New Releases (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| The Album Leaf | “Between Waves” (first single: “Back to the Start”; Hear here; NPR First Listen; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition, with five bonus remixes)  | (Relapse) |
| The Bad Plus | “It’s Hard” (includes covers of Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones,” Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps,” “I Walk the Line,” “Time After Time” and TV on the Radio’s “Staring at the Sun”; Hear here; NPR First Listen; MP3) | (OKeh / Sony Masterworks) |
| Banks & Steelz (Wu Tang Clan’s RZA and Interpol’s Paul Banks) | “Anything But Words” (producers: John Hill, Kid Harpoon; guests: Florence Welch, Kool Keith, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Masta Killa; new single: “Giant”; Hear here; MP3) | (Warner) |
| Brother Moses (Fayetteville, Ark.-based indie rock band) | “Legends” (five-song EP; producer: Raymond Richards; first single: “Crazy Eyes”; See here; MP3) | (Missing Piece) |
| CNCO | “Primera Cita” (guests: Wisin, Abraham Mateo; Hear here; MP3) | (Sony Music Latin) |
| Compass: Mexican Institute of Sound + Toy Selectah | “Compass” (guests: Toots Hibbert, MC Lyte, Cornelius, Eugene Hütz, Rob Birch, Kool A.D., Nina Sky, Crystal Fighters, etc.; first single: “Canta Sim Medo”; Hear here) | (Six Degrees) |
| Joanna Connor (blues-rock guitarist) | “Six String Stories” (Hear here) | (M.C.) |
| Controlled Bleeding (veteran experimental rock group) | “Larva Lumps and Baby Bumps” (Hear here; Read here) | (Artoffact) |
| Charlie Daniels | “Nighthawk” (an acoustic album of cowboy songs; Hear here) | (BFD) |
| Dead Gaze (Oxford, Miss., indie-pop outfit) | “Easy Travels” (guests: Julian Lynch, Clay Jones; first single: “Constantly Happy”; Hear here; MP3) | (Ernest Jenning Record Co.) |
| Delain (Dutch symphonic metal band) | “Moonbathers” (with live DVD; Hear here; MP3) | (Napalm) |
| De La Soul | “and the Anonymous Nobody” (producers: De La Soul, Dave West; guests: Usher, David Byrne, Damon Albarn, Jill Scott, Snoop Dogg, Estelle, Pete Rock, Little Dragon, 2Chainz, etc.; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3)  | (AOI) |
| Morgan Delt (West Coast psych-pop artist) | “Phase Zero” (first single: “I Don’t Wanna See What’s Happening Outside”; Hear here; MP3) | (Sub Pop) |
| The Devil Makes Three | “Redemption & Ruin” (first single: “Drunken Hearted Man”; Hear here; MP3) | (New West) |
| Dinosaur Pile-Up (British alt-rock trio) | “Eleven Eleven” (producer: Tom Dalgety; first single: “11:11”; See here; MP3) | (SO Recordings / Caroline) |
| Céline Dion | “Encore un soir” (meaning “One More Night”; producers: Jean-Jacques Goldman, Yann Macé, Luc Leroy; Hear here; Deluxe Edition; Vinyl; MP3) | (Columbia) |
| DGM (Italian progressive metal band) | “The Passage” (producer: Simone Mularoni; guests: Evergrey singer Tom Englund, Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo; Hear here; MP3) | (Frontiers Music s.r.l.) |
| DREAMERS (L.A.-based grunge-pop band) | “This Album Does Not Exist” (producers: DREAMERS, Kevin Augunas; new single: “Sweet Disaster”; Hear here; MP3) | (Fairfax Recordings) |
| The Fabulous Thunderbirds | “Strong Like That” (horns arranged and conducted by Kenny Rittenhouse; producers: keyboardist Kevin Anker, David Earl, bassist Steve Gomes, frontman Kim Wilson; guests: Anson Funderburgh, Roosevelt Collier, Wes Watkins; Hear here; MP3) | (Severn) |
| Florida Georgia Line | “Dig Your Roots” (first single: “H.O.L.Y.”; See here; MP3) | (Big Machine) |
| Gaither Vocal Band | “Better Together” (producers: Bill Gaither, David Phelps, Ben Isaacs; Hear here; MP3) | (Gaither Music Group) |
| Glass Animals | “How To Be a Human Being” (first single: “Life Itself”; See here; MP3) | (Harvest) |
| El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico | “Alunizando” (Hear here; MP3) | (EGC) |
| Gringo Star | “The Sides and in Between” (first single: “Rotten”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Nevado Music) |
| Derrick Hodge | “The Second” (first single: “The Second”; Hear here; MP3) | (Blue Note) |
| Jack Ingram | “Midnight Motel” (his first album since 2009; producer: Jon Randall; first single: “I’m Drinking Through It”; Hear here; MP3) | (Rounder) |
| Joseph (sister trio) | “I’m Alone, No You’re Not” (producer: Mike Mogis; first single: “White Flag”; Hear here; Read here; Vinyl; MP3) | (ATO) |
| King Company (Finnish melodic hard rock group) | “One for the Road” (first single: “Wheels of No Return”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Frontiers Music s.r.l.) |
| Liz Longley | “Weightless” (producer: Band of Horses’ Bill Reynolds; Hear here) | (Sugar Hill) |
| Magic Trick (aka Tim Cohen of The Fresh & Onlys) | “Other Man’s Blues” (first single: “More”; Hear here; Read here; MP3) | (Empty Cellar) |
| Cass McCombs | “Mangy Love” (producers: Rob Schnapf, Dan Horne; first single: “Opposite House”; Hear here; MP3) | (ANTI- / Epitaph) |
| Ingrid Michaelson | “It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense” (Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Cabin 24) |
| New Model Army | “Winter” (producers: frontman Justin Sullivan, Joe Barresi; See here; MP3) | (earMUSIC) |
| The Price Sisters (bluegrass act from Ohio) | “The Price Sisters” (producer: Bil VornDick; Hear here) | (Rebel Recordings) |
| Prophets of Rage (supergroup featuring members of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill) | “The Party’s Over” (five-song EP; Hear here; MP3) | (Prophets of Rage) |
| River Whyless (Asheville, N.C., experimental folk-rock quartet) | “We All the Light” (Hear here; MP3) | (Roll Call) |
| Todd Rundgren | “An Evening With Todd Rundgren: Live at the Ridgefield” (recorded at Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, Conn., on Dec. 15, 2015; Vinyl; MP3; Blu-ray) | (Purple Pyramid / Cleopatra) |
| Running Wild (German power metallers) | “Rapid Foray” (producer: frontman Rolf Kasparek; Hear here; MP3) | (Steamhammer / SPV) |
| Selah | “Greatest Hymns Vol. 2” (includes new recordings of fan favorites “Holy, Holy, Holy,” “Wayfaring Stranger,” “Wonderful, Merciful Savior” and “Amazing Grace”; Hear here; MP3) | (Curb) |
| Ashleigh Smith (winner of the 2014 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocals Competition) | “Sunkissed” (she co-write five of the 10 songs; includes covers of “Sara Smile” and “Blackbird; Hear here; MP3) | (Concord) |
| Todd Smith | “There’s a Light” (producer: Ed Cash; first single: “There’s a Light”; See here; MP3) | (Curb) |
| Sodom | “Decision Day” (the German thrash metal band’s 15th studio album; producer: Cornelius Rambadt; Hear here; MP3) | (Steamhammer / SPV) |
| Britney Spears | “Glory” (first single: “Make Me,” feat. G-Eazy; Hear here; Read here; Deluxe Edition; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition; iTunes) | (RCA) |
| Barbra Streisand | “ENCORE: Movie Partners Sing Broadway” (her 35th studio album includes a virtual duet with the late Anthony Newley; guests: Antonio Banderas, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, Hugh Jackman, Melissa McCarthy, Seth MacFarlane, etc.; first single: “At the Ballet”; See here; Read here; MP3) | (Columbia) |
| SubRosa (Salt Lake City chamber doom band) | “For This We Fought the Battle of Ages” (Hear here) | (Profound Lore) |
| Michael Sweet (Stryper frontman) | “One Sided War” (with Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra, Evanescence drummer Will Hunt, bassist John O’Boyle and guitarist Ethan Brosh; See here) | (Rat Pak) |
| Sylar (NYC metalcore quintet) | “Help!” (first single: “Assume”; Hear here; MP3) | (Hopeless) |
| Tesla | “Mechanical Resonance Live!” (first single: “Save That Goodness,” written and produced by Phil Collen of Def Leppard; Hear here; MP3) | (Tesla Electric Company Recordings / Mailboat) |
| Various artists | “Continental Drift” (eight-song sampler of four pop bands and two labels on two continents; first single: Mercury Girls’ “Holly”; Hear here; MP3) | (Slumberland / Fortuna POP!) |
| The Veils | “Total Depravity” (producers: El-P, Adam “Atom” Greenspan, frontman Finn Andrews; first single: “Axolotl”; Hear here; Vinyl, two-LP set with download card; MP3) | (Nettwerk) |
| Vicious Rumors | “Concussion Protocol” (producers: Juan Uteaga, guitarist Geoff Thorpe; Hear here) | (Steamhammer / SPV) |
| Butch Walker | “Stay Gold” (first single: “East Coast Girl”; Hear here; MP3) | (Dangerbird) |
| The Wounded Kings | “Visions in Bone” (the British doom metal band’s final album; producers: Chris Fielding, The Wounded Kings; Hear here; MP3) | (Candlelight / Spinefarm) |
| ZED | “Trouble in Eden” (first single: “Royale”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Ripple Music) |
New Releases (MP3s)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Any Given Day (German metalcore band) | “Everlasting” (first single: “Endurance”; Hear here) | (Redfield) |
| The Apocalypse Blues Revue | “The Apocalypse Blues Revue” (group features Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin and guitarist Tony Rombola, with vocalist Ray “Rafer John” Cerbone and bassist Brian Carpenter; first single: “Whiskey In My Coffee”; Hear here) | (Provogue / Mascot Label Group) |
| Big Gigantic (Colorado livetronica duo) | “Brighter Future” (guests: Waka Flocka Flame, Angela McCluskey, Jennifer Hartswick, Pell, GRiZ, Natalie Cressman, Cherub, Naaz, Logic and Rozes; new single: “Got the Love”; Hear here) | (Big Gigantic) |
| Black Coffee (South African house DJ) | “Pieces of Me” (guests: Mque, Azola, Lungi Naidoo, Ribatone, NaakMusiQ, Mondli Ngcobo, Portia Monique, Khensy, Nakhane Toure, Cara Frew; first single: “Come With Me”; Hear here) | (Ultra) |
| Katy Goodman & Greta Morgan (members of La Sera and Springtime Carnivore) | “Take It, It’s Yours” (re-imagined versions of 1970s and ’80s punk and new wave songs; first single: “Bastards of Young”; Hear here) | (Polyvinyl) |
| Hollis Brown (Queens, N.Y.-based indie roots rockers) | “Cluster of Pearls” (six-song EP; Hear here) | (Alive Naturalsound) |
| The Hunna (London quartet) | “100” (new single: “You & Me”; Hear here) | (300 Entertainment / High Time) |
| Samuel Jack (U.K. soul-pop singer) | “Let It All Out” (four-song EP; first single: “Let It All Out”; Hear here; Read here) | (Landon) |
| Jaymay | “To Tell the Truth” (Hear here) | (Jaymay Music) |
| Carly Rae Jepsen | “E•MO•TION: Side B” (eight-song EP of B-sides from her 2015 album “E·MO·TION”; Hear here) | (604 / School Boy / Interscope) |
| Just a Gent (19-year-old Australian producer) | “Stories to Tell” (guests: Samsaruh, Lanks, Melissa Ramsey, Ella Vos, Joey Chavez, Mitch Mulrooney; Hear here) | (Lokal Legend) |
| Layne (indie-pop duo) | “The Black Hills” (five-track EP; producers: lead singer Layne Putnam, Devon Corey; Hear here) | (Layne Music) |
| Rabbitfoot Capers (Bristol, U.K.-based band) | “Something and Nothing” (producer: guitarist-keyboardist James Caldwell; first single: “So”; Hear here) | (Doebuck, Aug. 25) |
| Raccoon Fighter (NYC garage-rock, psych-surf pop trio) | “Hover Craft” (five-song EP; first single: “LVLR”; Hear here) | (PaperCup Music) |
| ram ramakar | “Hummingbird” (producer: ramakar; first single: “Fool’s Paradise”; Hear here) | (RAMTUNES, Aug. 25) |
| The Souls (Finnish rock group) | “Eyes Closed” (first single: “Close My Eyes”; See here) | (deepdive) |
| Vince Staples | “Prima Donna” (seven-song EP; guests: Kilo Kish, A$AP Rocky; Hear here) | (Def Jam, Aug. 25) |
| Them Bruins (Australian rock quartet) | “No One Wants To Dance With Them Bruins” (seven-song EP; new single: “Heading For the Harrows”; Hear here) | (Old Flame) |
| Unspoken | “Follow Through” (producers: Seth Mosley, Tedd T, Christopher Stevens, Mitch Dane; first single: “Higher”; Hear here; MP3 Deluxe Edition, with four extra tracks) | (Centricity Music) |
| Guillermo Velázquez y Los Leones de la Sierra de Xichú | “Serrano de Corazón” (producers: Alex E. Chávez, Daniel E. Sheehy; first single: “Serrano de corazón [Highlander at Heart]”; See here) | (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings) |
| Wall of Orange | “Wall of Orange” (producer: Gary Parks; first single: “Sweetest Blue”; Hear here) | (Sonic Orange Productions, Aug. 24) |
| Will Wood & The Tapeworms (N.J. art-rock quintet) | “Self-Ish” (producer: Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Kevin Antreassian; guests: members of Foxy Shazam and Frank Iero and the Cellabration; first single: “Mr. Capgras Encounters a Secondhand Vanity”; See here) | (Will Wood & The Tapeworms, Aug. 23) |
Reissues (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| The Beach Boys | “Becoming The Beach Boys: The Complete Hite & Dorinda Morgan Sessions” (two-CD set of previously unreleased 1961-62 pre-Capitol recordings; Hear/read here) | (Omnivore Recordings) |
| Big Country | “5 Classic Albums” (five CDs) | (U.K. – Spectrum Audio) |
| Joe Cocker | “The Album Recordings 1984-2007” (14-CD box set, containing complete studio albums, plus “Joe Cocker Live” and a bonus CD of 19 rarities) | (U.K. – Universal) |
| Sandy Denny | “5 Classic Albums” (five CDs) | (U.K. – Spectrum Audio) |
| John Denver | “Poems, Prayers & Promises [Vinyl]” (1971 album; limited-edition 180-gram RCA orange LP), “Rocky Mountain High [Vinyl]” (1972 album; 180-gram clear-blue splatter LP), “Back Home Again [Vinyl]” (1974 album; 180-gram gold LP) | (Night Fever Music) |
| Greg Guidry | “Over the Line” (1982 album, featuring “Goin’ Down”; Hear here) | (Europe – Sony) |
| Level 42 | “Collected” (three-CD, 49-song set featuring single edits, radio remixes and 12-inch remixes) | (Universal) |
| The Monkees | “The Monkees 50” (three CDs, 50 songs; Read here; MP3), “Forever” (14-song compilation; MP3) | (Rhino) |
| Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | “British Live Performance Series” (recorded in July 1980 for “Rockstage,” a series of TV showcases hosted by the Nottingham Theatre Royal) | (Rainman) |
| Robert Palmer | “Collected” (three-CD, 56-song set featuring hits, rarities, B-sides, 12-inch remixes and two tracks from the R&B group Vinegar Joe; Hear/read here) | (Universal) |
| Pink Floyd | “The Wall [Vinyl]” (1979 album; two LPs), “The Division Bell [Vinyl]” (1994 album) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| André Previn | “Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker” (seven-CD box set, featuring the London Symphony Orchestra) | (Warner Classics / Parlophone) |
| R.E.M. | “Green (Deluxe Edition)” (1988 album; remastered, with a 21-song second CD featuring their concert at Greensboro Coliseum, N.C., on Oct. 11, 1989; Vinyl) | (Concord Bicycle) |
| Del Shannon | “Ireland Sessions” | (RockBeat) |
| Soundgarden | “Louder Than Love [Vinyl” (1989 album), “Down on the Upside [Vinyl]” (1996 album; two 180-gram LPs) | (A&M / UMe) |
| Dusty Springfield | “Reputation: Expanded Collector’s Edition” (1990 album; three-disc edition includes the original album, extended versions and remixes, B-sides and promo videos on a DVD; Read here) | (Cherry Red) |
| Amii Stewart | “The Hits : Remixed” (12 tracks; Read here) | (U.K. – Cherry Pop) |
| Twisted Sister | “The Best of the Atlantic Years” (19 songs; MP3) | (Rhino / Atlantic) |
| Various artists | “Derrick Harriott Reggae, Funk & Soul 1969-1975” (20 songs; Hear here; Vinyl) | (Dub Store) |
| Various artists | “NOW That’s What I Call Dance Hits” (three CDs, 65 songs; Track list) | (U.K. – Universal) |
| Scott Walker | “5 Classic Albums” (five CDs) | (U.K. – Spectrum Audio) |
DVD / Blu-ray
| Artist(s)/cast: | Title: | Studio: |
| Robert Arkins, Colm Meaney, et al | “The Commitments: 25th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray]” (1991 film; with bonus material) | (Image Entertainment) |
| Stephen Arnell, Katie Cassidy, et al | “Arrow: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]” (five discs; Blu-ray) | (Warner Home Video) |
| Backstreet Boys | “Backstreet Boys: Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of [DVD]” (2015 documentary chronicling the making of their 2013 album and subsequent world tour; See here) | (FilmRise) |
| Carol Burnett, et al | “The Carol Burnett Show: The Lost Episodes [DVD]” (22-disc box set, featuring 45 episodes) | (Time Life) |
| Deep Purple | “Deep Purple Live at the NEC [DVD]” | (Eagle Rock) |
| KISS | “KISS Rocks Vegas [DVD/CD]” (filmed during their nine-show run at Hard Rock Hotel in November 2014; DVD/LP) | (Eagle Rock) |
| LL Cool J, Chris O’Donnell, et al | “NCIS: Los Angeles: Season 7 [DVD]” (six discs) | (Paramount) |
| William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, et al | “Shameless: The Complete Sixth Season [DVD]” (three discs; Blu-ray) | (Warner Home Video) |
| Joe Mantegna, Shemar Moore, Thomas Gibson, et al | “Criminal Minds: Season 11 [DVD]” (six discs) | (Paramount) |
| Willie Nelson, Gary Busey, et al | “Barbarosa [DVD]” (1982 film; Blu-ray) | (Scorpion Releasing) |
| Buck Owens, Roy Clark, et al | “Hee Haw: The Collector’s Edition [DVD]” (14-disc box set; musical guests include Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams Jr., Ray Charles, Conway Twitty, etc.) | (Time Life) |
| Ellen Pompeo, Justin Chambers, Chandra Wilson, et al | “Grey’s Anatomy: Complete Twelfth Season [DVD]” | (Walt Disney Studios) |
More Upcoming DVD / Blu-ray Releases
Music Books
| Subject/ Author(s): | Title: | Publisher: |
| Bay City Rollers | “When the Screaming Stops: The Dark History of Pop’s First Boy Bands” (Hardcover; author: Simon Spence) | (Omnibus Press) |
| Kurt Cobain | “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” (Kindle; author: Brett Morgen) | (Insight Editions) |
| Steve Dahl (legendary Chicago DJ) | “Disco Demolition: The Night Disco Died” (Hardcover; co-author: Dave Hoekstra; photographer: Paul Natkin) | (Curbside Splendor Publishing) |
| Robert Darden | “Nothing but Love in God’s Water: Volume 2 – Black Sacred Music from Sit-Ins to Resurrection City” (Hardcover) | (Penn State University Press) |
| Michael Jackson | “Elizabeth & Michael: The Queen of Hollywood and the King of Pop – A Love Story” (Hardcover; author: Donald Bogle) | (Atria Books) |
| Michael Jackson | “Michael and Me: The Untold Story of Michael Jackson’s Secret Romance” (Hardcover; author: Shana Mangatal) | (Chicago Review Press) |
| Keith Morris (of Black Flag and Circle Jerks) | “My Damage: The Story of a Punk Rock Survivor” (Hardcover; co-author: Jim Ruland; Kindle) | (Da Capo Press) |
| The Smiths | “Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance: 20th Anniversary Edition” (Paperback; author: Johnny Rogan) | (The Overlook Press) |