Tons of new releases out this first week of March! I've included info and links for the ones you want to know about most below, plus some other ones you may not have heard of (but should know), with audio & video for your listening and viewing pleasure. Click here to check out releases that dropped over the past few months …
The Alchemist, Rapper's Best Friend 2 (Decon)
Balkan Beat Box, Give (Nat Geo)
The Israeli/NYC trio — Tamir Muskat, Ori Kaplan of Firewater and Big Lazy, and Tomer Yosef — mixes gypsy punk, electro, funk, reggae and world music into a rather appealing beat-driven brew. This is their fourth studio effort. Check out the single "Part of the Glory" below, its video featuring guest spots by, among others, the Hankra dancers breakdance group, Lions Of Zion, and journalist Gila Goldstein.
Tony Bennett, Duets II: The Great Performances (Sony)
A DVD/Blue-Ray companion to the singer's Duets II LP that shows the behind-the-scenes process of the making of the recording amid live song performances.
Andrew Bird, Break it Yourself (Mom & Pop)
Bowerbirds, The Clearing (Dead Oceans)
Brass Tax, Brass Tax Album (Neurotic Yell)
Paul Brown, The Funky Joint (Woodward Avenue)
Ceremony, Zoo (Matador)
Carl Cox, All Roads Lead To The Dancefloor (Intec Digital)
Crushed Stars, In The Bright Rain (Simulacra Records)
The latest from Crushed Stars was recorded with Stuart Sikes (White Stripes, Modest Mouse) and the majority of the album's instrumentation was handled by Todd Gautreau with guests that include drummer Jeff Ryan (St. Vincent, War on Drugs), Howard Draper (formerly of Okkervil River/Shearwater) and Buffi Jacobs (The Polyphonic Spree). Check out "Brighter Now" after the jump along with the rest of this week's new releases, with more video and audio, too.
This article appears in Mar 1-7, 2012.