November 4, 2008
New Releases

Featured Albums Danielson Trying Hartz Secretly Canadian The Danielson Famile gets the retrospective treatment on Trying Hartz, a twenty-eight track anthology culled from works released between 1996 and 2001 that charts headmaster Daniel Smith (and his rotating cast of siblings and friend)’s rise from complete indie rock obscurity to relative obscurity as a venerated, underground icon. Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock Hinder Take It to the Limit Universal Republic Hinder's second album Take it to the Limit lives up to its title, offering a bunch of ham-fisted clichés and lumbering sleazoid rock that stumbles in how it tries to live up to the legacy of the Sunset Strip of the '80s. Post-Grunge Megapuss Surfing Ada/Vapor A pleasant diversion for fans of Devendra Banhart, Megapuss has all the flavor of a side project, but it ends up being a project record in the best sense, where all involved pool their talents to write and perform with no constraints and maximum creativity. Indie Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Experimental Rock Brad Paisley Play: The Guitar Album Arista Nashville/Sony BMG Nas Brad Paisley indulges his love of the guitar on Play, a predominantly instrumental album where even the vocal tracks celebrate the six string. This isn't all a love letter to Don Rich: Paisley shows that he is a child of the '80s by throwing out offhand references to Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, helping turn this into a surprisingly diverse showcase for his considerable skills. Neo-Traditionalist Country, Instrumental Country, Contemporary Country, Guitar Virtuoso Q-Tip The Renaissance Universal Motown When the best rapper/producer in hip-hop history spends almost a decade without a record on the shelves (despite his best efforts), it has to be considered a crime -- if not a tragedy. And The Renaissance is a worthy comeback for the man who's arguably done more to make hip-hop enjoyable than any other figure. East Coast Rap, Alternative Rap, Hip-Hop Drew Andrews Only Mirrors Minty Fresh Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Indie Rock Nicholas Angelich Brahms: Piano Quartets Nos. 1-3 Virgin Classics Romantic Chamber Music Sarah Brightman A Winter Symphony Manhattan Holiday, Adult Contemporary, Christmas Peter Brötzmann The Brain of the Dog in Section Atavistic Free Improvisation, Modern Free Dennis Brown The Best of Dennis Brown: The Niney Years Universal Roots Reggae, Smooth Reggae, Lovers Rock Jackson Browne Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1 & 2 Inside Singer/Songwriter Willie Clayton Soul and Blues Malaco Retro-Soul, Soul-Blues, Deep Soul, Southern Soul, Soul, Chicago Blues, Chicago Soul Harry Connick, Jr. What a Night! A Christmas Album Columbia Traditional Pop The Corporation Get on Our Swing/Hassles in My Mind Big Beat Psychedelic Pop Rodney Dangerfield Greatest Bits Shout! Factory Standup Comedy Pascal Devoyon Grieg, Schumann: Piano Concertos EMI Romantic and Post-Romantic Music for Piano and Orchestra Dragonette Galore London Club/Dance, Pop Grampall Jookabox Ropechain Asthmatic Kitty Experimental Rock, Indie Rock Heather Harper Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs; Songs with Orchestra EMI Post-Romantic Vocal Music Honeyhoney First Rodeo Ironworks/Universal Republic Alternative Country, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Crossover Jazz Frida Hyvönen Silence Is Wild Secretly Canadian Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Indie Rock Johann Johannsson Fordlandia 4AD Sound Art, Electronic, Indie Electronic, Ambient Pop Johnny Johnson & the Bandwagon Breakin' Down the Walls of Heartache: The Best of 1968-1975 Kent UK Soul The Lines Flood Bank Acute Post-Punk Little Joy Little Joy Rough Trade Indie Pop Little Willie John Nineteen Sixty Six: The Axelrod and H.B. Barnum Recordings Kent UK Early R&B, Urban Blues, Soul The Lucksmiths First Frost Matinee Indie Pop Klaus Nomi Za Bakdaz: The Unfinished Opera Heliocentric Alternative Dance, Euro-Pop, New Wave, Dance-Pop, Synth Pop Leonard Slatkin Leroy Anderson: Sleigh Ride and Other Holiday Favorites Naxos Orchestral Christmas Music Tippett Quartet Tippett: String Quartets, Vol. 1 Naxos Modern Chamber Music Original Soundtrack Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Interscope Soundtracks, Film Music, Pop/Rock Original Soundtrack Soulmen Stax Neo-Soul, Soundtracks, Soul Original Soundtrack Twilight [Original Soundtrack] Summit Ent/Chop Shop/Atlantic Emo, Pop, Soundtracks, Alternative Pop/Rock, Punk-Pop Randy Owen One on One Broken Bow Contemporary Country, Country-Pop Cale Parks Sparklace Polyvinyl Post-Rock/Experimental, Experimental Rock, Indie Rock Lou Reed Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse Matador Proto-Punk, Singer/Songwriter, Album Rock, Rock & Roll Shiny Toy Guns Season of Poison Universal Motown New Wave/Post-Punk Revival, Goth Metal, Alternative Pop/Rock Mavis Staples Live: Hope at the Hideout Anti Spirituals, Traditional Gospel, Black Gospel, Soul Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman [Deluxe Edition] A&M Pop/Rock, Folk-Rock, Soft Rock, Album Rock Cat Stevens Teaser and the Firecat [Deluxe Edition] A&M Album Rock, Pop/Rock, Soft Rock, Singer/Songwriter Stiff Little Fingers Live and Loud/Fly the Flags Anagram Punk, British Punk Switchfoot The Best Yet Columbia/Legacy Alternative CCM, Post-Grunge, Alternative Pop/Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock Tipsy Buzzz Ipecac Illbient, Ambient Techno, Club/Dance Travis Ode to J. Smith Red Phone Box British Trad Rock, Britpop Various Artists Break-A-Way: The Songs of Jackie DeShannon Ace UK Brill Building Pop, Folk-Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Early Pop/Rock, Sunshine Pop, Folk-Pop Various Artists J&S Harlem Soul Kent UK Soul Various Artists Malt Shop Memories: Dancing in the Street Time Life AM Pop, Teen Idol, Girl Group, Early Pop/Rock, Rock & Roll Various Artists SuperFunk, Vol. 6: The Mighty SuperFunk - Rare 45s and Undiscovered Masters 1967-1978 Beat Goes Public Funk Various Artists Titan: It's All Pop! Numero Power Pop Wild Beasts Limbo, Panto [Bonus Tracks] Domino Indie Rock Wilderness (k)no(w)here Jagjaguwar Indie Rock James Yorkston When the Haar Rolls In [#1] Domino Alternative Folk, British Folk-Rock, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Progressive Folk, Contemporary Folk, Folk-Rock ZZ Top Live from Texas Eagle Boogie Rock, Hard Rock, Blues-Rock