New Releases (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Ben Abraham (Australian cinematic folk artist) | “Sirens” (first single: “Home”; Hear here; See here; Vinyl) | (Secretly Canadian) |
| Guy Andrews (London-based electronic music producer) | “Our Spaces” (first single: “In Autumn Arms”; Hear here) | (U.K. – Houndstooth) |
| Kenny Barron Trio | “Book of Intuition” (producers: Barron, Jean-Philippe Allard; Hear here; MP3) | (Impulse! / Verve) |
| Andy Bell (of Erasure) | “Torsten the Beautiful Libertine” (Hear here; MP3) | (Strike Force Entertainment / Cherry Red) |
| Bestial Mouths (aka avant-garde electronic artist Lynette Cerezo) | “Heartless” (Hear here; Vinyl) | (Cleopatra) |
| Big Ups | “Before a Million Universes” (third single: “Hope For Someone”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Exploding In Sound) |
| Black Peaches (new project of Rob Smoughton, formerly of Hot Chip and Scritti Politti) | “Get Down You Dirty Rascals” (first single: “Fire & A Water Sign”; Hear here; MP3) | (1965 Records) |
| Boosie Badazz | “Out My Feelings in the Past” (Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Lil Boosie Music) |
| Byrne and Kelly (Celtic Thunder’s Neil Byrne and Ryan Kelly) | “Echoes” (Hear here; MP3) | (Byrne and Kelly) |
| Steven Curtis Chapman | “Worship and Believe” (the first worship of his 29-year career; producers: Chapman, Brent Milligan; guests: Chris Tomlin, Matt Maher; first single: “We Believe”; Hear here; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition) | (Reunion / Chapman) |
| City of the Sun (NYC acoustic post-rock trio) | “to the sun and all the cities in between” (Hear here; MP3) | (Chesky) |
| Club cheval (French EDM quartet) | “Discipline” (Hear here; MP3) | (Bromance / Parlophone / Warner) |
| The Coral | “Distance Inbetween” (their first album since 2010’s “Butterfly House”; first single: “Miss Fortune”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Ignition) |
| Face to Face | “Protection” (producer: Bill Stevenson; Hear here; MP3) | (Fat Wreck Chords) |
| Genre Peak (electronic music ensemble) | “Your Sleekest Engine” (producers: Christopher Scott Cooper, frontman Martin Birke; guests: Steve Jansen, Mick Karn, Richard Barbieri, Matt Malley, Jon Hassell; Hear here) | (U.K. – Gonzo Multimedia UK) |
| Brett Harris | “Up in the Air” (the Durham, N.C.-based guitarist-keyboardist was a core band member on the recent series of all-star concerts honoring Big Star’s “Third” album and played on the dB’s 2012 reunion tour; Hear here; MP3) | (Hit the Deck Recordings) |
| Tim Hockenberry (former Trans-Siberian Orchestra / Mickey Hart vocalist) | “Tim Hockenberry” (Hear here) | (Poignant) |
| The Knocks | “55” (guests: Carly Rae Jepsen, Walk the Moon, Fetty Wap, X Ambassadors, Wyclef Jean, Cam’ron, etc.; new single: “Kiss the Sky”; Hear here; MP3) | (Big Beat / Neon Gold) |
| Ray LaMontagne | “Ouroboros” (producer: My Morning Jacket’s Jim James; first single: “Part One – Hey, No Pressure”; Hear here; MP3)  | (RCA) |
| Låpsley (British singer Holly Lapsley Fletcher) | “Long Way Home” (producers: Rodaidh McDonald, Mura Masa, Paul O’Duffy; new single: “Love Is Blind”; Hear here; MP3) | (XL Recordings) |
| Greg Laswell | “Everyone Thinks I Dodged a Bullet” (new single: “Lifetime Ago”; Hear here) | (Vanguard) |
| Loretta Lynn | “Full Circle” (her first album in more than a decade; producers: Patsy Lynn Russell, John Carter Cash; recorded at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tenn.; guests: Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello; Hear here; Vinyl ; MP3 ) | (Legacy Recordings) |
| Anna Meredith (Scottish electronic artist-producer) | “Varmints” (first single: “R-Type”; Hear here; MP3) | (Moshi Moshi) |
| Miike Snow | “iii” (guest: Charli XCX; first single: “Heart Is Full”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Downtown / Atlantic) |
| Mormon Tabernacle Choir / Orchestra at Temple Square | “Handel’s Messiah (Deluxe Edition)” (two CDs and a bonus DVD; See here; Read here), “Handel’s Messiah Highlights” (one CD) | (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) |
| Mortiis | “The Great Deceiver” (Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Omnipresence / MRI) |
| Mothers (Athens, Ga., quartet) | “When You Walk a Long Distance You Are Tired” (producer: Drew Vandenberg; first single: “Too Small For Eyes”; Hear here; Vinyl) | (Grand Jury Music) |
| Tyson Motsenbocker | “Letters To Lost Loves” (Hear here) | (Tooth & Nail) |
| Nada Surf | “You Know Who You Are” (first single: “Believe You’re Mine”; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (Barsuk) |
| Newsboys | “Love Riot” (first single: “Guilty”; Hear here; MP3) | (Fair Trade Services / Columbia) |
| Ninja Sex Party (L.A.-based musical comedy duo) | “Under the Covers” (all-covers album, backed by Tupper Ware Remix Party; Hear here; MP3) | (Ninja Sex Party) |
| ONO | “Yes, I’m a Witch Too” (a sequel to Yoko Ono’s 2007 collaboration album “Yes, I’m a Witch”; collaborators: Death Cab For Cutie, Peter Bjorn and John, Sparks, tUnE-yArDs, Moby, Miike Snow, Cibo Matto, Portugal. The Man; Hear here) | (Manimal Group) |
| Roo Panes (U.K. crooner) | “Paperweights” (producer: Rupert Coulson; first single: “The Original”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (CRC Music) |
| Poliça (Minneapolis synth-pop experimentalists) | “United Crushers” (first single: “Lime Habit”; Hear here; MP3) | (Mom+Pop Music) |
| Robert Pollard | “Of Course You Are” (first single: “I Can Illustrate”; Hear here; MP3) | (Fire) |
| Kelly Richey | “Shakedown Soul” (producer: drummer-synth player Tobe “Tobotius” Donohue; Hear here) | (Sweet Lucy) |
| The Rubens (Australian rock quintet) | “Hoops” (producers: David Kahne, Michael Brauer; second single: “Hoops”; Hear here; MP3) | (Warner) |
| Granger Smith | “Remington” (guests: Brooke Eden, Earl Dibbles Jr.; first single: “Backroad Song”; Hear here; MP3) | (Wheelhouse / Broken Bow) |
| Frank Solivan | “Family, Friends & Heroes” (guests: band mates from Dirty Kitchen, along with Sam Bush, John Cowan, Jerry Douglas, Rob Ickes, Del McCoury, Ronnie McCoury, etc.; Hear here) | (Compass) |
| Sound of Ceres (Colorado-based band) | “Nostalgia for Infinity” (first single: “Hand of Winter”; Hear here; Vinyl) | (Joyful Noise Recordings) |
| Esperanza Spalding | “Emily’s D+Evolution” (producers: Spalding, Tony Visconti; first single: “One”; Hear here; See here; Deluxe Edition; Vinyl; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition) | (Concord) |
| Chris Standring | “Ten” (Hear here; MP3) | (Ultimate Vibe Recordings, March 8) |
| The Struts (U.K. rock quartet) | “Everybody Wants” (originally released in the U.K. in 2014; producers: Ray Hedges, Nigel Butler, Red Triangle; first single: “Kiss This”; Hear here; See here; Read here; MP3) | (FreeSolo / Interscope) |
| Teen Suicide | “It’s the Big Joyous Celebration, Let’s Stir the Honeypot” (Hear here; Vinyl, with comic book; Cassette) | (Run For Cover) |
| Thao & The Get Down Stay Down | “A Man Alive” (first single: “Nobody Dies”; Hear here; MP3) | (Ribbon Music) |
| Tiga | “No Fantasy Required” (producers: Matthew Dear, Jori Hulkkonen; Hear here; MP3) | (Counter) |
| Reed Turchi (Memphis-based musician) | “Speaking in Shadows” (first single: “Offamymind”; Hear here; MP3) | (Devil Down) |
| Unified Highway (Rebelution vocalist/guitarist Eric Rachmany and producer-DJ Amp Live) | “Unified Highway” (includes a cover of R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion”; guests: Garrett Douglas, Shana Halligan, Tahir Panton, Keznamdi, Busy Signal, Zion I, The Grouch, Courtney Panton Jr., Sophia Scott; first single: “Stand Proud”; Hear here; MP3) | (Audible Collision / Strange Focus / MRI) |
| Various artists | “Dreamer: A Tribute to Kent Finlay” (the late Finlay, a champion of Texas songwriters, founded the Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos; contributors: James McMurtry, Randy Rogers, Slaid Cleaves, Sunny Sweeney, Steve Poltz, Terri Hendrix, etc.; MP3; Hardcover Book) | (Eight 30) |
| Various artists | “Zootopia (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (animated film opens March 4; See here) | (Walt Disney) |
| Violent Femmes | “We Can Do Anything” (their first full-length album in 15 years; first single: “Memory”; Hear here; Read here; Vinyl; MP3) | (PIAS America) |
| Wall of Death | “Loveland” (producer: Hanni El Khatib; second single: “For a Lover”; Hear here; MP3) | (Innovative Leisure) |
| Wintersleep (Halifax alt-rock band) | “The Great Detachment” (producers: Wintersleep, Tony Doogan; Hear here; Vinyl) | (Dine Alone Music) |
| Wussy | “Forever Sounds” (first single: “Dropping Houses”; Hear here; MP3) | (Shake It) |
| yndi halda | “Under Summer” (the Brighton instrumental-rock quintet’s first album since their debut in 2007; first single: “Golden Threads From the Sun”; Hear here; MP3) | (Burnt Toast Vinyl) |
More Releases for March 4, 2016
Prime Pantry … Amazon Echo
… Bluetooth & Wireless Speakers … Laptops & Tablets
New Releases (MP3s)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Adult Books (L.A. surf punk trio) | “Running from the Blows” (Hear here) | (Lolipop / Burger) |
| City of the Sun (NYC indie-rock trio) | “To the Sun and All the Cities in Between” (Hear here; CD, out March 18) | (Chesky) |
| Crash Island | “Dreamwaves” (four-song EP; Hear here) | (Crash Island, March 1) |
| Dead Stars (Brooklyn-based trio) | “Bright Colors” (first single: “Unpopular”; Hear here) | (Weird Tree) |
| The Feeling | “The Feeling” (first single: “Spiralling”; Hear here) | (Little World) |
| Hacktivist (Milton Keynes, U.K., quintet) | “Outside the Box” (guests: Marlon Hurley, Jamie Graham, Rou Reynolds, Astroid Boys, Jot Maxi; first single: “Buszy”; Hear here) | (UNFD / Rise) |
| John Helix (San Diego-based singer-songwriter) | “Tune Out, Turn Off, Disconnect” (second single: “Colombiana”; Hear here) | (John Helix) |
| High Waisted (NYC surf rock band) | “On Ludlow” (producer: Bryan Pugh; first single: “Party in the Back”; Hear here) | (Eat Trash Be Free) |
| Idalee (singer-songwriter) | “Starting Now” (six-song EP; producer: Ethan Kauffman; first single: “Starting Now”; Hear here; CD) | (Idalee Music) |
| Kendrick Lamar | “untitled unmastered.” (a set of recordings originally cut in 2013 and 2014; Hear here; Read here) | (Top Dawg Entertainment / Aftermath / Interscope) |
| La Sera | “Music For Listening To Music To” (live-recorded analog album; producer: Ryan Adams; first single: “High Notes”; Hear here) | (Polyvinyl) |
| The Mizzerables (Chicago punk band) | “As I Am” (producers: Jeff Dean, Joe Mizzi; Hear here) | (Whoa!, March 1) |
| Jennifer O’Connor | “Surface Noise” (her first album in five years; producers: O’Connor, Tom Beaujour; new single: “It’s a Lie”; Hear here) | (Kiam) |
| Paper Tigers (Danish rock quartet) | “Head Over Heels” (producer: Soren Andersen; first single: “Head Over Heels”; Hear here) | (Horus Music) |
| John Parry (soulful 18-year-old East London singer-songwriter) | “Enough” (four-song EP; second single: “What Have I Done”; Hear here; See here) | (John Parry) |
| Prince Rama (Brooklyn synth-pop duo) | “Xtreme Now” (first single: “Bahia”; Hear here) | (Carpark) |
| The Qemists | “Warrior Sound” (guests: Hacktivist, Kenta Koie, Charlie Rhymes, Ghetts; first single: “Run You”; See here; Import CD) | (FiXT) |
| Reckless Love (Finnish metal group) | “InVader” (producer: Ilkka Wirtanen; first single: “Monster”; Hear here; CD, out March 11) | (Spinefarm) |
| RuPaul | “Butch Queen” (guests: Taylor Dayne, Ab Soto, Vjuan Allure, Margo Thunder, Ellis Miah, Sharlotte Gibson, Matt Moss, etc.; Hear here) | (RuCo, Inc) |
| Sego (L.A.-based indie pop duo) | “Once Was Lost Now Just Hanging Around” (first single: “Micky Macali”; See here) | (Dine Alone) |
| Sexy Fights (Chicago synth-rock quartet) | “Too Far Out” (first single: “The End”; Hear here) | (FeelTrip) |
| The Teen Age (Brooklyn garage-rock quartet) | “Bad Seed” (four-song EP; producer: Jason Finkel; first single: “Backwards”; Hear here) | (PaperCup Music) |
| Tonight Alive | “Limitless” (first single: “Human Interaction”; Hear here; See here) | (Fearless) |
| Frank Turner | “Mittens” (five-song EP; first single: “Mittens”; See here) | (Xtra Mile Recordings) |
More Digital Releases for March 4, 2016
Best Books of the Month … The Headphones Store … Band T-Shirts … Best Sellers in CD & Vinyl
Reissues (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Tony Banks | “A Curious Feeling” (1979 album; remastered and remixed; Read here; Vinyl), “The Fugitive” (1983 album; remastered and remixed; Read here; Vinyl) | (Esoteric Recordings / Cherry Red) |
| Elkie Brooks | “5 Classic Albums” (five-set include “Two Days Away,” “Shooting Star,” Live And Learn,” “Pearls” and “Pearls II”) | (U.K. – UMC) |
| Jackson Browne | “Together Again … Live Syracuse ’71” (two CDs) | (Rox Vox) |
| Devo | “EZ Listening Muzak” (expanded edition of the early ’80s albums, originally released on cassette through the band’s fan club, featuring elevator-stye versions of their early songs; Hear here; Vinyl) | (Futurismo) |
| Earth, Wind & Fire | “Head to the Sky [Hybrid SACD]” (1973 album; remastered) | (Audio Fidelity) |
| The Isley Brothers | “Masterpiece & Smooth Sailin'” (1985, 1987 albums; remastered, with nine bonus tracks; Read here) | (Robinsongs / Cherry Red) |
| Janis Joplin | “Janis: Little Girl Blue (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (Amy Berg-directed documentary aired on PBS in November 2015; includes solo recordings and her work with Big Brother & the Holding Company; See/read here; MP3) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| The Lords of the New Church | “The Complete I.R.S. Albums Collection” (three CDs, 31 songs) | (Real Gone Music) |
| Nektar | “Recycled” (1975 album; remastered) | (Purple Pyramid / Cleopatra) |
| Nine Inch Nails with David Bowie | “Back in Anger: 1995 Radio Transmissions” (two CDs) | (Indie Recordings) |
| Rubettes | “The Albums 1974-1977” (five-CD box set includes “Wear It’s At,” “We Can Do It,” “Rubettes,” “Sign of the Times” and “Baby I Know,” with 11 bonus tracks) | (Caroline International) |
| Boz Scaggs | “Moments (Deluxe Edition)” (1971 album; remastered, with four bonus tracks) | (Friday Music) |
| Ray Stevens | “Face the Music: The Complete Monument Singles 1965-1970” (24 songs; Hear/read here) | (U.K. – Ace) |
| Howard Tate | “I Learned It All the Hard Way: Deep Soul Classics 1966-2003” (29 tracks) | (Playback) |
| Pat Travers and Carmine Appice | “The Balls Album” (2004 album, originally titled “It Takes a Lot of Balls”; with two bonus tracks, including a cover of Barry White’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”; MP3) | (Purple Pyramid / Cleopatra) |
| Various artists | “Beatfreak! Vol. 1: Rare and Obscure British Beat 1964-1968” (20 tracks, featuring Fingers Lee and the Upperhand, Sons of Fred, The Habits, The Deejays, Ian & the Zodiacs, Fifth Column, Thursday’s Child, Alex Harvey, etc.; Hear/read here) | (Particles) |
| Various artists | “Harmony of the Soul: Vocal Groups 1962-1977” (24 tracks; Hear/read here) | (U.K. – Kent / Ace) |
| Various artists | “Things Gonna Get Better: Street Funk and Jazz Grooves 1970-1977” (20 tracks; Hear/read here) | (U.K. – BGP / Ace) |
| Various artists | “Where the Girls Are, Volume 9” (25 songs, featuring Reparata & The Delrons, The Popsicles, The Lovelites, The Rag Dolls, The Wooden Nickels, etc.; Hear/read here) | (U.K. – Ace) |
| Gene Watson | “Barrooms & Bedrooms | The Capitol & MCA Years” (two CDs, 50 songs; Track list) | (U.K. – Wrasse) |
| Margaret Whiting | “The Complete London Recordings” (two CDs, 50 songs) | (Real Gone Music) |
| Bobby Whitlock | “One of a Kind” (1975 album; remastered), “Rock Your Sox Off” (1976 album; remastered) | (Europe – Universal) |
| John Williams (Australian-born British classical guitarist) | “John Williams the Guitarist: The Complete Columbia Album Collection” (59-disc box set) | (Sony Classical) |
| O.V. Wright | “Treasured Moments: The Complete Back Beat / ABC Singles” (two CDs, 41 songs; Hear here) | (Playback) |
More Releases for March 4, 2016
Vinyl $19.99 and Under … Turntables & Accessories … Colored Vinyl … Vinyl Box Sets
Reissues (MP3s)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Circle of Dust | “Circle of Dust” (1992 debut album; remastered; new single: “Contagion,” the industrial/electronic-rock act’s first new track in nearly 20 years; Hear here; Deluxe Edition, with 16 extra tracks) | (FiXT) |
| Kelly Clarkson | “Piece By Piece Remixed” (2015 album; remixes from Victor, Frank Pole, Cheat Codes, etc.) | (RCA) |
| Joe Cocker | “Across From Midnight” (1997 album) | (Sanctuary) |
| Aretha Franklin | “Through the Storm (Expanded Edition)” (1989 album; with 17 bonus tracks) | (Arista / Legacy) |
| Korn | “Untitled” (2007 album) | (Korn) |
More Digital Releases for March 4, 2016
DVD / Blu-ray
| Artist(s)/cast: | Title: | Studio: |
| Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, et al | “The Martian [4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray]” (2015 film) | (20th Century Fox) |
| Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, et al | “Creed [DVD]” (2015 film; Blu-ray + DVD) | (Warner Home Video) |
| Loretta Lynn | “Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl [DVD]” (PBS documentary; See/read here) | (Sony Legacy) |
| Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, et al | “Strange Brew [Blu-ray]” (1983 film) | (Warner Home Video) |
| Matthew Rhys, Lev Gorn, et al | “The Americans: The Complete Third Season [DVD]” (four discs) | (20th Century Fox) |
| Various artists | “The Decline of Western Civilization [DVD]” (Penelope Spheeris’ 1981 film looking back at the late-1970s Los Angeles punk scene; featuring X, Black Flag, Fear, Germs, Catholic Discipline, Alice Bag Band; See here; Blu-ray) | (Shout! Factory) |
| Johnny Winter | “Johnny Winter: Down & Dirty [DVD]” (feature-length documentary by Greg Olliver; includes Winter’s final studio performance; See here) | (Megaforce) |
Music Books
| Subject/ Author(s): | Title: | Publisher: |
| a-ha | “Living a Fan’s Adventure Tale: a-ha in the eyes of the beholders” (Paperback; author: Greg Lansdowne) | (Wymer Publishing) |
| Steven Blush with Paul Rachman and Tony Mann | “Lost Rockers: Broken Dreams and Crashed Careers” (Hardcover) | (powerHouse Books) |
| Eric Clapton | “Eric Clapton: The World’s Greatest Living Guitarist” (Hardcover; author: Chris Welch) | (Carlton Books) |
| Barney Hoskyns | “Small Town Talk: Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock” (Hardcover) | (Da Capo Press) |
| Pink Floyd | “The Complete Pink Floyd: The Ultimate Reference” (Hardcover; author: Glenn Povey; Carlton Books), “Pink Floyd: Giants of Rock” (Hardcover; author: Glenn Povey) | (Carlton Books) |
