1971 albums on one CD; remastered) | (Real Gone Music) |
| Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys | “Live ’69 & ’71” (25 tracks; MP3) | (Rockbeat) |
| Quicksilver Messenger Service | “Live in San Jose 1966” (Vinyl; MP3) | (Purple Pyramid / Cleopatra) |
| Ride | “OX4: The Best of Ride” (2001 compilation) | (Rhino) |
| Simple Minds | “Sparkle in the Rain: 30th Anniversary Edition” (1984 album; remastered, with a second CD of rare B-sides; Vinyl; MP3; MP3 Super Deluxe Edition) | (Virgin / UMe) |
| The Specials | “Specials (Special Edition)” (1979 album; remastered, with a second CD of bonus tracks, “Too Much Too Young EP” and “BBC In Concert At the Paris Theatre”; MP3), “More Specials (Special Edition)” (1980 album; remastered, with a second CD containing 13 singles, B-sides and rarities; MP3), “In the Studio (Special Edition)” (1984 album, as The Specials AKA; remastered, with a second CD of rarities, “BBC Peel Session 12/09/83” and instrumentals; Read here; MP3) | (U.K. – 2 Tone / Warner, March 30) |
| Billy Stewart | “The Essential Billy Stewart” (two CDs, 35 tracks) | (Rockbeat) |
| Van Halen | “Van Halen” (1978 album; remastered by Chris Bellman; Vinyl), “1984” (1984 album; remastered by Chris Bellman; Vinyl) | (Rhino) |
| Various artists | “Highlife on the Move: Selected Nigerian & Ghanaian Recordings from London & Lagos 1954-66” (38 tracks; Hear/read here; MP3) | (Soundway) |
| Various artists | “NOW That’s What I Call The ACM Awards 50 Years” (two CDs; Read here; MP3) | (Universal Music Group / Sony / The Academy of Country Music / UMGD) |
| Various artists | “The Rough Guide To Unsung Heroes of Country Blues” (24 songs; Hear/read here; MP3) | (World Music Network) |
| Jerry Jeff Walker | “No Leavin’ Texas 1968-1982: The Classic Jerry Jeff” (two CDs; 39 tracks from 15 albums and six labels; Read here) | (Raven) |
More Releases for the Week of March 31, 2015
Reissues (MP3s)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Bobby Bare | “Talk Me Some Sense” (1966 album) | (RCA / Legacy) |
| Skeeter Davis & Bobby Bare | “Tunes for Two” (1965 album) | (RCA / Legacy) |
| Ensemble O-Suwa-Daiko, Oguchi Daihachi (director) | “Japan: O-Suwa-Daiko Drums” | (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / Auvidis-UNESCO) |
| Nicki French | “The Singles 1997-2014” | (Energise, March 30) |
| Koishimaru Izutsuya | “Japan: Koishimaru Izutsuya: Master of the Kawachi Ondo Epics” | (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / Auvidis-UNESCO) |
| Ray Price | “The Collection 1952-1962” (56 tracks) | (Ideal Music, March 30) |
| Smokie | “Smokie 1975 | 2015” (36-song 40th anniversary gold edition, featuring such hits as “Living Next Door to Alice,” plus rarities, new songs and solo songs; CD) | (Sony U.K.) |
| Various artists | “Best of Northern Soul’s Classiest Rarities Volume 5” (Hear here) | (Kent / Ace, March 30) |
More Digital Releases for the Week of March 31, 2015
DVD / Blu-ray
| Artists: | Title: | Studio/label: |
| Sandra Bullock, George Clooney | “Gravity: Diamond Luxe Edition [Blu-ray]” (2013 film; two discs) | (Warner Home Video) |
| Steve Cochran, Mamie Van Boren, et al | “The Beat Generation [DVD]” (1959 film; Blu-ray) | (Olive Films) |
| Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, et al | “The Imitation Game [DVD]” (2014 film; Blu-ray) | (Anchor Bay) |
| Arlo Guthrie, Pat Quinn, Pete Seeger, et al | “Alice’s Restaurant [Blu-ray]” (1969 film) | (Olive Films) |
| Daryl Hall & John Oates | “Live in Dublin [DVD]” (See here; Blu-ray) | (Eagle Rock) |
| Bob Hope, Lucille Ball | “The Facts of Life [DVD]” (1960 film; Blu-ray) | (Olive Films) |
| Julia Louis-Dreyfus, et al | “VEEP: The Complete Third Season [DVD]” (two discs; Blu-ray) | (HBO) |
| Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, et al | “Interstellar [DVD]” (2014 film; Blu-ray + DVD) | (Paramount) |
| Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, et al | “Wild [DVD]” (2014 film; Blu-ray) | (20th Century Fox) |
More DVD/Blu-ray Releases for the Week of March 31, 2015
Music books
| Subject/ Author(s): | Title: | Publisher: |
| Philip Bailey | “Shining Star: Braving the Elements of Earth, Wind & Fire” (Paperback) | (Plume) |
| The Beatles | “The Beatles: Then There Was Music” (Hardcover; author: Tim Hill) | (William Morrow, March 28) |
| Beck | “Throwing Frisbees At The Sun: A Book About Beck” (Paperback; author: Rob Jovanovic; Kindle) | (Jawbone Press) |
| Nick Cave | “A Little History: Photographs of Nick Cave and Cohorts, 1981-2013” (Hardcover; author: Bleddyn Butcher) | (Allen & Unwin, April 1) |
| Nick Cave | “A Little History: Photographs of Nick Cave and Cohorts, 1981-2013” (Hardcover; author: Bleddyn Butcher) | (Allen & Unwin, April 1) |
| Stuart Cosgrove | “Detroit 67: The Year That Changed Soul” (Paperback; Kindle) | (Stuart Cosgrove) |
| Adam Nergal Darski (of Behemoth) | “Confessions of a Heretic: The Sacred and the Profane: Behemoth And Beyond” (Paperback; co-author: Mark Eglinton) | (Jawbone Press) |
| Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash | “Dylan, Cash and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City” (Paperback) | (Country Music Hall of Fame) |
| Noddy Holder (of Slade) | “The World According to Noddy: Life Lessons Learned in and Out of Rock & Roll” (Paperback; author: Mark Ribowsky) | (Constable, April 2) |
| Billie Holiday | “Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth” (Hardcover; author: John Szwed; Kindle) | (Viking Adult) |
| Sam Jackson | “Greatest Classical Recordings (Classic FM Handy Guides)” (Hardcover) | (Elliott & Thompson, April 1) |
| Richard King | “Original Rockers” (Hardcover; Read here) | (Faber & Faber, April 2) |
| Preston Lauterbach | “Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song, and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis” (Hardcover; Kindle) | (W.W. Norton & Company, March 30) |
| Lynyrd Skynyrd | “Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars: The Fast Life and Sudden Death of Lynyrd Skynyrd” (Hardcover; author: Mark Ribowsky) | (Chicago Review Press, April 1) |
| Nirvana | “I Found My Friends: The Oral History of Nirvana” (Paperback; author: Nick Soulsby; Kindle) | (St. Martin’s Griffin) |
| Storm Thorgerson | “Mind Over Matter: The Images of Pink Floyd” (Hardcover) | (Omnibus Press, April 3) |
More Book Releases for the Week of March 31, 2015
Now See Here:
“Primrose Green,” Ryley Walker