Now Downloading: New Releases 09.01.09

It's a slow one this week, which is fine considering the reunion extravaganza happening next week (Polvo, Os Mutantes). As such, we'll poach Jay-Z's latest (which is available exclusively this week on Rhapsody) and take a gander at A.A. Bondy's latest. They Might Be Giants will get their own post (once I have a chance to listen / see) next week, but their latest kidtastic adventure is available on iTunes this week. Outside of that, Datarock's latest finally gets physical release here, and there's a greatest hits compilations for both Drive-By Truckers and The Apples in Stereo.

Playlist: New Releases 09.01.09

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Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Normally, a Jay-Z release just kind of goes through me like cheap beer. I drink it down and I'm in the bathroom an hour later, and that's that. But this one is sticking to me for some reason, in part because it has the feel of real instruments for much of it. The opening track, "What We Talkin About", even employs Luke Steele of The Sleepy Jackson fame (now of Empire of the Sun), who can be heard jackin' the TV on the Radio-like chorus. That's right, I said TV on the Radio. In the past week, Jay-Z's been on Realtime with Bill Maher, danced and gave props to Grizzly Bear, and now is being featured in a dope Rhapsody commercial. It's like Jay-Z started reading Stuff White People Like to prep the marketing of the album. It worked on me, I guess, as I'm digging this album, Stylistically, it's a bit too all over the map for me to declare it a great album, but it holds my interest, which the first Jay-Z thang for me since Danger Mouse mashed him up with the Beatles for The Grey Album.

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A.A. Bondy - When The Devil's Loose
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

When A.A. Bondy ditched the electric Nirvana-ish guitar rock of his band Verbena in favor of a rootsy acoustic approach for his solo album, it was quite a change. Seeing him a few times since on tour, you could sense the angst and noise was creeping back in, and while When the Devil's Loose is still a mostly quiet affair, some of that angst has made it's way back in. The death and religion themes, meanwhile, have remained the root of Bondy's content, from Verbena until now, and outside of Mark Lanegan, there's not many that can do it better.

Free AOL Album Stream
Download: "When the Devil's Loose" [mp3]
Download: "I Can See the Pines Are Dancing" [mp3]

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
They Might Be Giants - Here Comes Science / Free AOL Album Stream / "Electric Car", "I Am a Paleontologist" [mp3]
Datarock - Red
David Bazan - Curse Your BranchesP / Free AOL Album Stream / "Bless This Mess" [mp3]
Drive-By Truckers - The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities And Rarities 2003-2008) / Free AOL Album Stream
Apples In Stereo - #1 Hits Explosion / Free AOL Album Stream
Richard Lloyd - The Jamie Neverts Story
Reverend Horton Heat - Aim & Ignite
Brandi Shearer - Love Don't Make You Juliet / Free AOL Album Stream
Andrew W.K. - 55 Cadillac
Emmy the Great - First Love
Pitbull - Rebelution
Juliette Lewis - Terra Incognita / Free AOL Album Stream
MadLove - White With Foam

REISSUES
Mr. Scruff - Keep it Real (10th Anniversary Analogue Remaster Edition)
Those Bastard Souls - Twentieth Century Chemical
Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke Special Edition

tags: music, album review, Jay-Z, TMBG, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody