Here comes the third week of October, with some intriguing releases on tap. 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 see releases from the past several weeks…Annie Lennox, Nostalgia (Blue Note/Universal)
Amaranthe, Massive Addictive (Spinefarm Records)
The Swedish melodic death metal band with power and pop tendencies hits State Theatre on Thurs., Oct. 30.
Blood and Glass, Museum Without Walls (Mirror Mirror)
The debut full-length from Montreal's electro-noir/noise rock/baroque-pop fivesome with a frontwoman, Lisa Moore, who sings in breathy dulcet intones that are as eerie as they are beautifully ethereal when transforming into moody soaring calls over the band's dark, lushly-swelling, sample-strewn instrumentals. "Paper Heart" below.
Eliot Bronson, Eliot Bronson (Saturn 5 Records / Hubbub! Music)
Elliott Brood, Work And Love (Paper Bag Records)
The Budos Band, Burnt Offering (Daptone)
The nine-piece instrumental ensemble hails from New York City and dishes out a particularly '70s evocative blend of Afrobeat, funk, jazz, soul and psychedelic rock n' roll. Budos Band brings a little more drama to their brass-blasted organ-fueled sound as "Burnt Offering" indicates; check the video below and try not to get the fuck down to its urgent driving groove.
Caught On Tape, Full Bleed (Northern Spy Records)
A new outing from the project of Thurston Moore and John Moloney, described as a "volcanic and violent maelstrom" of "gnarly metal-damaged heaviosity and punk-jazz skronk-splattered fury." In his press release about the album, Moore said, "Black Metal is music made by pussies of the lowest order, and we felt it was necessary to investigate this aberrant anti-music behaviour. We feel like the sound and attitude of black metal is a loss of self, life, light and desire in a way where it becomes so negative that a whole new bliss arrives where we become super pussy." Nice.
Cold War Kids, Hold My Home (Downtown)
Long Beach indie rockers Cold War Kids present a follow-up to Dear Miss Lonelypants only a year later and Consequence of Sound is not impressed while Paste sees it as a return to potential greatness, even though an apparently hit-or-miss affair.
Neil Diamond, Melody Road (CMG)
His third marriage has apparently made up feel rather happy about life and the songs on Diamond's 32nd studio album and first LP of original material since 2008's Home Before Dark reflect his optimism. I have to admit, I'm digging the beard he's rocking on the cover, too. Very dignified.
Baxter Dury, It's A Pleasure (Le Label/PIAS)
Ben Howard, I Forget Where We Were (Universal)
Billy Idol, Kings & Queens of the Underground (Kobalt)
The sneering Brit issues his seventh LP, and first (non-holiday) album since 2005's Devil's Playground.
Jukebox the Ghost, Jukebox the Ghost (Yep Roc)
Logic, Under Pressure (Def Jam)
The Memories, Hot Afternoon (Burger Records)
Thurston Moore, The Best Day (Matador)
Nude Beach, 77 (Don Giovanni Records)
Primus, Primus & The Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble (ATO)
Les Claypool, Larry LaLonde and Tim Alexander deliver the first Primus full-length studio album in nearly 20 years. "The idea was to combine the Frog Brigade and Primus, and do this record," Claypool commented in the press statement, continuing, "I think like a good portion of the planet, we were all pretty put off by the remake of the Willy Wonka movie - the Tim Burton version. I really wanted to pay homage to a film [1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder] that was very important to me as a kid and very influential to me musically. So that's what we did. And as opposed to just going in and recording the songs and playing them the way they are in the film, we twisted them up a bit…twisted them up a lot." With this in mind, the band secretly pressed five golden vinyl copies of the record and included them among the thousands of milk chocolate-colored vinyl; each one is redeemable for a pair of free Primus tickets to any show for life. Golden ticket preview here. The support tour lands at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Wed., Nov. 12. I am intrigued, especially in light of "Pure Imagination." Check it below.
Roomrunner, Separate (Accidental Guest)
Taylor Swift, 1989 (Big Machine Records)
Confession: I love that Taylor Swift single, "Shake It Off." It's a perfectly pop-catchy ode - that production totally makes you want to shake your ass, for realz, yo — and I can dig the sentiment ("I'm dancing on my own / I make the moves as I go"). It's something I need to tell myself to do rather frequently. Shake that shit off.
Andrew St. James, The Shakes (Fortune Records)
Tennis System, Technicolour Blind (PaperCup Music)
T.I., Paperwork (Grand Hustle/Columbia)
The ninth studio album from T.T. has already spawned a few radio singles that I don't completely hate ("About the Money" with Young Thug and "No Mediocre" featuring Iggy Azalea) and the rest of the record also features an all-star cast of relevant guests — Chris Brown, The-Dream, Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Nipsey Hussle, Rick Ross, Skylar Grey, Trae tha Truth, Usher, and Pharrell Williams among others. The rather soulful title track with Williams below...
Transit, Joyride (Rise)
Scott Walker and Sunn O))), Soused (4AD)
Jessie Ware, Tough Love (PMR/Friends Keep Secrets/Interscope Records)
Weyes Blood, The Innocents (Mexican Summer)
XERXES, Collision Blonde (No Sleep Records)
Young Statues, The Flatlands Are Your Friend (Run For Cover Records)
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Susan Boyle, Hope
CAVE, Release
Deep Purple, Live in Verona DVD
Emigrate, Silent So Long
Gavin DeGraw, Finest Hour: The Best of Gavin Degraw
Jenn Grant, Compostela
Happy Diving, Weird Dream
Honduras, Break EP
Mark Lanegan Band, Phantom Radio
Little Big Town, Pain Killer
Rene Lopez, Love Has No Mercy EP
The Pen Test, Interstate LP
Slipknot, .5: The Gray Chapter