Music Monday (12/1): This Week's New Albums + Videos
This week's new album releases
Each title listed below will go on sale beginning Tuesday, December 2 unless otherwise indicated.
Mary J. Blige
. The London Sessions
For her first non-holiday, non-soundtrack album in three years, the R&B star indeed traveled to London to write and record with some of that city's top talent. The dozen tracks on The London Sessions include collaborations with Disclosure, Emeli Sande, Sam Smith, and more, and also finds Blige moving to Capitol Records from sister label Interscope.
Pixies
Doolittle 25 3xCD
Pixies' 1989 classic gets a greatly expanded reissue in honor of its 25th anniversary. In addition to the original album, this 3-disc, 50-track set includes two Peel Sessions, six B-sides, and 22 demos—the bulk of which have never previously been released.
She & Him
Classics
The duo of M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel jump to a major label (Columbia Records) for the first time for Classics, their fifth album. The pair put their new resources to good use, enlisting a 20-piece orchestra to provide a backing for these 13 covers and standards, including "Unchained Melody," "Stars Fell on Alabama," and "Stay Awhile."
Wu-Tang Clan
. A Better Tomorrow
Expected to arrive last year in honor of the hip-hop collective's 20th anniversary, Wu-Tang's sixth studio album (and first since 2007's 8 Diagrams) hit a few snags along the way, most famously due to a rift (since repaired) between RZA and Raekwon. A Better Tomorrow finally drops, well, tomorrow, courtesy of new label Warner Bros., but critics so far find it to be a sub-par outing.
Yo La Tengo
Extra Painful 2xCD/2xLP
This reissue of the band's 1994 (and best?) album Painful adds a disc of extras that include demos, live tracks, and a few unreleased recordings, plus (in the vinyl version) a reproduction of the non-album single for "Shaker." The physical releases (rather than the digital release) also include a download code for 15 additional bonus tracks.
Additional releases
- AC/DC . Rock or Bust First album of new material in six years
- Beacon L1 EP
- Bonobo Flashlight EP
- Neneh Cherry Blank Project 2xCD Deluxe reissue of her latest album adds a disc of remixes
- Leonard Cohen Live in Dublin 3xCD+DVD/3xCD+Blu-ray Three-hour concert recorded in 2013
- Descendents FILMAGE: The Story of DESCENDENTS/ALL DVD/Blu-ray New home video release of the documentary adds 80 minutes of bonus footage
- Devo Miracle Witness Hour Live album recorded during a 1977 show at a Cleveland dive bar
- Murray Gold Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor / The Time of the Doctor OST
- Gravenhurst Offerings: Lost Songs 2000-2004 Compilation of previously unreleased material
- Alberto Iglesias Exodus: Gods and Kings OST
- Kal Marks Just A Lonely Fart EP
- Le Rug Swelling (My Own Worst Anime)
- Little Boots Business Pleasure EP
- Cliff Martinez Far Cry 4 OST
- Meanwhile The Element Yes EP
- Mogwai Music Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1. EP Six-track EP is split between new songs and remixes
- Owen . Other People's Songs Covers albums includes takes on songs by the likes of Depeche Mode, Against Me, and The Promise Ring
- Parquet Courts . Content Nausea CD release
- Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Gone Girl OST CD release
- School '94 Like You EP LISTEN (Stereogum)
- Songs: Ohia Didn't It Rain 2xCD Deluxe reissue adds eight previously unreleased demos and alternate versions to Jason Molina's acclaimed 2002 album
- Tall Tall Trees The Seasonal EP
- Various White Bird In A Blizzard OST
- Walk the Moon Talking Is Hard
- M Ward Transistor Radio LP+CD Deluxe vinyl reissue of 2005 album adds four previously unreleased tracks on CD
Stream upcoming albums and new tracks
- Alex G TRACK "Soaker" streaming at SoundCloud.
- A$AP Ferg MIXTAPE Ferg Forever streaming/downloadable at DatPiff.
- Bastille and HAIM TRACK "Bite Down" streaming at YouTube.
- De La Soul TRACK "The People" (feat. Chuck D) streaming and available as a free download at the official band site.
- Deer Tick TRACK "White Havoc" streaming at SoundCloud.
- Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment [new Chance the Rapper project] TRACK "Sunday Candy" streaming at SoundCloud.
- Ben Frost ALBUM V A R I A N T EP streaming until its 12/9 release at Pitchfork.
- Ghostface Killah ALBUM 36 Seasons streaming until its 12/9 release at NPR.
- Herbert TRACK "Her Face" streaming at SoundCloud.
- Interpol TRACK "What Is What" (non-album track) available as a free download from the official band site (enter password "Everything Is Wrong").
- Los Campesinos! ALBUM A Los Campesinos! Christmas EP (out 12/8) streaming at Pitchfork.
- The Pop Group TRACK "Citizen Zombie" streaming at SoundCloud.
- PRhyme [Royce Da 5'9" and DJ Premier] ALBUM PRhyme streaming at NPR.
- THEESatisfaction TRACK "Recognition" streaming at SoundCloud.
- Various MIXTAPE A Very Very Decent Christmas [Mad Decent holiday compilation] streaming at Pitchfork.
- Wu-Tang Clan TRACK "A Better Tomorrow" streaming at SoundCloud.
- Young Ejecta TRACK "Your Planet" streaming at SoundCloud.
On TV this week (new episodes only)
Monday: Mary J. Blige (Fallon), Chase Rice (Kimmel)
Tuesday: Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga (Colbert), Gavin DeGraw (Conan), Rae Sremmurd (Fallon), Walk the Moon (Kimmel)
Wednesday: The Decemberists (Conan), Yusuf (Fallon)
Thursday: Foo Fighters (Fallon)
Saturday: Nicki Minaj (Saturday Night Live)
Recent artist and industry news
A documentary about Kurt Cobain will debut on HBO in 2015. - Billboard
The latest music videos
Mogwai, "Teenage Exorcists":
Mr. Oizo, "Ham" [directed by Eric Wareheim]:
EMA, "3Jane":
Röyksopp, "Skulls":
Owen Pallett, "Infernal Fantasy":
Sleigh Bells feat. Tink, "That Did It":
In the studio / coming soon
The Chemical Brothers will release a new album in 2015. It'll be their first studio LP in five years. - Resident Advisor
Recently reunited UK outfit The Pop Group will release the Paul Epworth-produced album Citizen Zombie—their first album since 1980—on February 24th.
Chvrches will head to the studio in January to begin work on their second album. - Pitchfork
THEESatisfaction's second album, EarthEE, arrives February 24th. - CoS
Visit Metacritic's Album Release Calendar for a full listing of upcoming release dates, updated daily.
