Tuesday , March 19 2024
Barrett Martin's new set available digitally; new albums from Drive-By Truckers, Maxwell...

New Album Releases July 7, 2009: Barrett Martin, The Minus 5, Drive-By Truckers, The Jayhawks, Maxwell, Son Volt

And I thought last week's release schedule was a bit bare.  I might have spoke just a wee little bit too soon.  Some weeks are low on albums I'd actually buy but have some titles destined to be big sellers and some weeks it's just the opposite.  This week seems to lack sales punch and 'must-own' titles.  Because most of this week's list is uninspiring to me, I'm going to use this opportunity to highlight a release that has sort of released and has completely inspired me.

Barrett Martin
Zenga

Barrett Martin is the former drummer for Screaming Trees and Mad Season, the latter featuring Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready and Alice in Chains' Layne Staley.  He co-founded Tuatara with R.E.M guitarist Peter Buck and has also worked with R.E.M. 

I've been writing about this album for more than a year.  I've been listening to it for months and now you can, too… digitally.  While the physical album won't release until August 18th (my anniversary, as it turns out), you can download it from Amazon and iTunes and you really should.  It won't be the planned double album but its 11 tracks run 74 minutes and these brilliant musicians take full advantage of every one of them.  With many compositions stretching longer than on previous Martin records, the musicians are free to discover and explore.  All that interplay leaves plenty for listeners to discover, as well.  Martin's world/jazz hybrid dips more heavily into the jazz side but both elements are again present. 

The Minus 5
Killingsworth

Speaking of Peter Buck and R.E.M. collaborators, we have this latest from Scott McCaughey's other band.  I've never met Buck or McCaughey, but I feel I already understand them on some level.  When these guys aren't busy singing for their supper, they make more music.  We all have hobbies.  It's somewhat rare that our vocation and our hobby would be the same.  It is for McCaughey and Buck.  Buck has R.E.M., Tuatara, The Minus 5, and The Baseball Project.  McCaughey isn't a full-time member of Tuatara but he has worked with them.  He also works with R.E.M., heads up The Minus 5, and is a member of The Baseball Project.  He also has his band the Young Fresh Fellows (who have a release out this week).  McCaughey is a talented music junkie.  It's what he does. 

R.E.M.
Reckoning Live at The Olympia EP

And while we're on the subject of Peter Buck and R.E.M., I say, let's talk about this.  Similar to the Barrett Martin release, this is a digital-only release and is an appetizer for what is still to come.  R.E.M. is releasing a set from their five-night run in Dublin prior to the recording of their most recent studio album, Accelerate.  Over those five nights, they tested out songs that would later make that record and wowed fans with a serious run through the band's full catalog.  The full version is due in stores in October.  In the meantime, you can check out this EP.

Drive-By Truckers
Live from Austin, Texas

Ah, yes, the Truckers.  I'm a half-step removed from these guys.  My mysterious sidekick 11 went to high school with ex-Trucker Jason Isbell (now fronting his own band).  I've never heard any of their records or met any of them, but I hear much about them being from this area.  They've built quite a following, and that's based in part on a reputation for live music.  Here's a live record from them, recorded in Austin, TX.

Here is the full list of new releases for this week…

The Jayhawks
Music from the North Country: The Jayhawks Anthology

Maxwell
BLACKsummers'night

The Minus 5
Killingsworth

Son Volt
American Central Dust

Tiny Vipers
Life on Earth

Thomas Adès
Thomas Adès: The Tempest

As You Drown
Reflection

Benni Hemm Hemm
Murta St. Calunga

Jeffrey Biegel
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

Billy Boy on Poison
Drama Junkie Queen

Bowerbirds
Upper Air

Broken Records
Until the Earth Begins to Part

Enrico Bronzi
Nino Rota: Concerto per Cello No. 2; Concerto per archi; Trio

Carl Carlton
Everlasting: The Best of Carl Carlton

CéU
Vagarosa

Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker!

Death by Stereo
Death Is My Only Friend

Discovery
LP

The Donnas
Greatest Hits, Vol. 16

Drive-By Truckers
Live from Austin, Texas

Enso Quartet
Ginastera: String Quartets

The Fools
Sold Out/Heavy Metal

Forever the Sickest Kids
Underdog Alma Mater [Deluxe Edition] [CD/DVD]

Jeff Garlin
Young & Handsome: A Night with Jeff Garlin

Teddi King
Mr. Wonderful: The Complete RCA Singles (1956-1958)

Kris Kristofferson
Border Lord/Jesus Was a Capricorn

Kris Kristofferson
Spooky Lady's Sideshow/Shake Hands with the Devil

Kris Kristofferson
Surreal Thing/Easter Island

Kris Kristofferson
Who's to Bless and Who's to Blame/To the Bone

LMFAO
Party Rock

Marcy Playground
Leaving Wonderland… In a Fit of Rage

Cass McCombs
Catacombs

Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana 3 [CD/DVD]

Nurse with Wound
Surveillance Lounge

Barack Obama
Days of Hope

Oneida
Rated O

Klaus Tennstedt
Mahler: Symphony No. 6

Original Broadway Cast
Rock of Ages [Broadway Cast]

The Pine Hill Haints
To Win or to Lose

The Pointer Sisters
Black & White [Bonus Track]

The Pointer Sisters
Energy [Bonus Tracks]

The Pointer Sisters
Priority [Bonus Track]

The Rural Alberta Advantage
Hometowns

Silk Flowers
Silk Flowers

Sleepy Sun
Embrace

stellastarr*
Civilized

UUVVWWZ
UUVVWWZ

Various Artists
Black Rio, Vol. 2: Original Samba Soul 1968-1981

Various Artists
Speaking My Mind: New Rubbles, Vol. 2

Various Artists
Surf Wax: Songs of the Beach

We Were Promised Jetpacks
These Four Walls

Matt Wilson Quartet
That's Gonna Leave a Mark

The Young Fresh Fellows
I Think This Is

About Josh Hathaway

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