The next big wave of April releases. 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 …
7 Worlds Collide, The Sun Came Out: 7 Worlds Collide Again DVD (Cinema Libre)
In 2001, Crowded House frontman Neil Finn organized a series of shows featuring a range of his artist friends (Eddie Vedder, Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Phil Selway and Ed O'Brien of Radiohead, Sebastian Steinberg from Soul Coffin and Lisa Germano) that he recorded and released as later that year as 7 Worlds Collide, also what the musical project came to be known as. Seven years later, Finn invited his friends back to New Zealand, along with KT Tunstall and Wilco, to do it again for 2009's The Sun Came Out. This documentary offers a behind the scenes look at the creative process of the second album. More info about it here. The doc sees its DVD release this week.
Accept, Stalingrad (Nuclear Blast America)
Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls (ATO)
This soul-blues-Southern/garage rock group from Alabama has garnered quite a buzz following the release of their self-titled EP last September; MTV put them on its list of "11 Artists To Watch In 2012" and they nabbed a record deal with Rough Trade in the UK and ATO in the U.S. in November. April 10 marks the release of their much-anticipated debut full-length. Check out the video for "Hold On" below.
Amadou & Mariam, Folila (Nonesuch)
The Malian world-beat husband-and-wife duo's eighth album was recorded in Bamako and New York with special guests including TV On The Radio, Theophilus London, Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, and Santigold, who appears in first single "Dougou & Mariam," hailed by NME as "a chuffing great masterstroke of genre-less genre mixing." Listen below.
Ancestors, In Dreams & Time (Tee Pee Records)
Arkells, Michigan Left (Universal)
The Canadian rock band's Juno-winning debut finally sees its U.S. release.
Attaloss, Attaloss (Rock Ridge Music)
Bob Baldwin, Betcha By Golly Wow: The Songs Of Thom Bell (eOne)
Tim Barry, 40 MileR (Chunksaah)
The gritter singer-songwriter and former Avail frontman issues another solo record and hits town in support on Wed., April 25. Read Scott Harrell's breakdown of the album here.
Bassnectar, Vava Voom (Amorphous)
The Black Seeds, Dust and Dirt (Easy Star)
This many-member multi-platinum New Zealand outfit fuses elements of dub, roots reggae, funk, Afrobeat and soul; this is their follow-up to 2008's Solid Ground. Check out "Pippy Pip" after the jump, along with the rest of this week's entries.
This article appears in Apr 5-11, 2012.