Now Streaming: New CDs from Cody ChestnuTT, Café Tacuba, & More

There aren't a lot of new albums streaming this week, but a few stand out (including a reissue and an archival release from a jazz master). Soul singer Cody ChestnuTT has been getting a lot of buzz recently (including at last week's CMJ), and you can hear why when you preview his new album, "Landing on a Hundred." NPR Music says the album "fleshes out and enriches his sound in every way, while showcasing a powerful voice that still conjures Stevie Wonder and countless other influences and antecedents."


Café Tacuba performing"De Este Lado Del Camino" ("From this side of the road") from their new album.

As fans of Latin rock, we're excited to see another album from Mexico's Café Tacuba, one of the longest-running bands doing rock in Spanish, and still making good albums after all these years.

In the continuing series of reissues designed to make us all feel old, you can listen to the 25th anniversary edition of Peter Gabriel's "So." Remember when people actually carried around huge boomboxes like Lloyd did in "Say Anything"? Yeah, seems like 100 years ago...

Reaching back even further into musical history, Charles Mingus was making jazz history in the 1960s, and some of his old live recordings from then have come to light. Below you can hear selections from "The Jazz Workshop Concerts, 1964-65," a seven-disc set of tunes made by bands led by Mingus, some of them unreleased.

Also this week you'll find new releases from the Kopecky Family Band and Canadian sensation Diamond Rings. And you'll get another chance to hear the new releases from Bat for Lashes and Pig Destroyer. As always, there are more albums streaming that what's listed here; see the websites below for full listings.

Fire up your boombox, er, digital music gizmo, and dig in...

NPR First Listen:
"Landing on a Hundred" by Cody ChestnuTT
"The Jazz Workshop Concerts, 1964-65" by Charles Mingus
"El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco" by Café Tacuba

KCRW Album Preview: 
"III" by Shiny Toy Guns

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"The Man With the Iron Fists (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" by Various Artists
"The Haunted Man" by Bat for Lashes
"Free Dimensional" by Diamond Rings
"Between Buildings, Towards the Sea" by Autumn Owls
"So (25th Anniversary)" by Peter Gabriel
"Kids Raising Kids" by Kopecky Family Band
"Rabbit Inn Rebellion" by State Radio

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Collide & Conquer" by Hunter Valentine
"Let Down" by Lilly Hiatt
"Book Burner by" Pig Destroyer
"Four-Letter Words" by Simon Spire

Concert Notes: Gaslight Anthem, The xx, The Walkmen, & More On Sale Fri.

June 1st is not just the beginning of a new month, it's the day that a crop of great indie and alt-rock shows in New York City goes on sale. On the slate are groups including New Jersey's own Gaslight Anthem, The xx, The Walkmen, and Yeasayer. Peter Gabriel is coming to the area, too; his show goes on sale Saturday (see the list below). Happy ticket shopping!

New Brunswick, NJ's Gaslight Anthem plays Webster Hall on July 24th.

On sale Friday, June 1st at 12 Noon:
* The Walkmen at Bowery Ballroom, Wed., June 6th.
* The Gaslight Anthem at Webster Hall, Tues., July 24th.
* The xx at Terminal 5, Thurs., August 7th.
* The Vaccines at Bowery Ballroom, Mon., Sept. 10th, and Music Hall of Williamsburg, Tues., Sept. 11th.
* Yeasayer at Central Park Rumsey Playfield, Wed., Sept. 12th.
* Poliça at Webster Hall, Sat., Oct. 6th.

Also on sale soon:
* Peter Gabriel "Back to Front" at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Sun., Sept. 23rd ("'So' live, performed by the original 1987 lineup"). On sale: Mon., June 4th, 10 a.m.

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Lower Dens, Peter Gabriel, Ryan Adams, & More

Like last week, there is an abundance of good new indie and alternative albums on preview this week. And Jack White's solo debut, "Blunderbuss," is available for streaming this week on Spinner, after having its exclusive preview on iTunes last week. (Read a review of "Blunderbuss" by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune here.)

White's bandmate from The Raconteurs, Brendan Benson, also has a new album streaming this week.



Also streaming this week is the "Nootropics," the new album by Baltimore's Lower Dens, the band featuring Jana Hunter, whose musical stylings tend toward folk or experimental, and who has been in a number of bands over the years. (See the video for "Brains," one of their new songs, above.)

Other notable albums including live albums from Peter Gabriel (in his orchestra-enhanced, "New Blood" configuration) and from Ryan Adams (the latest in the "iTunes Session" series). There are also new releases from Hey Rosetta!, Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, the Dandy Warhols, Megan Reilly, Rufus Wainwright, and Santigold. And The Raveonettes have a new EP which I'm enjoying, though it's only four songs and has me wishing for more.

NPR First Listen:
"Nootropics" by Lower Dens
"Out of the Game" by Rufus Wainwright
"Master Of My Make-Believe" by Santigold
"Dr. Dee" by Damon Albarn

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Blunderbuss" by Jack White
"This Machine" by Dandy Warhols
"Into the Night" EP by The Raveonettes
"iTunes Session" by Ryan Adams
"The Legendary Demos" by Carole King
"New Blood - Live in London" by Peter Gabriel
"We Could Be Arsonists" by Loquat
"Seeds" by Hey Rosetta!
"What Kind of World" by Brendan Benson
"Aloha Moon" by Magic Wands
"Creature Creature" by Aaron & the Sea
"The Well" by Megan Reilly
"The Body Wins" by Sarah Jaffe

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Secrets Don't Make Friends" by Rocky Loves Emily
"Year of the Lion" by Bury Me a Lion

Free Album Previews: New CDs by Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, the B-52s, & Many More

Above: Peter Gabriel performing "Solsbury Hill" live, one of the songs on his latest release, "New Blood."

This is one of those "when it rains, it pours" weeks for online album previews. You can hear the new releases from a number of big-name veterans artists, including one who's no longer alive (that would be Johnny Cash, represented in the new "Bootleg Volume 3: Live Around the World"release).

Among the artists who are still with us (and have been for a long time), there are new albums for preview from Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, the B-52s, and even Erasure and Judas Priest. The Gabriel release, "New Blood," is a collection of songs from different eras of his solo career performed with an orchestra and some guest musicians—an arrangement he's been touring with this year.

The Paul Simon release is a two-disc retrospective, including live versions of songs including "The Sound of Silence" and "The Boxer."

And for fans of the Pixies and Frank Black (like me), there's a new album that Black has (under his Black Francis moniker) with Reid Paley, called simply "Paley & Francis."

Among the younger artists with new albums are the New Jersey band Real Estate, Ben Lee, Rachael Yamagata, and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. If you liked the music of The Swell Season from the movie "Once," you'll want to check out the debut album from the female half of that duo, Marketa Irglova. And The new Ryan Adams album is previewing on Spinner this week, in case you missed it at NPR Music last week.

I usually give multiple listens to new albums that I'm interested in, but that should to be quite a challenge this week.

NPR First Listen:
"Days" by Real Estate

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Songwriter" by Paul Simon
"Deeper Into Dream by Ben Lee
"Anar" by Marketa Irglova
"Norman (Music From the Motion Picture)" by Andrew Bird
"Paley & Francis" Reid Paley & Black Francis
"New Blood" by Peter Gabriel
"Liberty Bell" by Kate Miller Heidke
"The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective" by Ben Folds
"Chesapeake" by Rachael Yamagata
"Bootleg Volume 3: Live Around the World"by Johnny Cash
"With the Wild Crowd!" by the B-52s
"Tomorrow's World" by Erasure
"The Sound of His Voice" by John Wesley Harding
"Ashes and Fire" by Ryan Adams

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Evanescence" by Evanescence
"The Chosen Few" by Judas Priest
"Free EP" by Graffiti6 
"Gift Horse" by Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers

New York Concerts on Sale: Vampire Weekend, Sharon Jones, Peter Gabriel, K'Naan, Mo'nique

UPDATE: Tickets now on sale for second Vampire Weekend show (9/16)
- - - - -
Here's the latest in my semi-irregular listing of New York area concerts that are going on sale soon or that recently went on sale. As usual, there's a good mix of big stars and up-and-coming artists who are popular.

Going on sale Friday, February 26th or Saturday, February 27th:

* Vampire Weekend, September 15th, Radio City Music Hall (SECOND VAMPIRE WEEKEND SHOW ADDED for September 16th; tickets on sale now)

* Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, May 1st, Apollo Theater (April 30th show already on sale)

* Mo'nique, April 9th at Prudential Center (Newark) & April 24th (The Theater at Madison Square Garden)

Now on sale:

* Peter Gabriel (with 54-piece orchestra), May 2nd & May 3rd, Radio City Music Hall

* DJ Rekha, April 23rd, The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza

* K'naan and Wale with John Forte, March 31st, The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza

* April Fools Comedy Show hosted by DL Hughley, April 1st, The Theater at Madison Square Garden

More to come next week.