Week two of new releases in 2014! 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.
Ante Meridian, Sons Of Heaven (Autumn + Colour)
Lee Bannon, Alternate Endings (Ninja Tune)
The debut release from the NYC-by-way-of-Sacramento experimental hip hop producer best known for his work with Joey Bada$$ on Summer Knights; actual release date Jan. 13.
Black Knights, Medieval Chamber (Record Collection)
John Frusciante produces the new album by this Los Angeles hip-hop duo, who met Rugged Monk and Crisis The Sharp Shooter via their Wu Tang mentor RZA. Listen to "Trickfingers Playhouse" after the jump and find out about the rest of this week's new releases...
Mary Chapin Carpenter, Songs From The Movie (Zoe/Rounder)
The singer-songwriter's debut orchestral release features new interpretations of 10 Carpenter tunes, including "Between Here and Gone" and "Come On Come On," and was arranged and conducted by six-time Grammy winner Vince Mendoza (Sting, Elvis Costello, Björk).
Rosanne Cash, The River & The Thread (Blue Note)
Cash’s first album on Blue Note and follow-up to 2009's The List is composed of 11 original songs she co-wrote with longtime collaborator (and husband) John Leventhal, also the album's producer, arranger and guitarist. According to the release, "The River & The Thread is sweeping in its breadth, capturing a unique, multi-generational cast of characters — from a Civil War soldier off to fight in Virginia to a New Deal-era farmer in Arkansas to a contemporary Mobile, AL couple. While Cash and Leventhal found inspiration in the many musical styles associated with the South — swampy Delta blues, gospel, Appalachian folk, country and rock, to name a few — this is a completely contemporary collection" Among the guests: Kris Kristofferson, John Prine, Derek Trucks, John Paul White (The Civil Wars), and Gabe Witcher (The Punch Brothers). "A Feather's Not a Bird" below.
Cherry Glazerr, Haxel Princess (Burger Records)
Spinpraised the Cali trio about their first full-length, which got the buzz going in earnest. Title track below.
The Crystal Method, The Crystal Method (Tiny e)
The Dead Weather, "Open Up (That's Enough)" / "Rough Detective" (Third Man Records)
The digital release of two brand new studio recordings from The Dead Weather (Jack White, Alison Mosshart, Dean Fertita and Jack Lawrence), the first of a series of two-song sets the foursome will release leading up to 2015, at which point all the singles along with various other tracks will be grouped onto a full album.
Fox & The Bird, Darkest Hours (self-release)
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Give The People What They Want (Daptone)
Mark Lanegan, Has God Seen My Shadow? An Anthology 1989-2011 (Light In The Attic)
Actual release date Jan. 13.
Lanterns on the Lake, Until The Colours Run (PIAS America)
US release
Lone Justice, This Is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes 1983 (Omnivore Recordings/Universal)
James Vincent McMorrow, Post Tropical (Dine Alone)
A singer-songwriter with an epic high falsetto issues his sophomore full-length that he wrote, produced and performed all on his own on a pecan farm half a mile from the Mexican border, crafted slowly and spontaneously from hundreds of non-linear sound files and lyric pages. As he's put it, "I wanted to give this record the feel and movement of the R&B records that I love." Video for "Red Dust" below.
Mustard Plug, Can't Contain It (No Idea Records)
Jennifer Nettles, That Girl (Universal Nashville)
Debut solo album from the Sugarland singer.
Number One Gun, This Is All We Know (Tooth & Nail Records)
Painted Palms, Forever (Polyvinyl)
POW!, Hi-Tech Boom (Castle Face)
Railroad Earth, Last of the Outlaws (Black Bear)
Sleepy Kitty, Projection Room (Euclid Records)
Silent Lions, The Compartments EP (Nah Collective)
Bruce Springsteen, High Hopes (Columbia)
The 18th studio album from America's favorite heartland rocker isn't in his usual grand scope, but is a collection of off-cuts, covers and reworkings. So far, the reviews that have been coming in seem to be a cross between love and pan. Pitchfork.com gave it a low 4.0— no real surprise there — and it also failed to impress the Chicago Tribune (2 out of 4 Stars), but The Guardian called it "a slice of the Boss at his best" and Billboard seemed to dig it, too.
Supersuckers, Get the Hell (Acetate)
Switchfoot, Fading West (Atlantic)
You Blew It!, Keep Doing What You're Doing (Topshelf Records)