There are more than 120 albums, EPs and singles being released next week. Mark your calendars and pre-order your favourites — but don’t blame me if things change at the last minute:
THE TOP ALBUMS
Aside from a few country vets and pop stars, there are no A-listers putting out new music next week. So it’s a good week to try out something new. Here are a few options:
Brant Bjork
Jacoozi
A founding father of desert-style stoner rock, Bjork created the legendary Kyuss with high-school classmates Josh Homme and John Garcia — then went on to join the equally awesome Fu Manchu. These days he does his own thing — the latest being his 14th solo album, a long-shelved document of jazz/funk psychedelia which features solo instrumentals he improvised and then recorded piece by piece in 2010. Last one in is a narc.
Jimbo Mathus
Incinerator
Signer-guitarist Jimbo Mathus has released more than 20 albums — both with long-running jazz-blues throwbacks Squirrel Nut Zippers and on his own. I haven’t heard a bad one yet. His latest offering Incinerator seems like it might be a bit of a departure — he plays piano instead of guitar on the tracks, which were cut on the fly in two days and feature guests like Lilly Hiatt and former Zippers fiddler Andrew Bird.
PUP
Morbid Stuff
These scrappy pop-punk troublemakers from Toronto made plenty of friends and admirers with their deservedly acclaimed first two albums — 2013’s self-titled debut and 2016’s The Dream is Over. Their third album appears poised to take them to the next level, based on the quantity and quality of the several preview tracks and videos. Of course, you still get the sense they’d be just as happy to keep touring punk clubs by van.
Johnny Thunders
Madrid Memory
Thunders gigs could be hit and miss. Trust me, I know; I saw him wandering around the stage getting heckled back in the day. But this Spanish gig from 1984 will probably be a keeper. It was recorded (and filmed) on the Heartbreakers reunion tour with former New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, drummer Jerry Nolan and longtime bassist Billy Rath. A set list that includes Personality Crisis, Too Much Junkie Business and Born Too Loose can’t hurt either.
THE FULL LIST
Alma | Have You Seen Her?
Anitta | Kisses
DJ Anz | Invitation to Dance EP
A Time to Stand | Light Years
Aurora | A Different Kind of Huma
Sara Bareilles | Amidst the Chaos
Bella Novela | Incinerate
Brant Bjork | Jacoozi
BlackPink | Kill This Love
David Bowie | Spying Through a Keyhole
Brass Box | The Cathedral
Brightr | Two Sides
Brooks & Dunn | Reboot
Bulow | Crystalline
Cassia | Replica
Ceschi | Sad, Fat Luck
Chen (Exo) | April, and a flower
Cherry Pickles | Cherry Pickles Will Harden Your Nipples
David Chesworth | Layer On Layer
Circa Waves | What’s It Like Over There?
Cities Of Mars | The Horologist
Shana Cleveland | Night of the Worm Moon
Amanda Cook | Point of No Return
Charlotte Cornfield | The Shape of Your Name
Frankie Cosmos | Haunted Items
DJ DB405 | Trillden United
Bryce Dessner | El Chan
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein | Native Son (Original Motion Picture Score)
Rose Elinor Dougall | A New Illusion
The Drums | Brutalism
Joseph Edgar | 2004-2019 Point Picot
Danny Elfman | Dumbo OST
Eluveitie | Ategnatos
Empath | Active Listening: Night on Earth
Exumer | Hostile Defiance
Don Felder | American Rock ‘n’ Roll
Lee Fields & The Expressions | It Rains Love
Glen Foster Group | Party Out There Tonight
Sam Gellaitry | Viewfinder Vol 1: PHOSPHENE
Ioanna Gika | Thalassa
GIRLI | Odd One Out
Girl Unit | Song Feel
Giuda | E.V.A.
Griz | Ride Waves
Gurr | She Says
James Hersey | Innerverse
Bob Hillman | Some Of Us Are Free, Some Of Us Are Lost
Anni Hogan | Lost In Blue
Honey 2 Honey | A Taste Of
IceJJFish | Untitled
Idlewild | Interview Music
Ifriqiyya Electrique | Laylet el Booree
Isasa | Insillo
ITSOKTOCRY | Poshboy
IZ*ONE | HEART*IZ
Jakuzi | Hata Payı
Jaws | The Ceiling
Marc Jordan | Both Sides
Khalid | Free Spirit
Kiefer | Bridges
Kings Kaleidoscope | (The Adventures of) Zeal
Kilffs | Kliffs
Lady Lamb | Even In The Tremor
Lena | Only Love, L
Lissie | When I’m Alone: The Piano Retrospective
Love Unlimited Orchestra | The 20th Century Record Albums (1973-1979)
W. H. Lung | Incidental Music
Quiana Lynell | A Little Love
Mana | Seven Steps Behind
Martha | Love Keeps Kicking
Mary Kate & Trashley | Make a Record
Jimbo Mathus | Incinerator
Mark Matthews | Fizzy Beasts
Reba McEntire | Stronger Than the Truth
Rod Melancon | Pinkville
Mike + The Mechanics | Out of the Blue
MNQN | MNQN
Ernest Moon | Ba-jesus
Moon King | Voice of Lovers
Monsta X | Take.2 We Are Here
Navet Confit | Engagement, Lutte, Clan et Respect
New Order | Movement Definitive Edition
OMA | E in Motion
Kendrick Scott Oracle | A Wall Becomes a Bridge
James Parm | Oh My Darling
Partner | Saturday the 14th
Tayla Parx | We Need To Talk
Patio | Essentials
Periphery | Periphery IV: HAIL STAN
PNL | Deux Freres
Proper Ornaments | Six Lenins
Rozi Plain | What a Boost
Priests | The Seduction of Kansas
Professor Louie & The Crowmatix | Songs of Inspiration
Proper Ornaments | 6 Lenins
PUP | Morbid Stuff
Raketkanon | RKTKN #3
Ratso | Stubborn Heart
Rescue Rangers | Divisive
Michel Rivard | L’origine de mes espèce
Todd Rundgren’s Utopia | Live at the Chicago Theatre
M. Sage | Catch a Blessing
Sharkmuffin | Gamma Gardening
Matt Simons | After the Landslide
Luke Sital-Singh | A Golden State
Skold | Never Is Now
Slowness | Berths
Soundgarden | Superunknown 25th Anniversary Coloured Vinyl
Sparrow Steeple | Tin Top Sorcerer
Ady Suleman | Thoughts & Moments Vol. 1 Mixtape
SUMif | Kinda Real
Ten Tonnes | Ten Tonnes
Johnny Thunders | Madrid Memory Live
Molly Tuttle | When You’re Ready
Gino Vannelli | Wilderness Road
Various Artists | Cleveland Rocks
Vassilikos | Amazing Grey
Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano | FRKWYS Vol. 15: serenitatem
Wilma Vritra | Burd
Waste Of Space Orchestra | Syntheosis
Weyes Blood | Titanic Rising
Whispering Sons | Image
Betty Who | Betty
Sam Wilson | Groundless Apprehensions
Jai Wolf | The Cure to Loneliness
Wormwitch | Heaven That Dwells Within
Justin Wright | Music For Staying Warm
Yung Van | Blackwater
