Now Streaming: Hear New CDs from Dave Grohl & Friends, Son Volt, They Might Be Giants, & More

Dave Grohl's new album of songs for the "Sound City" soundtrack is one of the albums headlining the crop of new albums streaming online this week. He's playing South by Southwest and other selected dates with his new supergroup, called"Sound City Players."



Other interesting new albums streaming this week is  along with a new album from No Depression alt-country pioneers Son Volt. And if you like Nine Inch Nails or the soundtrack work Trent Reznor has done with Atticus Ross, you'll want to check out "Welcome Oblivion" by How to Destroy Angels, the new group featuring Reznor, his wife, and Ross, among others.

Also streaming this week: Brooklyn duo They Might Be Giants are back with a new album (as hard as it is to believe, they've now been around for 30 years). And KCRW is featuring an album by the brother-and-sister duo known as Wild Belle.

NPR First Listen:
"Sound City: Real To Reel" by Dave Grohl & Friends
"Mala" by Devendra Banhart
"Muchacho" by Phosphorescent

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Isles" by Wild Belle

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Welcome Oblivion" by How to Destroy Angels
"Nanobots" by They Might Be Giants
"Honky Tonk" by Son Volt
"Hands" by Superhuman Happiness
"Bloody Amateur" by Bloody Amateur
"Lines We Trace" by Hey Marseilles
"Swords" by Lovers and Reflections
"The Wilderness" by k.s. Rhoads
"Eden" by Bow Thayer
"Varsity" by Christina Courtin

Free Concerts: Aretha Franklin Next Week; Taj Mahal Tonight; Eugene Mirman/They Might Be Giants Tomorrow

Aretha Franklin is confirmed for a free show in Coney Island next Thursday.

The Seaside concert series today announced its "mystery guest" for its show next Thursday, August 4th: Aretha Franklin. Some people had speculated that the performer might be Peter Frampton, but the Queen of Soul has been confirmed and is featured on the Seaside website (above).

Franklin had been scheduled to play the Coney Island free concert series last summer, but had to cancel it and a number of other shows due to illness. For a while there were rumors that Aretha had some kind of fatal disease, but happily those were just speculation and the soul pioneer is back on the road.

Other news in free summer concerts in New York City in the next couple of days:

* the inaugural Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival starts tonight at the World Financial Center with the legendary Taj Mahal and his trio, singer-songwriter Amy LaVere, and the new band featuring Mike Farris, who was the frontman of Double Trouble and the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies. 6 to 9:30 p.m., WFC Plaza, outside the Winter Garden, near West & Vesey Sts. (see maps of WFC area)

Friday night the festival continues with James Blood Ulmer and the Memphis Blood Blues (featuring Vernon Reid of Living Color); The Growers, and The Beauties. 6 to 9:30 p.m., WFC Plaza.

The Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival concludes Saturday with Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra and Henry Butler featuring Dean Bowman and Sandra St. Victor; Hazmat Modine, Ryan Shaw; Danny Kalb; and Citigrass

* Actor and comedian Eugene Mirman will be doing a free show Friday at the Williamsburg Waterfront with special guests, including They Might Be Giants, who will be playing a full-length concert. The show, called Eugene Mirman and Pretty Good Friends, featuring Todd Barry, Patton Oswalt, and Kristen Schaal. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; no ticket needed, but admission is first come, first served. Williamsburg Waterfront, East River State Park, 110 Kent St. (map of Williamsburg Waterfront with link to get directions)

They Might Be Giants says that the show will span their entire career, including their new album, "Join Us." And the band notes that the show is a homecoming of sorts, since the Williamsburg waterfront is where they filmed their very first video 25 years ago.