There are more than 180 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 SHORT LIST
Avicii
Tim
THE PRESS RELEASE: “When Tim Bergling passed away on April 20, 2018, he was close to completing a new album. He left behind a collection of nearly finished songs, along with notes, email conversations and text messages about the music. The songwriters that Tim was collaborating with on this album have continued the process to get as close to his vision as possible. Since Tim’s passing, the family decided not to keep the music locked away – instead they wanted to share it with his fans all around the world. Avicii’s net proceeds from the album will go to the nonprofit Tim Bergling Foundation and the purposes it will work for, among other things, to prevent mental illness and suicide.”
Boots Electric
Eagles Of Death Metal Presents Boots Electric Performing The Best Songs We Never Wrote
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Eagles Of Death Metal’s Jesse “Boots Electric” Hughes is tipping his hat to 13 of his favorite songs with his first covers album, titled Eagles Of Death Metal Presents Boots Electric Performing The Best Songs We Never Wrote. Hughes blasts off with KISS’ God Of Thunder, Guns N’ Roses’ It’s So Easy, AC/DC’s High Voltage / It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘N’ Roll), Love & Rockets’ So Alive, and The Ramones’ Beat on the Brat. He lets the fire get higher on Steve Miller Band’s Abracadabra and delivers a breathtaking turn on George Michael’s Careless Whisper. Hughes’ inspired cover of Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair leads to two songs keeping it in the family: he gives love to his musical brother and EODM co-founder, Joshua “Baby Duck” Homme, and Josh’s wife, Brody Dalle, with his versions of Queens of the Stone Age’s Long Slow Goodbye and The Distillers’ The Hunger. Bringing the album home, Hughes salutes Kenny Rogers & The First Edition’s Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In), Cat Stevens’ Trouble, and David Bowie’s Moonage Daydream, which Hughes recorded in Third Man Records’ Record Booth in Nashville while on tour.”
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings
THE PRESS RELEASE: “A comprehensive anthology of music from the mythic first leg of Bob Dylan’s groundbreaking Rolling Thunder Revue, this 14 CD box set includes all five of Dylan’s full sets from that tour that were professionally recorded. The collection also provides the listener with an intimate insider’s seat for recently unearthed rehearsals at New York’s S.I.R. studios and the Seacrest Motel in Falmouth, MA plus a bonus disc showcasing one-of-a-kind performances from the tour. The collection features 148 tracks in all, with more than 100 of those never previously released. Included in the box set is a 52-page booklet featuring rare and never-before-seen Rolling Thunder Revue photos and a revelatory essay by novelist/musician Wesley Stace. Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings serves as a companion piece to the new film, Rolling Thunder Revue – A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, premiering on Netflix on June 12. Every one of Bob Dylan’s performances in the movie can be found in this boxed set.”
Perry Farrell
Kind Heaven
THE PRESS RELEASE: “This is the noted visionary’s first album of new music in a decade. For the recording of Kind Heaven, the alt-rock icon assembled a dynamic group of artists who together realized the new collaborative musical venture known as Perry Farrell’s Kind Heaven Orchestra. The record, co-produced by Farrell and Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti, features contributions from Dhani Harrison, Elliot Easton (The Cars), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) among others. Kind Heaven is an expansive set of interlinked compositions fused together by Farrell’s electrifying vocals into a rich sonic tapestry. Meticulously interwoven rock, electronic, and symphonic elements combine to yield a compelling tale told through large-scale orchestral scores (courtesy of Hollywood composer Harry Gregson-Williams), intense back-and-forth duets with Etty Lau Farrell, and flourishes of hard guitar with electronic vocal distortions. Farrell’s long-awaited return entrances the listener into a musical adventure grappling with life’s eternal questions and engaging its biggest challenges.”
Jonas Brothers
Happiness Begins
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The biggest comeback of the year just got bigger… As their new singles heat up worldwide, Grammy Award-nominated multiplatinum powerhouse trio Jonas Brothers reveal the news that fans everywhere have waited nearly a decade for. The group will release its first album since 2009 and one of 2019’s most anticipated records, Happiness Begins. The preeminent male group of this century, Jonas Brothers opened the floodgates for a new era of titans in pop music. They earned two number one albums and sold out shows throughout three continents. Selling over 17 million-plus albums with over 1 billion streams worldwide, they’ve achieved dozens of platinum and gold certifications. The tremendous success of the band provided a launch pad for the successful and storied solo careers of Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Kevin Jonas, who have kept loyal fans yearning for a reunion, until now.”
Prince
Originals
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Prince will forever be remembered as a commanding live performer, chart-topping recording artist, and music business revolutionary. Yet for all the time he spent in the spotlight over his four-decade-long career, Prince also worked tirelessly behind the scenes to nurture talent and pen songs for the rising artists he respected. This June, The Prince Estate, in partnership with Warner Bros. Records and TIDAL, will release Originals, a 15-track album featuring 14 previously unreleased recordings that illuminate the vital, behind-the-scenes role Prince played in other artists’ careers. By the mid-1980s, Prince was dominating the charts even as a writer/producer with songs he’d composed and recorded for others. In addition to releasing nine of his most commercially successful full-length albums, he also wrote and recorded endless reels of material for proteges The Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E., Apollonia 6, Jill Jones, the Family, and Mazarati. Sheila E.’s The Glamorous Life reached #1 on the dance charts in 1984, while the enormous success of Manic Monday propelled the single and its accompanying album, The Bangles’ Different Light, to the #2 spot on the pop charts. The Time’s Ice Cream Castle, featuring the top 20 Jungle Love, spent a whopping 57 weeks on the Billboard 200. And in 1991, Martika enjoyed international success with Love… Thy Will Be Done, a top 10 hit in France, Australia, the UK and the USA.”
Santana
Africa Speaks
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Music legend Carlos Santana has amassed an iconic body of work by pioneering a unique fusion of rock, Latin and jazz genres. On his upcoming album, Africa Speaks, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist goes deeper and further than ever before to create one of his most groundbreaking albums yet. Enlisting legendary producer Rick Rubin, Santana and his band convened at Rubin’s Shangri La Studios in Malibu, and recorded an astonishing number of tracks, many of them in one take. Another dramatic element in the creation of Africa Speaks came in the form of Spanish singer Buika, whose heavenly lead vocals cast a magical spell throughout the album.”
Neil Young & Stray Gators
Tuscaloosa
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The previously unreleased, 11-track recording features Neil Young with The Stray Gators recorded live at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa on February 5th,1973. During 1971 – 1973, between solo shows and dates with Crazy Horse, Young would switch up his sound to suit the material he would focus on when touring with The Stray Gators. Comprised of Tim Drummond (bass), Kenny Buttrey (drums), Jack Nitzsche (piano) and Ben Keith (steel guitar) this lineup, most notably, would go onto record Harvest and Times Fades Away. Tuscaloosa features live versions of songs from Young’s self-titled 1969 debut (Here We Are In The Years) plus classic songs from his two most commercially successful album of his early career, After The Goldrush (1970) and Harvest (1972). The album also contains a stunning version of the title track from the live album Time Fades Away that would not surface until later in 1973, as well as songs from the seminal classic Tonight’s The Night that would eventually be released in 1975.”
THE LONG LIST
Aitana | Spolier
Alfred. | Like You!!
Allusinlove | It’s OK to Talk
Ellen Arkbro | Chords
Art Of Fighting | Luna Low
As Cities Burn | Scream Through the Walls
Aurora | A Different Kind of Human (Step II)
Avicii | Tim
Badge Epoque Ensemble | Badge Epoque Ensemble
Elmer Bernstein | Ghostbusters Original Motion Picture Score
Ian Blurton | Signals Through The Flame
Boots Electric | Eagles Of Death Metal Presents Boots Electric Performing The Best Songs We Never Wrote
Hollis Brown | Ozone Park
Adriana Calcanhotto | Margem
Michel Camilo | Essence
Candy Says | You Are Beautiful EP
Ron Carter & Danny Simmons | The Brown Beatnik Tomes: Live at BRIC House
Cave In | Final Transmission
Riccardo Chailly | The Fellini Album: The Film Music of Nino Rota
Che Noir | The Thrill Of The Hunt 2
Chon | Chon
Stef Chura | Midnight
Suzanne Ciana | Flowers of Evil
City & i.o. | Spirit Volume
Combichrist | One Fire
Luke Combs | The Prequel EP
Crimson Apple | Somebody EP
Jamie Cullum | Taller
Charlie Cunningham | Permanent Way
CVN | i.c
Cyro | The Fall of Man
Dinosaur Pile-Up | Celebrity Mansions
The Divine Comedy | Office Politics
Diviner | Realms Of Time
Drowse | Light Mirror
Dumb | Club Nites
Cy Dune | Desert
Bob Dylan | The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings
Earthen Sea | Grass & Trees
Fallulah | All My Eyes Are Open Pt. 1
Folk Family Revival | Electric Darlin
Perry Farrell | Kind Heaven
Firespawn | Abominate
John Floreani | Sin
Foreign Diplomats | Monami
Forever Unclean | Woof
Peter Frampton Band | All Blues
French Vanilla | How Am I Not Myself?
Brandt Brauer Frick | Echo
Froth | Duress
Satoko Fujii | Stone
Jake Xerxes Fussell | Out of Sight
Polo G | Die a Legend
Steven Garcia | The LSDP Singles Collection
Gloria Gaynor | Testimony
Carla Geneve | Carla Geneve
Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac | Before The Beginning: 1968-1970 Rare Live & Demo Sessions
The Grateful Dead | Aoxomoxoa 50th Anniversary Edition
The Grateful Dead | Road Trips Vol. 3 No. 3: Fillmore East 5-15-70
Steve Hackett | Live: Nottingham 1990 Vinyl
Carlie Hanson | Junk EP
Heart of a Coward | The Disconnect
Tim Heidecker | What The Brokenhearted Do…
Haybaby | They Get There
Honeyfitz | I Don’t Need Tennis Lessons, I Need A Therapist
The Hÿss | Hound
Ida Mae | Chasing Lights
Imperial Daze | Surfaces Sensibles
Is Bliss | Strange Communication
Jambinai | Onda
Susan James | Sea Glass
Tommy James | Alive
Whitey Johnson | More Days Like This
Jonas Brothers | Happiness Begins
Rickie Lee Jones | Kicks
Jumex | Loner
Keel Her | With Kindness
Taylor Knox | Here Tonight
Krief | Dovetail
Kuri | No Village
Lamb of God | Ashes of the Wake 15th Anniversary Edition
Scott Laverne | Broke
Dylan LeBlanc | Renegade
Leif | Loom Dream
Lifted | 2
Lite | Multiple
Loamlands | Lez Dance
Low Hum | Room To Breathe
Luckyandlove | Transitions
Lust For Youth | Lust For Youth
Meg Mac | Hope
Eleni Mandell | Wake Up Again
Marillion | Clutching at Straws Vinyl Remix
Kevin Martin | Sirens
The Mattson 2 | Paradise
MaxonMusic | Vertigo 3
The Membranes | What Nature Gives… Nature Takes Away
Merival | Lesson
Moonsign | Everything
Motion City Soundtrack | My Dinosaur Life (Coloured Vinyl)
Motionless In White | Disguise
Motor!k | Motor!k
MOTSA | Perspectives
Jon Mueller | Canto
Mark Mulcahy | The Gus
Nature Of | The Mean
Naytronix | Air
Nebula | Holy Shit
New West | Call Me When You Hear This Song EP
Gary Nicholson | The Great Divide
Ningen Isu | Shin Seinen
Che Noir | The Thrill of the Hunt 2
Northern Pikes | Forest of Love
Norwell | New Physics EP
Ø | Arc 1
Palehound | Black Friday
Pan | Lifted 2
Luciano Pavarotti | Pavarotti: Music From the Motion Picture
Luciano Pavarotti | Pavarotti: The Greatest Hits
Pelican | Nighttime Stories
Peter Perrett | Humanworld
The Pheromoans | County Lines
PicaPica | Together & Apart
Pink Floyd | The Division Bell 25th Anniversary Edition
Pipe-Eye | Inside/Outside
Pixx | Small Mercies
Plaid | Polymer
Prince | Originals
Samuel Proffitt | Good Death EP
Rat Fancy | Stay Cool
Oliver Ray | Out Passed Nowhere
Roadsaw | Tinnitus the Night
The Rolling Stones | Rock and Roll Circus Deluxe Box
RST | RST
Rush | Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland Vinyl Edition
Michel Samson & Rebecca Samson | The Claviorganum & The Violin
Emeli Sande | Real Life
Santana | Africa Speaks
Savant | Mortals
Savoy Brown | City Night
The Seldom Scene | Changes
Peter Serrado | Peter Serrado
Sessa | Greandeza
Shonen Knife | Sweet Candy Power
Signal Aout 42 | Insurrection
Silversun Pickups | Widow’s Weeds
Mariee Sioux | Grief in Exile
$kyhook | Moonchies
Slowness | Berths
Sonic Youth | Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008
Angie Stone | Full Circle
Sound of Urchin | Rejoice & Black Castle Reissues
Stalemate | The Heat of the Sun
Masayuki Takayanagi & New Direction Unit | April is the Cruellest Month Reissue
Anne Tardos | Gatherings
Billy Taylor | Eight Classic Albums 1955-1962
James Taylor | One Man Band Vinyl
Tee Grizzley | Scriptures
John Tejada | Performance Review
Temptress | Temptress EP
Tengger | Spiritual 2
Penelope Trappes | Penelope Redux
Alex Twomey | The Entertainer
Upon A Burning Body | Southern Hostility
Mika Vainio | Arc 1
Vanishing Twin | The Age of Immunology
Various Artists | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 2 Soundtrack
Various Artists | Woody Guthrie: All-Star Tribute Concert 1970 DVD
Casey Veggies | Organic
Velvet Code | Dreamer
Skye Wallace | Skye Wallace
Walshy Fire | ABENG
WASI | Riot Pop
Winona Forever | FeelGood
JoJo Worthington | TCYK (The Company You Keep)
Wovoka Gentle | Start Clanging Cymbals
Yeasayer | Erotic Reruns
Brandee Younger | Soul Awakening
Younghusband | Swimmers
Yohuna | Mirroring
Neil Young & Stray Gators | Tuscaloosa
