Spoon Confirms March 'Hot Thoughts' Album Release

Possibly the worst kept secret in recent music history, at least one of the top ten.  On March 17, Matador records will  release the 9th and latest album from Spoon, called 'Hot Thoughts'.

’Hot Thoughts’’ is said to be the bravest, most sonically inventive work of Spoon’s career. With all due respect to earlier efforts that have made the quintet both critically acclaimed and a commercial contender, preconceptions about this band are about to be obliterated. That’s not to say ‘Hot Thoughts’ doesn’t have a requisite supply of infectious earworms but there’s a lyrical bent that’s as carnal as it’s crafty, and a newfound sense of sonic exploration that results in the genre-smasher Spoon have flirted with in the past but not fully consummated.

Co-produced by Spoon and Dave Fridmann and reunited with Matador, with the crackling, incandescent, multi-dimensional backdrop conjured on ‘Hot Thoughts’, the lines between accessible and experimental become non-factors for once and all. It’s pop as high art, delivered with total confidence and focus.

Nada Surf Now Streaming New "Peaceful Ghosts" Album- LISTEN

NADA SURF NOW STREAMING NEW LIVE ALBUM PEACEFUL GHOSTS. Peaceful Ghosts (now available from B&T via Barsuk on CD) came about after frontman and main songwriter Matthew Caws received a surprise email asking about a potential collaborative orchestral project from the Austrian national radio station FM4. A little over a year later, the result is a beautiful recording, culled from two live performances in Vienna and Potsdam early this summer, that covers a broad stylistic range, from James Bond at one extreme to the joy and wonder of Walt Disney at the other, with a whole range of surprises in between. Classics such as the delicate melancholy of "Blonde On Blonde" unfold to surprising new places with soaring countermelodies, while new favorites from You Know Who You Are, including "Rushing" and "Out of the Dark", showcase the power and majesty of the original without losing the lyrical and musical subtlety that has become the hallmark of Nada Surf for the past twenty years. In the summer of 2015, Caws was sitting at his kitchen table in Brooklyn, frantically writing what would become Nada Surf's seventh album, the critically acclaimed You Know Who You Are (2016), when an email arrived that would delight and terrify him.

Once a year, FM4 in Austria chooses an artist for a national orchestral concert that's broadcast across the country, and they reached out to Nada Surf asking if the band would like to be the next. Soon after receiving the FM4 request, the band secured a similar offer from Radio Eins in Berlin to perform live on air with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra, which derives its name from and is affiliated with the legendary Babelsberg Film Studios where notable films such as Metropolis, Dr. Mabuse and The Blue Angel were made. "If we said yes, we'd have to choose a composer to write the parts and then decide which songs he or she should write for. We'd have to decide these things soon. Well, that was out of the question," recalled Caws. "Deciding what kind of Thai curry take-away I should get that evening was about as distant a decision as I could imagine, while the small matters of which songs would go on the new Nada Surf record, who would mix them, what the album would be called and what the final verse of the song I was working on right then would be, loomed ahead. I would try and answer these questions after that curry, but making decisions about a concert months later was more than I could handle."

Fountain of Wayne's Chris Collingwood Sets "Look Park" Release Date

Chris Collingwood, the lead singer of  Fountains of Wayne, will release his debut album, LOOK PARK (via Yep Roc), on July 22, 2016; the loose-limbed psychedelic pop of first track “Aeroplane” premiered today. Listen below from B&T.

LOOK PARK is Chris Collingwood’s first album outside of Fountains of Wayne and was recorded in collaboration with legendary producer Mitchell Froom (Elvis Costello, Crowded House, Suzanne Vega). Shot through with earnest emotion and restless energy, LOOK PARK is unlike anything in Collingwood’s already extraordinary canon, a fact affirmed by his decision to dub both the album and overall project as “Look Park,” the name borrowed from a favorite green space in his hometown of Northampton, MA.

“I don’t like the expression ‘solo record,’” Collingwood says. “It means you don’t have to pay attention to it, that it’s really just a side project. It’s band music and I thought it should have a band name.”

Collingwood returned home after touring the world in support of SKY FULL OF HOLES, unsure of how to proceed. The next three years saw him demoing a slew of new songs with acoustic guitar, keyboards, and spare percussion – tambourines, shakers, and sometimes a full drum kit.

Graham Nash Shares New Tune - "Encore" - listen

Graham Nash's upcoming album, This Path Tonight, marks his first collection of new songs since 2002's Songs for Survivors.  Since then, he's entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Hollies, published his memoirs, launched two tours with CSNY and watched the musical outfit once again dissolve, and separated from his wife Susan after 38 years of marriage.

Apparently, the last fact weighed heavily on Nash's mind when he wrote the tunes for This Path Tonight, which arrives on April 15th.  "This Path Tonight is my emotional journey at this point in my life," he said recently. "Many changes are happening and, as a musician, I'm trying to find the courage to face my future and grab a hold of it. ... My producer Shane Fontayne and I wanted to make a funkier, more intimate feeling and started the album with the song 'This Path Tonight.'"

Order This Path Tonight now from B&T.

Keith Richards Gives Us "Trouble" - Listen

The perennial rocker Keith Richards, after wrapping up the Rolling Stones Zip Code tour, released his first solo tune in years, in preparation for the release of his third solo album in September. 
Give "Trouble" a listen-

THE WEEKND Announces "Beauty Behind the Madness" Release for August 28

Grammy Award-nominated multi-platinum alternative R&B trailblazer THE WEEKND has announced that he will release his anxiously awaited third full-length offering, “Beauty Behind The Madness” via XO/Republic Records on Friday, August 28, 2015.  The album has been one of the most anticipated albums of 2015.

 

2015 has already been a breakout year for THE WEEKND with three tracks currently in the Top 25 of the Billboard Hot 100. The album’s first official single “Can’t Feel My Face” currently sits at #6 while previously released tracks “Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)” and “The Hills” sit at #16 and #23, respectively. “Can’t Feel My Face” continues to remain a fixture in the Top 5 of iTunes Overall Top Songs Chart and it has hit #1 on the iTunes R&B/Soul chart as well as #1 on Shazam USA and Spotify USA chart. “Can’t Feel My Face” is also seeing huge global success with the track debuting Top 5 in over 33 markets including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark and Poland. Written by THE WEEKND and co-produced by pop powerhouse Max Martin, it’s no surprise that the track is already being hailed as the best song of 2015 by outlets like USA Today and Radio.com. The official music video to the track will also debut in the coming weeks. Listen to the tune below, from Baker & Taylor.

James Taylor Releases "Montana" Tune- LISTEN

Today James Taylor debuted a song called "Montana," from his new studio album Before This World.

Before This World is the iconic singer/songwriters first album of new songs since 2002's platinum-selling October Road. Produced by Grammy Award-winner Dave O'Donnell, Before This World features ten songs, nine of which are new James Taylor compositions, and is due out June 16th, 2015 on Concord Records.

Recorded at his home studio TheBarn, in Washington, MA, Taylor enlisted the longtime members of his band for the sessions including bassist Jimmy Johnson, drummer Steve Gadd, guitarist Michael Landau, keyboardist Larry Goldings, percussionist Luis Conte, fiddler and vocalist Andrea Zonn and vocalists Arnold McCuller, David Lasley and Kate Markowitz. Taylor also called on close friends Yo-Yo Ma and Sting to add their remarkable talent to the new album, (Ma's cello is heard on "You And I Again" and "Before This World"; Sting added vocals to "Before This World.") Additionally, Taylor's wife Kim and son Henry sing harmony on "Angels Of Fenway" and the classic folk tune "Wild Mountain Thyme."

Read more at http://sceneandheardav.blogspot.com/2015/04/james-taylor-announces-before-this.html

James Taylor Announces "Before This World" Release

Five-time GRAMMY Award winner James Taylor will release Before This World, the legendary singer/songwriter’s first album of new songs since 2002’s platinum-selling October Road.  Produced by Grammy Award-winner Dave O’Donnell, Before This World features ten songs, nine of which are brand new James Taylor compositions, and is due out June 16, 2015 via Concord Records.

In addition, the special 2-Disc CD/DVD Before This World Deluxe Edition includes the full-length album on CD plus "There We Were: The Recording of James Taylor’s Before This World,” a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the album on DVD. Through studio footage and interviews (including Taylor and album guests Sting and Yo-Yo Ma) this beautifully rendered 30-minute film provides an intimate look into Taylor’s creative process and the recording of this landmark album.

Recorded at his home studio The Barn, in Washington, MA, Taylor enlisted the longtime members of his band for the sessions including bassist Jimmy Johnson, drummer Steve Gadd, guitarist Michael Landau, keyboardist Larry Goldings, percussionist Luis Conte, fiddler and vocalist Andrea Zonn and vocalists Arnold McCuller, David Lasley and Kate Markowitz. Taylor also called on close friends Yo-Yo Ma and Sting to add their remarkable talent to the new album, (Ma’s cello is heard on "You And I Again” and "Before This World”; Sting added vocals to "Before This World.”)  Additionally, Taylor’s wife Kim and son Henry sing harmony on "Angels Of Fenway” and the classic folk tune "Wild Mountain Thyme.”

Alabama Shakes New "Sound & Color" Out April 21

Alabama Shakes has announced the April 21, 2015 release of their new album Sound & Color via ATO Records, and now you can stream the first single “Don’t Wanna Fight”. Listen to it below, and order the album for your library.

“We took our time to write this record, and I’m really glad we did,” says Brittany Howard, lead singer and guitarist of Alabama Shakes, about the band’s new album Sound & Color. “We were able to sit down and think about what’s exciting to us, explore all the things we wanted to on our first album. This record is full of genre-bending songs – it’s even harder now when people ask, ‘What kind of band are you?’ I have no clue.

Listen to Rhiannon Giddens New "Tomorrow Is My Turn" Album

Rhiannon Giddens' debut solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, is due out next Tuesday, February 10, via Nonesuch Records. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the new album is streaming in full all this week as an NPR First Listen. Tomorrow Is My Turn, produced by T Bone Burnett, features a broad range of songs from genres as diverse as gospel, jazz, blues, and country, including works made famous by Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Odetta, and Nina Simone. "It's a scrupulously selected, richly realized collection of songs," writes NPR's Ann Powers.

"Tomorrow Is My Turn tells the story of how songs become crucial through certain performances that take them somewhere beyond their origin points. Giddens responds to these performances with highly nuanced, sometimes theatrical, always personal readings of her own, presenting an alternative history of folk and popular music that's particularly appropriate for today." Powers later concludes: "Though she didn't write most of these songs, Giddens owns them on Tomorrow Is My Turn ... Her voice—mobile, intelligent, ready to talk back to anyone's presumptions—is always at the center here, guiding the story. Let me be the first to say it: Today is Rhiannon Giddens' turn." Read more and listen to the complete album, streaming now here

Kenny G's "Brazilian Nights" CD Out Now

Kenny G has had one of the most eclectic and dominant careers the music business has ever seen. He's maintained a high level of creative excellence through decades of unprecedented commercial success by never allowing himself to stay in one place too long. That reputation for musical curiosity stays well intact on his fourteenth studio album Brazilian Nights, out now via Concord Records.

 "I've been in love with bossa nova my whole life," says the saxophonist in the album's liner notes. "I think the first song that 'won me over' was Cannonball Adderley's version of "Quiet Nights." And more recently I've been listening (non-stop!) to Stan Getz's album called Getz for Lovers. I think I've listened to that record almost every day for the past 5 years and it really was the inspiration in making this album. My goal was not only to make a bossa nova album that pays tribute to the "Masters" who I've been listening to (Cannonball Adderley, Paul Desmond and Stan Getz) but also to write and record original bossa novas that I hope can 'hold their own' in this distinguished company. I humbly say that I feel we've succeeded."