Now Streaming: New CDs from the Mountain Goats, Freelance Whales, Matt & Kim, & More

There's not a huge selection of new albums streaming online this week, but the quality of the offerings more than makes up for the lack of quantity. There are new albums from indie artists such as Freelance Whales, Tame Impala, and Lord Huron—and those are just the ones NPR Music is offering. (Speaking of NPR Music, they're live streaming Wednesday's Tori Amos concert in New York.)


"Sycamore Trees" from Sarah Fimm's new EP.
 
Elsewhere, Spinner has the new releases from other much-loved indie musicians, including Mountain Goats, The Vaccines, Matt and Kim, and Tristan Prettyman, as well as those ageless rockers Heart (I posted the video for their new song "Rock Deep (Vancouver)" last week). I'm also looking forward to listening to Lindi Ortega, an artist I hadn't heard of until a couple of weeks ago, when she won the "shadow Polaris Prize" poll by readers of North by East West, a group blog covering Canadian music and arts.

AOL Music has the latest release from longtime favorites Drivin N Cryin, as well as a five-song EP from the singer-songwriter known as Sarah Fimm, who I'd previously heard of through the now-defunct CD Baby podcasts (she's got more than half a dozen albums that are available through CD Baby and other outlets).

And The New Yorker (yes, The New Yorker) even has an album preview this week. It's streaming the debut collection from the Canadian band Metz and featuring a Q&A with the band by Sasha Frere-Jones.

It's a solid lineup this week, fire up your speakers and enjoy.

[Update: CBC is now streaming A.C. Newman's new album, below.]


NPR First Listen:
"Lonerism" by Tame Impala
"Diluvia" by Freelance Whales
"Lonesome Dreams" by Lord Huron

CBC Music:
"Shut Down the Streets" by A.C. Newman

The New Yorker: 
"Metz" by Metz

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Come of Age" by The Vaccines
"Lightning" by Matt and Kim
"Transcendental Youth" by the Mountain Goats
"Cedar + Gold" by Tristan Prettyman
"Cigarettes & Truck Stops" by Lindi Ortega
"Boredom and Joy" by Jets Overhead
"Fanatic" by Heart

AOL Music Listening Party:
"Vacilador" by The Giving Tree Band
"Songs About Fast Cars, Space and Ramones" by Drivin N Cryin
"Insignificant Fire" by James Arlowe & the Ruffian Circus
"Barn Sessions" EP by Sarah Fimm
"One Year of Songs" by Heather Mae

Now Streaming: New CDs from Mountain Goats, Jason Collett, Muse, & More

From indie rock to Americana to jazz, there's a wide array of new albums streaming this week. There are new albums from Mountain Goats, Muse, and Beth Orton, among others. And in the continuing trend of bands from the 1980s popping up with new albums, there's a new album streaming from southern rockers The Outlaws (remember "Green Grass and High Tides," ""There Goes Another Love Song," etc.?).


"Lord Knows" by Dum Dum Girls, from their new EP "End of Daze."

Former Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett has not one but two albums streaming this week, a new album ("Reckon") and an eleven-song, career-spanning retrospective ("Essential Cuts"). Speaking of collections, Suzanne Vega is releasing her latest albums consisting of re-recordings of her previous tunes, grouped around a particular theme. "Close-Up Vol. 4: Songs of Family" includes songs including  "Widow's Walk," "Blood Sings," "Bad Wisdom," "Honeymoon Suite," and "Tired of Sleeping."

 We don't normally cover jazz here, we're making an exception for a couple of notable releases that are streaming: "St. Peter and 57th" by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (marking the group's 50th anniversary) and "Made Possible" by The Bad Plus.

There's also a new album by Emmanuel Jal, the former child soldier from Sudan who burst onto the scene a few years back with "War Child," and a second chance to hear Sera Cahoone's excellent new  "Deer Creek Canyon" and the Dum Dum Girls' EP "End of Daze." (You've got a few chances to see Dum Dum Girls in the near future: they're playing Europa in Brooklyn on Sept. 30th, appearing at Other Music on Oct. 1st [free], and opening for The Walkmen at Terminal 5 on Oct. 18th.)

And in honor of Feist's "Metals" winning the Polaris Music Prize last night for best Canadian album of the year, the CBC is streaming it now (not sure for how long, though)... see the bottom of this article.

There are many more streaming albums below (and at the linked websites); have a listen and enjoy.

Rolling Stone: 
"Transcendental Youth" by Mountain Goats (who are playing in NYC soon: Oct. 14th at Music Hall of Williamsburg and the next night at Bowery Ballroom)

The Guardian/iTunes:
"The Second Law" by Muse (streaming at The Guardian in the U.K.; at iTunes in the U.S.)

NPR First Listen:
"Sugaring Season" by Beth Orton
"Until the Quiet Comes" by Flying Lotus

KCRW Album Preview: 
"12 Bit Blues" by Kid Koala

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"End of Daze" by Dum Dum Girls
"Made Possible" by The Bad Plus
"Reckon" and "Essential Cuts" by Jason Collett
"The Poet's Dead" by Rah Rah
"Bodyparts" by Dragonette
"Close-Up Vol. 4: Songs of Family" by Suzanne Vega
"Look A Little Closer" by Levek
"Deer Creek Canyon" by Sera Cahoone
"Reptile Youth" by Reptile Youth
"A Beating Heart Is A Bleeding Heart" by Kingsfoil

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"St. Peter and 57th" by Preservation Hall Jazz Band
"Half-Made Man" by Ben Sollee
"It's About Pride" by The Outlaws
"See Me Mama" by Emmanuel Jal

CBC:
"Metals" by Feist

Live in NYC Wednesday: WNYC to Webcast Mountain Goats and Suzanne Vega

The Mountain Goats and Suzanne Vega will be performing live Wednesday afternoon at WNYC's new downtown performing space, and if you can't make it there you can watch the live webcast.

The performance, part of the station's show "Soundcheck," starts at 2 p.m. The show will be webcast live and will also be broadcast on WNYC's FM station at 93.9.

The Mountain Goats are a band led by John Darnielle. Their latest album, “All Eternals Deck,” came out on March 29th. In a write-up about the album NPR Music said of Darnielle, "Once a wild man whose shouted white-knuckle screeds could barely be contained by the crummy boom boxes on which he recorded them, Darnielle has aged into a singing poet whose words still hit like punches." (More on Mountain Goats from NPR Music.)

Suzanne Vega has long been one of my favorite musicians ever since her first album (which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year). I've seen her play in venues ranging from large festivals to small clubs; she's definitely a performer I'd recommend seeing. Her latest project is the original off-Broadway play “Carson McCullers Talks About Love,” about the famous Southern author who is a hero of Vega's. Vega wrote the script for the work and plays McCullers, and also collaborated on the score with pop musician Duncan Sheik, who's now had success a huge success on Broadway with "Spring Awakening."