Panic! at the Disco's "Death of a Bachelor" Out Now

This week, Panic! At The Disco released their highly anticipated fifth studio album, Death Of A Bachelor (Fueled By Ramen/DCD2 Records), which shot up the charts as soon as it came out! The

album that has been heralded a most anticipated 2016 release by Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, Forbes, FUSE and more. The album is now available worldwide – libraries, click here to purchase “Death Of A Bachelor” now via Baker & Taylor at Titlesource 360 .

The band will also bring their theatric spectacle across the United States this summer as they co-headline an expansive 40+city tour with Weezer. The Weezer & Panic! At The Disco Summer 2016 Tour will feature special guest Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness hitting major markets like Miami, Atlanta, Dallas and many more.

Death Of A Bachelor is the follow up album to Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die! which made a top 2 debut on the SoundScan/Billboard 200 upon its 2013 release. The new album features current single “Victorious” which launched at No. 1 overall and on Billboard + Twitter’s Trending 140 charts just hours after its release while also accumulating over 24 million plays. Previously released track “Hallelujah” has since accumulated almost 50 million streams to date. Musically, the album is a powerhouse full of boisterous anthems with huge choruses, slick production, and compelling samples. In frontman Brendon Urie’s words, the album sounds like Frank Sinatra taught DJs to write rock ‘n roll.

2016 New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic to Get CD, DVD & Blu-ray Release

Sony Classical is pleased to announce the CD and DVD/BD releases of the recording of one of the world's most famous classical music events: the 2016 New Year's Concert with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons. The live recording will be available on January 22. The DVD and Blu-ray will be available on February 5 from Baker & Taylor AV.

Few other concerts can claim to generate such tremendous international interest as the New Year's Concert from Vienna. Under the direction of some of the leading conductors of our day the Vienna Philharmonic rings in the New Year with a gala concert that is broadcast from the magnificent setting of the Golden Hall in Vienna's Musikverein to over ninety countries around the world and watched by more than fifty million viewers. The 2016 New Year's Concert is conducted by the maestro Jansons, the third time that he has presided over this event. He made his acclaimed debut in 2006, before returning six years later for a concert that was described by the Viennese daily Der Kurier as "a red-letter day in the annals of music" and as "one of the finest concerts of recent decades," a concert worthy of being "ranked alongside the legendary New Year's Concerts under Karajan and Kleiber." Jansons made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1992, and since then he has been one of those select conductors with whom the orchestra feels a particularly close bond.

Sony Classical Announces "Kung Fu Panda 3- Music from the Motion Picture" CD Release

Sony Classical has announced the release of the Kung Fu Panda 3 - Music From The Motion Picture on CD January 22, 2016. The album features the film's original score by Academy Award

winner Hans Zimmer (Interstellar, Man of Steel), who previously co-composed the score for Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2. DreamWorks Animation will release the film Kung Fu Panda 3 nationwide in theaters on January 29, 2016, DVD/BD release date is tbd.

"Working on these films has always been such a treat, and this latest installment is no exception. I'm thrilled to be back for Kung Fu Panda 3, and can't wait to share that excitement with audiences and families everywhere," said Zimmer. 

No stranger to composing for animated films, Hans Zimmer earned an Academy Award® for the 1995 film The Lion King. His animated film credits also include the previous Kung Fu Panda films (co-composed with John Powell), the Madagascar films, Rango, Megamind, and The Simpsons Movie. Some of Zimmer's most notable works include his scores for Rain Main, Driving Miss Daisy, Thelma & Louise, Crimson Tide, The Thin Red Line, Gladiator, Mission: Impossible II, Hannibal, Pearl Harbor, Tears of the Sun, Spanglish, The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, The Da Vinci Code, Frost/Nixon, and The Lion King, for which he won the Academy Award. Upcoming projects include Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Little Prince, and Inferno.

NOW That's What I Call Rock! CD Announced

NOW That's What I Call Rock!, the latest installment in the massively popular NOW multi-artist Friday, January 22, 2016 from Universal Music Group and their joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment. .  The new NOW Rock collection gives music fans the opportunity to enjoy a carefully curated eclectic selection of chart-topping best-selling hits. The anthology brings together a variety of acts spanning the spectrum of contemporary rock music to create an all-encompassing listening experience. NOW Rock offers something for every rock music fan, from alternative to hard rock, providing a panoramic view of the current rock soundscape.

hits anthology series, will be released on

NOW Rock also includes a new installment of NOW's enormously-popular "What's Next" developing artist initiative, debuting up-and-coming new artists who represent the future of the rock genre. First launched as a bonus feature on NOW That's What I Call Music! Vol. 32, NOW's "What's Next" has introduced a number of major developing artists to the NOW audience with proven successes including Walk The Moon, Hot Chelle Rae, Hunter Hayes, Capitol Cities, A Great Big World, Shawn Mendes and others.

JD Souther's "John David Souther" Re-issued by Omnivore

Before he was co-writing #1 Eagles hits like “Best Of My Love,” “New Kid In Town,” and

“Heartache Tonight” with Glenn Frey and Don Henley, JD Souther formed Longbranch / Pennywhistle with Frey when they were roommates. Their downstairs neighbor was a fellow by the name of Jackson Browne, who took Souther to audition for his boss, David Geffen, who had recently formed the Asylum Records label. After hearing two songs, Geffen told Souther to “go make a record.” And, that’s exactly what he did.

John David Souther arrived in 1971, and was immediately a critical success and established Souther as a, if not the songwriter to watch. (He would later be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame 42 years later…)

Co-produced by Souther and Fred Catero (who had recently finished Santana’s Abraxas), John David Souther featured 10 originals;  all stunning, and many of which would be covered by artists like Bonnie Raitt (“Run Like A Thief”) and his old friends the Eagles, who released “How Long” as the first single from their 2007 comeback and multi-platinum smash, Long Road Out Of Eden.

Tedeschi Trucks Band Out With "Let Me Get By" on 1/29

On January 29, 2016 the Tedeschi Trucks Band, led by the husband-and-wife team of singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi and guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks, will cap an extraordinary and transformative year with the release of Let Me Get By, their third full-length album and debut for Fantasy Records. Listen to the lead album track "Anyhow” below from B&T.

In addition, the special, 2-Disc deluxe version of Let Me Get By includes an 8-track bonus disc featuring live recordings from the legendary Beacon Theatre in New York City, alternate mixes, early song takes and additional studio material, along with an expanded booklet containing exclusive studio and live photos, all housed in a custom-designed vintage amp box (photo attached). The 10-track standard version and 18-track deluxe version are both available for pre-order

Recorded at Swamp Raga Studios, the band’s home studio in Jacksonville, Florida, Let Me Get By is an absorbing, self-assured, artistic leap forward. Playing with an economy of power and uncommon grace, the 12-piece outfit—one of the most deeply skilled and admired musical ensembles in the world—explores themes of independence, love and release.

Let Me Get By is an album of firsts; in addition to being the first TTB record Trucks produced on his own, and the first on which he and Tedeschi wrote all the songs within the TTB family, it’s Trucks’ first album since his 15-year run as a member of the Allman Brothers concluded when the group disbanded last year. In Trucks’ own words, "That’s what I hear in the music on this new album - this feeling that we’re now putting 100% of what we have into this band, not going back to anything else, everyone giving it their all.”

Yanni Announces "Sensuous Chill" Album, DVD/Blu-ray and PBS Special

Global superstar Yanni announces a new album and PBS Special with corresponding DVD and Blu-Ray. His new album, SENSUOUS CHILL, is available worldwide via Sony Music Masterworks imprint Portrait Records on January 29, 2016. His new PBS Special - YANNI: THE DREAM CONCERT - LIVE FROM THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT – will air nationwide in March. A DVD and Blu-Ray of the special will be available as well.

SENSUOUS CHILL comes mere weeks after Yanni made history with two sold out performances at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Yanni's first new release since 2014's chart-topping INSPIRATO, the album features Yanni exploring new realms of sound and creativity inspired by his extensive world travels. Tracks like 'Rapture' and the bhangra-spiced 'Dance For Me' are among the most physically stimulating on SENSUOUS CHILL offering a new sonic perspective on his adventures and experiences amidst myriad aspects of global culture.

Raffi Announces January 15 Release for "Owl Singalong" CD

For four decades, children's troubadour Raffi has been the world’s best-selling and most influential

children's entertainer, delighting successive generations of kids and their parents with his playful, exuberant personality and his irresistibly infectious songs.

Owl Singalong is the latest masterful children’s recording from Raffi, featuring 16 new songs incorporating a range of styles and a variety of instruments including strings, horns and ukulele. Raffi entertains his young fans with exuberant, infectious new tunes such as"More We Sing Together" and "Dog on the Bus," sings in Spanish on "Somos El Barco" and in French on "Dans La Forêt Lointaine.”

He pays tribute to the late folk-music icon Pete Seeger with "Garden Song" and a rollicking spoken-word rendition of the beloved African folk tale "Abiyoyo.”  The children’s voices on this album are a total delight. 

David Bowie's New Album "Blackstar" Available to Order

David Bowie’s new album ★ (pronounced Blackstar) is now available for pre-order.  The ★ album will be released January 8, 2016 on Iso/Columbia Records on CD, and a stunning die-cut vinyl LP package;  a video of the vinyl LP can be seen below. 

 

The album’s title track and first single released globally yesterday, November 19, 2015 and the single and film will premiere worldwide today in venues ranging from special theatrical premiere screenings presented in cooperation with Noisey at the Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn to a USA broadcast premiere on Palladia. 

 

The full ★ short film was made available as well.  Check it out-
 

 

photo - Jimmy King

David Bowie Plans "Blackstar" January 2016 Release

Classic rocker, and icon David Bowie is planning the release of a new album in January 2016, called “Blackstar,” according to reports.

Bowie put together the seven-tune collection at New York City’s Magic Shop studio with the assistance of several local jazz musicians, according to the Times.  It will be out on January 8, 2016 via ISO/Columbia.  The lead single, also called “Blackstar,” will release on November 19.  The song will be featured in “Lazarus,” a musical the Thin White Duke is co-writing with Enda Walsh.  The track is also used as the theme for UK crime series “The Last Panthers”.

The Times classifies the new LP as “an album of long, jazzy jams mixed with the kind of driving beat pioneered by Seventies German bands Can and Kraftwerk.”  The album is also said to include influences of “Gregorian chants, a soul section, various electronic beats and bleeps and Bowie’s distinctive vocals,” making for a record that a quoted Bowie insider describes as “completely bonkers.”

Bowie’s last full-length album, “The Next Day,” released in 2013.  The timing of  “Blackstar” January 8 release coincides with Bowie’s 69th birthday, January 16, 2016.