The next round of releases for the month of May. Some of these actually came out yesterday (Coldplay, The Roots, a bunch of others), but for the purposes of this post, let's just pretend everything came out today, shall we? Info and links for releases 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 see releases from the past several weeks…
Archie Bronson Outfit, Wild Crush (Domino)
The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Revelation (A. Records)
The first BJM album fully recorded and produced at frontman Anton Newcombe's recording studio in Berlin; this is the 14th release overall from the genre-busting outfit. (Album cover at left).
Haley Bonar, Last War (Graveface)
The fifth full length from the Manitoba-bred pop rock songstress is pretty, catchy, bright and fun. She's collabed with the likes of Dave King, Andrew Bird and Justin Vernon. "Don't you love a man who cries, o" she sings in first single "No Sensitive Man," which you can check out after the jump, along with the rest of this week's new releases. If you like what you hear, you can stream her album in full at NPR.
Brody Dalle, Diploid Love (Caroline)
[Digital release April 29]
California Breed, California Breed (Frontiers/Universal)
Chatham County Line, Tightrope (Yep Roc)
Cherry Ghost, Herd Runners (PIAS America)
Coldplay, Ghost Stories (Parlophone)
Comet Control, Comet Control (Tee Pee Records)
The Everymen, Givin' Up On Free Jazz (Ernest Jennings Record Co.)
Brantley Gilbert, Just As I Am (VALORY)
Green Day, Demolicious (Reprise Records)
The latest Green Day offering consists of a collection of 18 demos recorded at Jingletown Studios in Oakland, Calif., in 2012 during the sessions for the band's Green Day ¡Uno!, Green Day ¡Dos!, Green Day ¡Tré! album trilogy.
Hedley, Wild Life (Capitol)
Jolie Holland, Wine Dark Sea (ANTI)
Kate Tempest, Everybody Down (Big Dada)
Mr. Scruff, Friendly Bacteria (Ninja Tune)
British producer/DJ Andy Carthy aka Mr. Scruff mixes funk, soul and electro in his latest, which is, in his own words "tougher, sparser, less samples, more bass. More vocals and collaborations and shorter tunes." Check the video for "Render Me" featuring Denis Jones below, featuring Carthy's distinctive "potato style" cartoon drawings.
Aaron Neville, For The Good Times: The Allen Toussaint Sessions (Fuel)
Conor Oberst, Upside Down Mountain (Nonesuch)
Another solo outing by the prolific Bright Eyes leader; his sixth solo outing features several of his musician friends, including producer Jonathan Wilson, engineer Andy LeMaster, bassist Macey Taylor, multi-instrumentalist Blake Mills, and the Swedish folk-rock vocal duo First Aid Kit.
Phillip Phillips, Behind The Light (Interscope)
Plaid, Reachy Prints (Warp)
PUJOL, Kludge (Saddle Creek)
RBTS WIN, Palm Sunday Deluxe Edition (self-release)
The Roots, …And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (Def Jam)
Thank goodness for a new Roots album! The follow-up to 2011's Undun is also a conceptual work but with a more satirical bend. Black Thought explained it in a February interview with XXL: “it’s another concept album in the spirit of Undun, but it’s not just about just one kind of character, we create quite a few different characters in this record. It’s satire, but in that satire it’s an analysis of some of the stereotypes perpetuated in not only the hip-hop community, but in the community. I don’t know if that makes any sense.” Check the video for "When the People Cheer" below.
Emma Ruth Rundle, Some Heavy Ocean (Sargent House)
Sad Brad Smith, Magic (self-release)
SBTRKT, Transitions II (Young Turks)
Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Goin' Home (Concord)
Smoke Fairies, Smoke Fairies (10 Spot)
Tearjerker, Hiding EP (SQE)
Toumani Diabaté and Sidiki Diabaté, Toumani & Sidiki (Nonesuch)
Trans Am, Volume X (Thrill Jockey)
White Sea, In Cold Blood (Crush Music)
[Morgan Kibby solo Project]
Yann Tiersen, ∞ (Infinity) (Mute)
Zero Boys, Monkey (Z-Disk)
