All posts from September, 2007

It’s yet another big week at record stores, highlighted by new albums from the Foo Fighters and Steve Earle, indie-folk recordings from Iron & Wine, Jose Gonzalez, Tunng, and Devendra Banhart, a solo release from Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, Joni Mitchell’s debut for Starbucks, and much, much more. Here’s a rundown of all of […]

Tags: none

Jay-Z
The rapper surprised music fans today with the announcement that–retired or not–he will release a brand new album this fall. “American Gangster,” inspired by (but not the soundtrack to) the Denzel Washington movie of the same name, will hit stores on November 6th. The disc follow’s last year’s comeback album “Kingdom Come.”
Peter Bjorn & John
The […]

Tags: jay-z, peter bjorn and john

Ryan Adams
Adams fans accustomed to the prolific artist’s usual release schedule will have to make do with a mere EP if they want new material in 2007. The “Follow The Lights” EP (due October 23rd) includes two new songs and several covers.
Beastie Boys
Although the Beasties’ most recent release, “The Mix-Up,” was an instrumental-only affair, that […]

Tags: beastie boys, british sea power, club 8, gorillaz, ryan adams, spiritualized, zack de la rocha

It’s official: this week’s Billboard album sales chart has Kanye West’s “Graduation” in first place, selling a stunning 957,000 copies in its debut week and in the process scoring the 15th highest weekly sales total since 1991 and the biggest debut of the year. As we all know, 50 Cent had threatened to retire if […]

Tags: 50 cent, kanye west, radiohead, spiralfrog

The first song-based solo album for the Sonic Youth frontman since the mid-90s, “Trees Outside the Academy” differs from his band’s output in one major respect: it is almost entirely acoustic. Moore recorded much of the album as a trio with violinist Samara Lubelski and Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelly, and J Mascis also shows […]

Tags: sonic youth, thurston moore

It has been a long time since New York art-punk band Les Savy Fav has released a studio album, but here they are, six years after their last one, with the brand-new “Let’s Stay Friends” (in stores today). Filled with guest stars from the indie-rock community (including members of Fiery Furnaces, Enon, Islands, and Metric), […]

Tags: les savy fav

A Broken Social Scene album in all but name, “Spirit If…” is the first (nominally) solo album for that Canadian collective’s co-founder, Kevin Drew, as well as the first of a planned series of “Broken Social Scene Presents” solo albums. Joining Drew on the disc are many of his Broken Social Scene bandmates, as well […]

Tags: broken social scene, kevin drew

This week’s lengthy slate of new releases due in US record stores tomorrow (September 18) includes albums from The Donnas, James Blunt and Chamillionaire, solo efforts from Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, and a soundtrack album from Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. Indie rock fans can also find new discs from […]

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If you enjoy TV chef/traveler Anthony Bourdain, holiday specials, ugly sweaters, or Queens of the Stone Age–especially in combination–then you won’t want to miss this.
The US release date for PJ Harvey’s next album “White Chalk” has been pushed back one week to October 2nd (it will still arrive in stores on September 24th in the […]

Tags: 50 cent, chromeo, kanye west, led zeppelin, panic at the disco, pj harvey, queens of the stone age

“Watch the Fireworks” is the first solo album for Glasgow’s Emma Pollock, who, along with Alun Woodward, fronted the late indie-rock band The Delgados and co-founded respected record label Chemikal Underground. Delgados fans won’t find anything too atypical here, although “Fireworks” may be a bit more straightforward than Pollock’s efforts with the band.
Is Pollock’s solo […]

Tags: delgados, emma pollock