Free Album Previews: New St. Vincent and Ivy, the Latest "True Blood" Collection, & More

St. Vincent - "Cruel"

There aren't a lot of new albums for free preview this week, but there are some good ones available. One of the most anticipated is the new release from Annie Clark, the singer-songwriter and guitarist who performs under the name St. Vincent. She's back with "Strange Mercy," her first album in several years (release date: Sept. 13), and NPR Music is calling it her best yet. It's available for free streaming there and at KCRW (for a longer period).

Also available this week are new albums from a number of singer-songwriters including A.A. Bondy, Joe Firstman, and Tom Russell (with contributions from Calexico, Lucinda Williams, and others) … the album by the Horrible Crowes, the side project of Brian Fallon from the Gaslight Anthem … and the latest album by Ivy (the trio including Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne).

One album I've been enjoying is "True Blood: Music From The HBO Original Series Volume 3,"with music by Neko Case and Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and Gordon Gano, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Nick Lowe, Massive Attack, and others. Some songs (or their performances/arrangements) don't do anything for me or seem like filler (does the album really need four versions of "She's Not There"?), but I really like some of the contributions, and there's a great range of artists on the album.  

Album previews from NPR Music and AOL/Spinner are usually available for one week, from Monday to Sunday; KCRW's album previews are up for a longer time and the date is given when known.

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Strange Mercy" by St. Vincent (streaming through Sept. 18)

NPR First Listen:
"Believers" by A.A. Bondy  

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Hanna - Original Soundtrack" by the Chemical Brothers
"True Blood - Music from the HBO Series, Volume 3" by various artists

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Mesabi" by Tom Russell
"Swear It Was a Dream" by Joe Firstman
"Elsie" by the Horrible Crowes  

Amazon.com Album Preview:
"All Hours" by Ivy

Which of these albums do you like, and which other new albums are you enjoying? Leave your comments below!

Music Notes: Free Soul at Summerstage; Case & Cave Cover The Zombies; Danny Amis Benefit; More

 

Neko Case and Nick Cave cover The Zombies' "She's Not There," and you can hear it at the link below.

Here's a collection of music news items from New York and Hoboken to Brazil and Croatia.

* Soul is on the menu at a free SummerStage show today, June 25th, at the main stage in Central Park. Lee Fields & The Expressions headline (6:30 p.m.), preceded by neo-soul band Fitz and the Tantrums (5 p.m.) and the trio KING (4 p.m.). Doors open for the show at 3 p.m. (See NY Daily News article on Fitz and the Tantrums)

* Neko Case and Nick Cave have teamed up to record a cover of the classic 1960s hit "She's Not There" by The Zombies, and you can stream it from KCRW. The song was recorded for use in the HBO TV show "True Blood," and at the blog post above you can hear the story of how the version came about by Gary Calamar, who is both a KCRW DJ and the music supervisor for "True Blood." The Case & Cave version of "She's Not There" will be for sale on iTunes after the June 26th premiere of "True Blood"'s fourth season.

* Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley Yo La Tengo will headline a show this Wednesday at Maxwell's to benefit Hoboken native Danny Amis, a member of the band Los Straitjackets. Amis was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of bone-marrow cancer, last year. Other bands playing at the show are The Individuals, The Schramms, Purple Knife, and Tall Lonesome Pines. Tickets for the show are $15. (Buy Danny Amis benefit tickets here.) Also, Los Straitjackets play Maxwell's on August 4th.

* I ended up missing the big Bottom Line tribute to New York show at the World Financial Center the other night, but it sounded like a great night of music, according to the review here. And the live show wasn't the only news: it was apparently mentioned at the gig that the defunct club's owners, Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky, are near a deal on opening a new Bottom Line. That would be great news indeed, and I look forward to hearing more about where the club will be located and when it will open.

* Looking for some interesting rock/pop music from different countries? The L.A. Times has an article featuring songs from nations around the world (with streams of them), chosen by music journalists or critics from the home countries. You'll hear tunes from countries you may not have heard from in terms of music, including Germany, Austria, and Romania. I'm glad to see that the tune representing the U.K. is from Glasgow rockers Sons & Daughters, whom I'm a fan of.