New Releases (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Laurie Anderson | “Heart of a Dog” (soundtrack to her first feature film in 30 years, commissioned by the European TV network Arte; See here; MP3) | (Nonesuch) |
| Band of Merrymakers (holiday supergroup with a rotation of members) | “Welcome to Our Christmas Party” (a portion of the proceeds benefit MusiCares; producers: Sam Hollander, Kevin Griffin; contributors: 3OH!3, Alex & Sierra, Andrew McMahon, Christina Perri, Dan Wilson, Mark McGrath, Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, Nick Hexum, Owl City, The Mowglis, etc.; See here; Read here) | (Portrait / Sony Music Masterworks) |
| The Laurie Berkner Band | “Laurie Berkner’s Favorite Classic Kids’ Songs” (two CDs, 57 songs; Hear here; MP3) | (Two Tomatoes) |
| Blue Rodeo | “Live at Massey Hall” (MP3) | (Warner Music Canada) |
| Andrea Bocelli | “Cinema” (covers of film songs; guests: Ariana Grande, Nicole Scherzinger, Veronica Berti; first single: “Nelle Tue Mani (Now We Are Free),” from the film “Gladiator”; See here; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition, with three extra tracks) | (Verve) |
| The Brothers Nazaroff | “The Brothers Nazaroff: The Happy Prince” (international klezmer supergroup pays tribute to Yiddish troubadour Nathan “Prince” Nazaroff, who recorded the 1954 Folkways LP “Jewish Freilach Songs”; Hear/read here; MP3) | (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings) |
| Kenny Burrell | “The Road to Love” (MP3) | (HighNote) |
| Vanessa Carlton | “Liberman” (the album is named for her her grandfather’s original surname; first single: “Willows”; Hear here; See here; Read here; Deluxe Edition) | (Dine Alone Music) |
| Tommy Castro & The Painkillers | “Method to My Madness” (producer: Castro; Hear here; MP3) | (Alligator) |
| The Chapin Sisters (daughters of Tom Chapin) | “Today’s Not Yesterday” (producers: The Chapin Sisters, Dan Horne, Jesse Lee; Hear here; MP3) | (Lake Bottom) |
| Cold Fronts | “Forever Whatever” (first single: “Buschleague”; Hear here; MP3) | (Sire) |
| Harry Connick Jr. | “That Would Be Me” (producers: Eg White, Butch Walker; first single: “[I Do] Like We Do”; Hear here; MP3; iTunes) | (Columbia) |
| The Cox Family | “Gone Like the Cotton” (recording sessions began in 1998 but the album was shelved amid label changes at their original label, Asylum; includes a cover of Bread’s “Lost Without Your Love”; producer: Alison Krauss; guests: Sonny Landreth, Sam Bush, Viktor Krauss, etc.; first single: “Good Imitation of the Blues”; Hear here; MP3) | (Rounder) |
| Danny Elfman | “Goosebumps (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (opens in theaters Oct. 16; See here) | (Sony Classical) |
| 5 Seconds of Summer | “Sounds Good Feels Good” (producer: John Feldmann; first single: “She’s Kinda Hot”; Hear here; See here; Deluxe Edition; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition) | (Capitol) |
| Dave Gahan & Soulsavers | “Angels & Ghosts” (first single: “All of This and Nothing”; Hear here; MP3) | (Columbia) |
| Half Moon Run (Montreal quartet) | “Sun Leads Me On” (producer: Jim Abbiss; first single: “Trust”; Hear here; MP3) | (Glassnote) |
| Judith Hill (featured in “20 Feet From Stardom”) | “Back in Time” (producers: Hill, Prince; Hear here; See here) | (NPG) |
| Killing Joke | “Pylon” (Hear here; Deluxe Edition, with five bonus tracks; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition) | (Spinefarm) |
| Like Moths to Flames (Columbus, Ohio, metal-core band) | “The Dying Things We Live For” (producer: Will Putney; first single: “Thrown to the Wind”; Hear here; MP3) | (Rise) |
| The Claire Lynch Band | “Holiday!” (Hear here; MP3; iTunes) | (Thrill Hill) |
| Marianas Trench (Vancouver-based pop-rock quartet; frontman Josh Ramsay co-wrote Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”) | “Astoria” (producer: Ramsay; first single: “One Love”; Hear here; MP3) | (Cherrytree / 604 Records / Interscope) |
| Vinnie Moore | “Aerial Visions” (the UFO guitarist’s eighth studio album; Hear here; MP3) | (Mind’s Eye Music) |
| Shawn Mullins | “My Stupid Heart” (his first album in five years; producer: Lari White; Hear here; MP3) | (Rounder Sugar Hill) |
| Thomas Newman | “He Named Me Malala (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (new documentary on Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai was directed by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim; See here; MP3) | (Sony Classical) |
| Joanna Newsom | “Divers” (her first album in five years; producers: Steve Albini, Noah Georgeson; first single: “Sapokanikan”; See here; MP3) | (Drag City) |
| Kyle Park (Austin-based country singer-songwriter) | “The Blue Roof Sessions” (producer: Park; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Kyle Park Music, Inc.) |
| Pure Bathing Culture | “Pray For Rain” (producer: John Congleton; first single: “Pray For Rain”; Hear here; See here; MP3) | (Partisan) |
| Rod Stewart | “Another Country” (first single: “Love Is”: Hear here; See here; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition) | (Capitol) |
| Chris Tomlin | “Adore: Christmas Songs of Worship” (recorded live at Ocean Way Recording Studios in Nashville; guests: Crowder, Lauren Daigle, All Sons & Daughters; Hear here; MP3) | (sixstepsrecords) |
| Walter Trout | “Battle Scars” (his 18th album chronicles his battle with liver failure and a successful liver transplant; producer: Eric Corne; Hear here; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition) | (Provogue / Mascot Label Group) |
| Carrie Underwood | “Storyteller” (producer: Jay Joyce; first single: “Smoke Break”; Hear here; MP3; iTunes) | (19 Recordings / Arista Nashville) |
| Various artists | “Cold and Bitter Tears: The Songs of Ted Hawkins” (contributors: Kasey Chambers, James McMurtry, Tim Easton, Mary Gauthier, Sunny Sweeney, Gurf Morlix, etc.; Hear/read here; MP3) | (eight 30) |
| Various artists | “Steve Jobs (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (music composed by Daniel Pemberton; MP3) | (Backlot Music) |
| Various artists | “The Peanuts Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (CG-animated film opens in theaters on Nov. 6; original score by Christophe Beck; first single: “Better When I’m Dancin’,” Meghan Trainor; See here; MP3) | (Epic) |
| Various artists | “Rock the Kasbah (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” (Bill Murray-Bruce Willis comedy opens Oct. 23; See here; MP3) | (Varese Sarabande) |
| Vienna Boys Choir | “Merry Christmas from Vienna” (18 songs; guests: Aida Garifullina, Rolando Villazón; MP3) | (Deutsche Grammophon) |
More Releases for Oct. 23, 2015
New Releases (MP3s)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Archie and the Bunkers (Cleveland organ/drums duo) | “Archie and the Bunkers” (Hear here) | (Dirty Water) |
| Aurora (Birmingham, U.K., rock quintet) | “Faith/Breaker” (second single: “Faith/Breaker”; See here) | (In At The Deep End) |
| Beca | “Ecliptic” (Hear/read here) | (Beca, Oct. 22) |
| Chasing Claire (trio from Adelaide, Australia) | “Options EP” (five songs; producer: Nesta Mitchell; first single: “Deadbeat”) | (Chasing Claire) |
| Dresses (Portland, Ore., indie pop duo) | “Let Down” (six-song EP; first single: “Let Down”; Hear here) | (Dresses Music) |
| Malynda Hale | “Pieces of Me” (producers: Kevin Porter, Darren Smith; first single: “Gray”; Hear here) | (Second Season Music Group, Oct. 20) |
| Henkel | “Spaces and Places” (producer: Kevin Henkel; first single: “In Love”; Hear here) | (Henkel Music) |
| Hudson (L.A. rock quartet) | “Cast Out” (five-song EP; first single: “Cast Out”; Hear here) | (Custom, Oct. 21) |
| Little Envy (San Francisco musicians Joseph de los Reyes and Koosh Saxena) | “From Inside My Head” (four-song EP; producer: Beau Burchell of Saosin; first single: “Pill”; Hear here) | (Housework) |
| Billy Morrison (currently plays guitar in Billy Idol’s band) | “God Shaped Hole” (featuring five original songs and five covers; producers: Morrison, Erik Eldenius; guests: Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Navarro, Steve Stevens, Eldenius; first single: “Gods”; Hear here) | (King Mob Music) |
| Denai Moore (Jamaica-born, London-based singer-songwriter) | “Elsewhere” (producers: Rodaidh McDonald, Ben Drew; first single: “Detonate”; Hear here; Import CD) | (Because Music) |
| One Direction | “Perfect” (four-song EP, including a Matoma remix and a Big Payno X Afterhrs remix of “Drag Me Down”) | (Syco Music, Oct. 22) |
| The ReAktion (Santiago, Chile-based alt-rock band) | “Selknam” (second single: “Synchro”; See here) | (The ReAktion / Mainia Recordings) |
| RuPaul | “Slay Belles” (guests: Siedah Garrett, Todrick Hall, Michelle Visagae, Big Freedia, Ellis Miah, Markaholic; Hear here) | (RuCo, Inc) |
| SayWeCanFly (acoustic act Braden Barrie from Lindsay, Ontario) | “Darling” (five-song EP; first single: “Darling”; Hear here) | (Epitaph) |
| Spray Paint | “Dopers” (producer: Chris Woodhouse; Hear here) | (Monofonus Press) |
| STAL (multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer Pierre-Marie Maulini) | “Young Hearts” (first single: “Burning Desire”; Hear here) | (Sony France) |
| Bud Summers | “The Way” (producer: Freddy B; guests: Jason McAtee, Jake McAtee; first single: “That’s Why”; Hear here) | (Fre Lor Sound, Oct. 24) |
More Digital Releases for Oct. 23, 2015
Reissues (CDs / vinyl)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| a-ha | “Stay on These Roads (Deluxe Edition)” (1988 album; remastered, with five bonus tracks and a second CD of demos and live material; MP3), “East of the Sun, West of the Moon (Deluxe Edition)” (1990 album; remastered, with a second CD of demos and live material; MP3), “Memorial Beach (Deluxe Edition)” (1993 album; remastered, with two bonus tracks and a second CD of demos and live material; Read here; MP3) | (Rhino / Warner) |
| Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass | “Christmas Album” (1968 album; remastered) | (Herb Alpert Presents) |
| Basement Jaxx | “Junto Remixed” (revisions by U.K. duo Wayward, Toolroom’s Adrian Hour, Luciano, Sidney Charles, Alex Metric, etc.; Hear here) | (Atlantic Jaxx) |
| Jack Bruce | “Sunshine of Your Love: A Life In Music” (two-CD, 35-song compilation includes the late bassist-vocalist’s work with Cream and solo) | (Polydor / UMe) |
| Climax Blues Band | “Live At The BBC (Rock Goes To College, 1978)” (recorded for the BBC series, “Rock Goes to College” at Birmingham Polytechnic on Nov. 3, 1978) | (Repertoire) |
| Faces | “Stay With Me: Faces Anthology” (two CDs, 36 songs) | (Rhino / Warner) |
| Fairport Convention | “5 Classic Albums” (includes “Fairport Convention,” “What We Did On Our Holidays,” “Unhalfbricking,” “Liege and Lief” and “Full House”) | (Spectrum / UMe) |
| Colt Ford | “Answer to No One: The Colt Ford Classics” (best-of, with new tracks; MP3) | (Average Joes) |
| Steve Hackett | “Premonitions: The Charisma Recordings 1975-1983” (14-disc box set; Read here) | (U.K. – Universal Music Group) |
| Vladimir Horowitz | “Vladimir Horowitz in Recital: The Complete Columbia and RCA Live Recordings 1965-1983 [Box set]” (50 CDs) | (Sony Classical) |
| Kissing the Pink | “Naked: Expanded Edition” (1983 album; remastered, with seven bonus tracks; Read here) | (U.K. – Cherry Red) |
| Level 42 | “5 Classic Albums” (includes “Level 42,” “The Pursuit of Accidents,” “True Colours,” “World Machine” and “Running in the Family”) | (Spectrum / UMe) |
| The Motors | “The Virgin Years” (four-CD box set; Track list) | (U.K. – Virgin) |
| Charlie Rich | “25 All-Time Greatest Hits” | (Varese Vintage) |
| Blake Shelton | “Reloaded: 20 #1 Hits” (MP3) | (Warner) |
| Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs | “Completely Under the Covers [Box set]” (four-CD collection includes all three of their “Under the Covers” albums, 15 bonus tracks and a 48-page booklet; Read here) | (Edsel / Demon Music Group) |
| UB40 | “5 Classic Albums” (includes “Present Arms,” “Labour of Love,” “Baggariddim,” “Labour of Love II” and “Promises and Lies”) | (Spectrum / UMe) |
| Various artists | “BBC Radio 2’s Tracks of My Years With Ken Bruce” (40 tracks selected by Bruce and his guests; Track list) | (U.K. – UMTV) |
| Various artists | “A Chorus Line: 40th Anniversary Celebration (Original Broadway Cast Recording)” (1975 album; remastered, with eight bonus tracks) | (Masterworks Broadway) |
| Various artists | “NOW That’s What I Call Country Christmas” (two CDs) | (NOW) |
| John Williams | “Home Alone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack): 25th Anniversary Edition” (1990 album; remastered; MP3) | (Sony Masterworks) |
| XTC | “Oranges & Lemons (Remixed & Expanded) [CD+ Blu-Ray]” (1989 album; remixed by Steven Wilson in 24bit/96khz LPCM audio; Read here) | (U.K. – DGM / Panegyric) |
More Releases for Oct. 23, 2015
Reissues (MP3s)
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Jeff Beck | “Who Else!” (1999 album) | (Epic) |
| Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, et al | “The Beverly Hillbillies Featuring the Stars of the CBS Network Television Series” (1965 album, with guests Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| for KING & COUNTRY | “Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong. (The Anniversary Edition)” (2014 album, with three bonus tracks) | (Fervent / Word) |
| Jars of Clay | “The Long Fall Back to Earth (Deluxe Edition)” (2009 album; with six bonus tracks) | (Gray Matters) |
| Jigsaw | “Ten Best” (including “Sky High” and “Love Fire”) | (Enterprise Music and Distribution, Oct. 26) |
| Marty Robbins | “Christmas with Marty Robbins” (1967 album), “Come Back to Me” (1982 album) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| Tracey Thorn (of Everything But the Girl) | “Solo: Songs And Collaborations 1982-2015” (34 songs; CD, out Nov. 6) | (Caroline) |
More Digital Releases for Oct. 23, 2015
DVD / Blu-ray
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Bill Bixby, Ray Walston | “My Favorite Martian: The Complete Series [DVD]” (15 discs) | (MPI Home Video) |
| Martha Davis + The Motels | “The Motels Live at the Whisky a Go Go: 50th Anniversary Special [DVD]” (filmed on Jan. 19, 2014; See here; Blu-ray) | (Vesuvio Entertainment) |
| Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, et al | “Back to the Future: The Complete Adventures [DVD]” (nine-disc set contains the film trilogy along with the animated TV series; Blu-ray) | (Universal Studios) |
| Boris Karloff, Thurl Ravenscroft | “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition [DVD]” (1966 animated TV special; Blu-ray) | (Warner Home Video) |
| Lenny Kravitz | “Just Let Go: Lenny Kravitz Live [DVD]” (filmed during his 2014 European Tour; with interviews and rehearsal footage; Blu-ray) | (Eagle Vision) |
| Lynyrd Skynyrd | “(Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) & Second Helping: Live From Jacksonville at the Florida Theatre [DVD]” (filmed in early 2015; See here; Blu-ray) | (Eagle Vision) |
| Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell | “Live [DVD]” | (Rounder) |
| Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, et al | “Jurassic World [DVD]” (2015 film; Blu-ray + DVD) | (Universal Studios) |
| Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, et al | “Point Break [DVD]” (1991 film) | (Warner Home Video) |
More DVD/Blu-ray Releases for Oct. 20, 2015
“Thirty Years of Maximum R&B,” The Who
… “Sounds of Summer: Very Best of The Beach Boys”
… “The Harper Lee Collection: To Kill a Mockingbird + Go Set a Watchman” [Slipcased Edition]
Music Books
| Subject/ Author(s): | Title: | Publisher: |
| The Beach Boys | “The Beach Boys: America’s Band” (Hardcover; author: Johnny Morgan) | (Sterling) |
| Carrie Brownstein (of Sleater-Kinney) | “Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir” (Hardcover; Kindle) | (Riverhead Books) |
| John Cage | “Diary: How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse)” (Hardcover; edited by Richard Kraft and Joe Biel) | (Siglio) |
| Phil Collen (Def Leppard guitarist) | “Adrenalized: Life, Def Leppard, and Beyond” (Kindle; Hardcover; co-author: Chris Epting) | (Atria Books) |
| Bob Dylan | “Bob Dylan – All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track” (Hardcover; authors: Philippe Margotin, Jean-Michel Guesdon; Kindle) | (Black Dog & Leventhal) |
| Brian Epstein | “The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story” (Paperback; author: Vivek J. Tiwary; illustrators: Andrew C. Robinson, Kyle Baker) | (M Press) |
| Mick Fleetwood | “Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac – The Autobiography” (Paperback; co-author: Anthony Bozza) | (Back Bay Books) |
| Greil Marcus | “Real Life Rock: The Complete Top Ten Columns, 1986-2014” (Hardcover; Kindle) | (Yale University Press) |
| Rick Shefchik | “Everybody’s Heard about the Bird: The True Story of 1960s Rock N Roll in Minnesota” (Hardcover) | (University of Minnesota Press) |
| Frank Sinatra | “Sinatra: The Chairman” (Hardcover; author: James Kaplan; Kindle) | (Doubleday) |
| Frank Sinatra | “Sinatra: The Photographs” (Hardcover; author: Andrew Howick; foreword by Barbara Sinatra) | (Abrams) |
| Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band | “Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 1975” (Hardcover; photographs by Barbara Pyle) | (Reel Art Press, Oct. 31) |
| The Who | “The Who: The Official History” (Hardcover; authors: Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Ben Marshall; Kindle) | (Virgin Books, Oct. 27) |
More Book Releases for the Week of Oct. 23, 2015