This third week of January releases is a big one. I've curated a list with 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…Above & Beyond, We Are All We Need (Ajunabeats/Ultra Music)
Aqualung, 10 Futures (BMG)
The artist otherwise known as Matt Hales presents an adventurous new sixth album and follow-up to 2010's Magnetic North, despite announcing he was done with Aqualung after its release. He used all he learned in producing and writing for other artists like Jason Mraz, Alex Clare, Birdy, Paloma Faith and Rihanna collaborator Mikky Ekko fueled the set of songs that are on 10 Futures. Seven of the 10 tracks feature guests, among them, Glaswegian electro trio Prides and art-rock band Sweet Billy Pilgrim, and Australian singer Josef Salvat. "Eggshells" featuring Lianne La Havas La Havas below.
Alex Calder, Strange Dreams (Captured Tracks)
[Physical release]
BC Camplight, How To Die In The North (Bella Union)
Belle & Sebastian, Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance (Matador)
Ryan Bingham, Fear And Saturday Night (Axster Bingham Records)
Cloakroom, Asymmetrical (Run for Cover Records)
The Decemberists, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World (Capitol)
Hanni El Khatib, Moonlight (Innovative Leisure)
Erase Errata, Lost Weekend (Under The Sun Records)
The all-female post-punk trio (Jenny Hoyston on vocals, guitar, trumpet, Ellie Erickson on bass and Bianca Sparta on drums) from San Francisco returns after a four-year hiatus with a new set of songs. Check out the dissonant slinking, trumpet-bumping track "History of Handclaps" below.
Fall Out Boy, American Beauty/American Psycho (DCD2/Island Records)
Joey Bada$$, B4.DA.$$ (Cinematic Music Group)
After putting out several well-regarded mixtapes before he was even legal, the Brooklyn emcee presents his full-length debut on his 20th birthday. He brought on a venerable cast of producers to back his raps, including Statik Selektah, The Roots, DJ Premier, J Dilla, Basquiat and Lee Bannon. Check out grooving bonus track "Teach Me" with Kiesza, produced by Chuck Strangers & ASTR, below.
Lupe Fiasco, Tetsuo & Youth (Atlantic/First and Fifteenth)
Marilyn Manson, The Pale Emperor (Cooking Vinyl)
Mikky Ekko, Time (RCA)
The guest singer-songwriter who guested on Rihanna's 2013 track "Stay" issues a full-length first that features collabs with Dave Sitek, Jeff Bhasker, Stargate, Dennis Herring and Clams Casino, among others. Check out Blood Diamonds-produced cut "U" which pits Ekko's sublime R&B-silky falsetto against down-tempo, stripped back electro production.
Jack Name, Weird Moons (Castle Face)
Another dark, idiosyncratic artist to come off the Castle Face label. According to the release, this album was recorded in a room "with mirrored walls, moth eaten shades pulled low to block the sun’s brutal radiation and the howls of the urchins 60 stories below ... Under the faithful and loving eyes of two canine familiars comes this vintage tasting laser beam." Yup. take a listen to scuzzy first single "Watcher Talk" below.
Red Baraat’, ‘Gaadi of Truth’ (Sinj Records),
A spirited eight-piece brass-fueled groove-vibing world music ensemble from Brooklyn that NPR called the "best party band in years" for their blend of bhangra rhythms, jazz, go-go, brass funk, and hip-hop. Listen to "Bhangra Pirates" below.
The Sidekicks, Runners In The Nerved World (Epitaph)
Sleater-Kinney, No Cities To Love (Sub Pop)
Viet Cong, Viet Cong (Jagjaguwar)
Wildhoney, Sleep Through It ( Deranged/Forward! Records)
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK
Amen Dunes, Cowboy Worship EP
Bandit, Of Talk
Cloak Room, Further Out
David Strange, David Strange EP
Disappears, Irreal
Alan Doyle, So Let's Go
Elephant Micah, Where In Our Woods
Enter Shikari, The Mindsweep
Evoke, Withdrawal
Grand Vapids, Guarantees
Derek Grant, Breakdown
Man Without Country, Maximum Entropy
Mord Fustang, 9999 in 1
Moritat, High Plus Tight
Night Riots, Howl EP
Night Terrors of 1927, Everything’s Coming Up Roses
Sally Seltmann, We Are the Music
Sick Feeling, Suburban Myth
Siskiyou, Nervous
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Euclid
The Waterboys, Modern Blues
Wu-Block, Hidden Gems