Friday , March 29 2024
There is something for everybody among this week's New CD Releases...

Bowie, Clapton, Phil Collins, Neil Young, Ronnie Wood, Joe Louis Walker, James Cotton Headline New Music Tuesday

I’m going to let you all in on a little secret right at the start of this week’s New Album Releases: there is literally no way for me to touch on every interesting release in this week’s stack of stuff.  I’m going to chat a few of them up but there is no way I can say everything I want to say about all these titles, so that means you’re going to have to scan this list carefully to make sure you don’t miss out.  I’m only one man. 

Joe Louis Walker
Blues Conspiracy: Live On The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise

You may not know the name Joe Louis Walker but you should and I’m invoking point of personal privilege leading off with this title this week.  As a young artist in San Francisco, Walker roomed with Mike Bloomfield, who introduced him to Jimi Hendrix and the Grateful Dead.  JLW has been making great records for decades since and seems to only be getting better as his Between A Rock & The Blues won Album Of The Year at the Blues Music Awards.

Blues Conspiracy is exactly what the title says it is, but there is so much more to it than that.  Yes, this is a JLW live album – the first since the one-two punch of Live at Slim’s 1 &2 in the early ’90s – and it was recorded on the Blues Cruise.  That’s exciting enough but this release finds Walker playing with many of the other artists who were part of this package, a roster that includes Johnny Winter, Duke Robillard, Jason Ricci, Curtis Salgado, Nick Moss, Kenny Neal, Watermelon Slim, Tommy Castro, Tab Benoit, and Mike Finnigan (just to name a few). 

James Cotton
Giant

James Cotton is most certainly a giant and I’m invoking personal privilege again.  His name isn’t always mentioned with the icons of blues harp like the Walters (Little Walter and Big Walter Horton) or the two Sonny Boy Williamsons but James Cotton is one of the all-time greats.  He recorded in Memphis for Sam Phillips at Sun Records and was on numerous memorable sides at Chess Records, having spent years playing with Muddy Waters and others.  Cotton is one of the most potent, powerful players in history.  He doesn’t have the same wind today that he did in his younger days but he is still a legend and I cannot wait for my copy of this to arrive!

Eric Clapton
Clapton

 

EC is back with a new album of new material and I’m looking forward to hearing it.  I’m hopeful not because of the guest stars (Steve Winwood, Wynton Marsalis, Sheryl Crow, Allen Toussaint, and Derek Trucks) but because of Clapton’s description of the process: “This album wasn’t what it was intended to be at all,” says Eric Clapton. “It’s actually better than it was meant to be because, in a way, I just let it happen. It’s an eclectic collection of songs that weren’t really on the map—and I like it so much because if it’s a surprise to the fans, that’s only because it’s a surprise to me, as well.”  Recent EC discs have been a little too glossy, slick, and had too many artifacts of ProTools.  I’m hoping for something a little more organic this time.  I’ll be ready for it.

David Bowie
Station To Station (Deluxe)

There are multiple editions of this re-issue of another of Bowie’s classic ’70s albums.  I wish I had the cash to plunk down on the ridiculously expensive but I’m going to have to stick with the special edition rather than the deluxe.  The Special edition includes the original record mastered from the original analog mix.  It also includes a previously unreleased 2-CD live set from the ’76 tour recorded at New York’s Nassau Coliseum.  I believe that is going to be mandatory for me.

Clapton and Bowie aren’t the only baby boomers with new albums out this week.  Neil Young and Ronnie Wood both have new records, as do The Doobie Brothers and Phil Collins.

Abe Vigoda – Crush
Abigail Williams – In The Absence Of Light
Aiken, Clay – X2
Alan Moore – Unearthing / [Deluxe Edition]
Allen, Dave – Colour Blind
August Burns Red – Home
Autopsy – Dark Crusades
Bad Religion – The Dissent Of Man
Banton, Buju – Before The Dawn
Ben Folds/Nick Hornby – Lonely Avenue
Bill Evans Trio – Waltz For Debby
Blacc, Aloe – Good Things
Blank Tapes, The – Home Away From Home
Blues Image – Ride Captain Ride – Anthology Of Classics
Bolt Thrower – In Battle There Is No Law
Bowie, David – Station To Station
B-Real – The Harvest – Vol. 1
Breathe Owl Breathe – Magic Central
Brewster, Lincoln – Real Life
Brown Study – Brown Study
Brown, Paul – Love You Found Me
Chesney, Kenny – Hemingway’s Whiskey
Chet Baker – Chet Baker Sings: It Could Happen To You
Chocolate Sundaes: Live On Sundet Strip – Feat. Katt Williams, De Ray Davis, Aries Spears
Cinema Red And Blue – Cinema Red And Blue
Clutch – Robot Hive/Exodus (Expanded 2 Disc Set)
Cohen, Avishai – Introducing Triveni
Cotton, James – Giant
Crabb, Jason – Because It’s Christmas
Cradle Of Filth – Principle Of Evil Made Flesh
Cradle Of Filth – Vempire
Creme Anglaise – Creme Anglaise
D Rivera, Paquito – Tango Jazz – Live At Jazz At L
Dan Cummins – Crazy With A Capital F
Dance Party, The – Touch
De Kadt, John – Rhythms Of The Infinite
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
Degibri, Eli – Israeli Song
Dillard, Rodney & The Dillard Band – I Wish Life Was Like Mayberry
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (Expanded Edition)
Doobie Brothers, The – World Gone Crazy
Dope – X2 (Felons And Revolutionaries/Life)
Dwight Yoakam – 21st Century Hits (2000-2010)
Edisun – Edisun
Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini
Eric Clapton – Clapton
Fabian – Amor Que Mata
Fabulous Ginn Sisters, The – You Can’t Take A Bad Girl Home
Fences – Fences
Foley, Red – Hillbilly Fever
Four Year Strong – Enemy Of The World / [Special Edition]
Frames – Mosaik
Furnaze – No Stairway To Heaven
Gabriel, Peter – Birdy-Music From The Film
Gabriel, Peter – Passion-Music For
Gabriel, Peter – Peter Gabriel 1: Car
Gabriel, Peter – Peter Gabriel 2: Scratch
Gabriel, Peter – Peter Gabriel 3: Melt
Gabriel, Peter – Peter Gabriel 4: Security
Gabriel, Peter – Plays Live Highlights
Gabriel, Peter – Shaking The Tree: Sixteen
Gabriel, Peter – So
Gabriel, Peter – Up
Gabriel, Peter – Us
Gallows End – Nemesis Divine
Gin Blossoms – No Chocolate Cake
Glasser – Ring
Good Charlotte – X2 (Good Charlotte/Chronicles Of Life & Death)
Grandchildren – Everlasting
Grave Digger – The Grave Digger
Greenskeepers – Live Like You Wanna Live
Grey, Tony – Unknown Angels
Griffith, Grace – Sailing
Groobees, The – The Groobees
Group Home – Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal
Gucci Mane – The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted (Explicit)
Gucci Mane – The Appeal: Georgia’s Most Wanted (Amended)
Half-Handed Cloud – As Stowaways In Cabinets Of Su
Halford – Made Of Metal
Harris, Jesse – Cosmo
Hell Razah – Heaven Razah
Hidden Orchestra – Night Walks
Highlife – Best Bless
Hi-Power Entertainment Presents – Americas Gangland
Hi-Power Entertainment Presents – Notorious Gangsters
Houston, Alexis – Speak Love-Life Lessons
Ice Cube – I Am The West
Ice Cube – I Am The West (Edited)
Incubus – X2 (S.C.I.E.N.C.E/A Crow Left Of The Murder)
Ingram Hill – Look Your Best
Isaacs, The – Christmas
Jackson, Alan – X2 (Under The Influence/Drive)
Jeremih – All About You
Jeremy Plays Guitar – Use Your Words
Jimmy Eat World – Invented
Jones, Donell – Lyrics
Jones, Jim – Capo (Cl)
Kane & Abel – Back On Money
Kellerman – Colour
Kem Tribute – Smooth Jazz Tribute To Kem – Volume 2
Kenny Ellis – Anthems
Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Live! In Chicago
King Sunny Ade – Bábá Mo Túndé
Kings Of Modesty – Hell Or Highwater
Klein, Omer – Rockets On The Balcony
Krygier, Axel – Pesebre
Labrie, James – Static Impulse
Lil Boosie – Incarcerated
Limbonic Art – Phantasmagoria
Lizz Wright – Fellowship
Los Lonely Boys – Keep On Giving : Acoustic Brotherhood Live
Lunch At Allens – More Lunch At Allens
Marcy Playground – Indaba Remixes From Wonderland
Marianas Trench – Masterpiece Theatre
Mcbride, Simon – Since Then
Mflp Band – Singin’ & Groovin’
Miles Davis – Dig (Feat. Sonny Rollins)
Miller Sisters, The – Got You On My Mind
Mojado – Skizo
Mswhite – Squares
Mushroom Head – Beautiful Stories For Ugly Children
Neil Young – Le Noise
Nellie Mckay – Home Sweet Mobile Home
New Medicine – Race You To The Bottom
No Age – Everything In Between
North Point Music – North Point Christmas
Nymph – Nymph
O’conner, Hugh – For The First Time
October Tide – Thin Shell, A
Omd – History Of Modern
Once, The – The Once
Oregon – In Stride
Oscar G – Live From Nyc
Parlour – Simulacrenfield
Pedro Del Mar – Playa Del Lounge
Pete Yorn – Pete Yorn
Peterson, Lucky (With Larry Campbell, Scott Petito, Gary Burke) – You Can Always Turn Around
Phil Collins – Going Back
Pieranunzi, Enrico Latin Jazz – Live At Birdland
Pinhas, Richard – Metal / Crystal (2cd)
Posies, The – Blood/Candy
Powerglove – Saturday Morning Apocalypse
Randy Travis – Top 10
Refried Ice Cream – Witness To The Storm
Reid, Lou & Carolina – Sounds Like Heaven To Me
Renditions: Mercyme Tribute – Bluegrass Tribute To Mercyme
Renditions: Third Day Tribute – Piano Tribute To Third Day
Ronnie Wood – I Feel Like Playing
Ronson, Mark & The Business Intl – Record Collection
Scodanibbio: Oltracuidansa For Contrabass And Tape – Stefano Scodanibbio
Seal – 6: Commitment
Seven Kingdoms – Seven Kingdoms
Shawn Camp – Shawn Camp
Shawn Camp – 1994
Slash – Slash Deluxe Edition
Smith, Michael W. – Wonder
Soriano, Joan – El Duque De La Bachata
Soundgarden – Telephantasm – A Retrospective / [2 Cd/Dvd Limited Deluxe Edition]
Soundgarden – Telephantasm – A Retrospective / [2 Cd/Dvd/3 Lp Limted Super Deluxe]
Stephens, Adam Haworth – We Live On Cliffs
Sylvian, David – Sleepwalkers
Tangerine Dream – Ocean Waves Collection
Tangerine Dream – Silver Siren Collection
Tangerine Dream – Winter In Hiroshima
Thalía – Thalía En Primera Fila… Un Año Después
The 88 – The 88
The Bone Collector – The Brotherhood Album
The Sleeping – Big Deep
Three Mile Pilot – The Inevitable Past Is The Fut
Thug Lordz – Thug Money
Tired Pony – The Place We Ran From
Tom Tom Club – Genius Of Live
Tomandandy – Resident Evil: Afterlife
Ufo – The Best Of A Decade
Univers Zero – Heresie
Uz Jsme Doma – Caves
Various – Ding Dong Presents – Volume 2
Various – Plenty Money
Various – O Come All Ye Faithful
Various – Happy Christmas Vol.5
Various – Christmas All Around Us
Various – Bethlehem Skyline 2
Various – Winter’s Songs: A Windham Hill Christmas
Various – Clear Blue Tuesday
Various Artists – Hittin’ On All Six: A History Of Jazz Guitar
Various Artists – Deep Ska
Various Artists – A Song For The King – 29 Obscure Elvis Tributes
Various Artists – The Doors Jukebox
Various Artists – It’s All About The Blues / [3 Cd]
Various Artists – Louisiana Cajun + Creole Music: The Newport Field Recordings
Various Artists – The Music Of Dc Comics: 75th Anniversary Collection
Various Artists – It’s Kind Of A Funny Story Original Soundtrack
Various Artists – Matador At 21
Various Artists – Songs Of Mary
Vince Guaraldi – Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus
Walker, Joe Louis – Blues Conspiracy: Live On The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise
Wes Montgomery – Boss Guitar
Westbrook, Mike – Fine ‘N’ Yellow
Widespread Panic – Live In The Classic City Ii
Willie Nelson – Tbd
Winans, Cece – For Always: The Best Of Cece
Women – Public Strain
Yanni – X2 (Love Songs/Reflections Of Passion)
Yaz – Reconnected Live
You, Me, And Everyone We Know – Some Things Don T Wash Out
Young Jeezy – Tm 103
Young Jeezy – Tm 103 / [Edited]
Zorn, John – Ipsissimus

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