Free Album Streaming: New CDs from the Dropkick Murphys, Warren Haynes, & More

New live albums from the Dropkick Murphys and Warren Haynes and friends highlight the new CDs up for free online preview this week. These two releases from musicians who specialize in high-energy live shows should make up in quality for what's missing in quantity in yet another week with a relatively slim number of titles available for preview.

The Haynes album is a two-disc set to benefit Habitat for Humanity and it features the guitarist and some of his very talented friends: there's his own band, Gov't Mule; Bob Weir & Friends; John Hiatt & The Goners; Robert Randolph & The Family Band, and others. According to Haynes' website, the show was recorded at his annual Christmas jam in 2002. I'm not sure why it took so long to see the light of day, but nevertheless it's here now.


The new Dropkick Murphys album includes 10 live songs from their Fenway Park shows.

The new Dropkick Murphys release, "Going Out in Style: Live at Fenway Park Edition," includes the band's full "Going Out In Style" album as well as 10 songs recorded live at their Fenway Park shows in the fall. Among the live tracks are "Hang 'Em High," "Sunday Hardcore Matinee," and of course the title track.

Another notable new album streaming this week is "The Very Best of Neil Diamond," featuring 23 of the original studio recordings by the singer and songwriting legend whose tunes have been covered by everyone from The Monkees to Barbra Streisand to Urge Overkill. Just this week Diamond was feted at the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors.

Also on preview this week is a release I'm really looking forward to hearing: "Whitehorse," the self-titled album by the duo of acclaimed Canadian roots singer-songwriters Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland. (This isn't exactly a "new" release since it dropped in August, but in any case it's up for streaming this week.)

For R&B fans, there are new albums by Anthony David and Anthony Hamilton.

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Going Out in Style: Live at Fenway Park Edition" by the Dropkick Murphys
"New Album" by Boris
"Sweet Creatures" by Crash Street Kids
"Dog Year" by Miracles of Modern Science
"The Lost and Found" by The White Buffalo

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Warren Haynes Presents The Benefit Concert Volume 4" featuring Warren Haynes and others
"The Very Best of Neil Diamond" by Neil Diamond
"Whitehorse" by Whitehorse
"Live from Paris" by Shakira
"Location, Location, Location" by Anthony David
"Damn Son" by Kid Is Qual
"Hats Off to the Bull" by Chevelle

NPR First Listen:
"Back to Love" by Anthony Hamilton

More Summer Music Festivals: Mountain Jam, Clearwater Revival

Pete Seeger, Josh Ritter, and the Indigo Girls are just a few of the performers at this year's Clearwater festival.

A couple more summer music festivals in the New York vicinity are coming up in the next couple weeks: the seventh annual Mountain Jam in the Catskills and the latest in the long-running Clearwater Hudson River Revival in Croton-on-Hudson.

I've never been to the Mountain Jam (June 2nd to 5th), but if you like jam-band music and beautiful mountain scenery, this is the place to be. Musicians including Gov't Mule, the Warren Haynes Band, My Morning Jacket, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Dawes, Nicole Atkins, Soulive, and more will perform at the site of the Hunter Mountain ski area in Hunter, New York. (See the complete Mountain Jam schedule here.)

Friday night headliners are Bela Fleck and the Original Flecktones and the Warren Haynes Band. On Saturday night Gov't Mule and Michael Franti and Spearhead are the headliners, and on Sunday My Morning Jacket anchors the night and wraps up the festival.

Attendance at Mountain Jame is limited to 15,000 people, with camping limited to less than 5,000.

The Clearwater festival (officially Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival) takes place June 18th and 19th in Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson. As always it combines music with environmental awareness and activism, with vendors and exhibits promoting everything from solar power to organic food (and the power for all stages is said to come from sustainable sources).

Saturday's performers include:
Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Billy Bragg, Dar Williams, David Bromberg, Janis Ian, Josh Ritter, and the Felice Brothers, among many others.

Sunday's lineup features:
Pete Seeger, Buskin & Batteau, Chris Smither, Drive-By Truckers, Indigo Girls, Jen Chapin, Joel Plaskett, John Sebastian, Jorma Kaukonen, Justin Townes Earle, Sara Hickman, and more.

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from The Antlers, The Cars, Sloan, Warren Haynes, More

The new album by the Antlers (shown here playing NYC's River Rocks series last summer) is available for free preview.

There are a lot of good new albums for free preview right now, especially from AOL Music/Spinner (AOL seems to have merged its Spinner album previews into AOL Music).

Of particular interest: the new Danger Mouse album, which features vocals by Jack White and Norah Jones; the Broadway cast recording of "The Book of Mormon," the no-holds-barred musical from the "South Park" creators; new albums from indie favorites The Antlers, Sloan, and Okkervil River; and the first albums in many years from new wave bestsellers The Cars and from Warren Haynes, guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule. Oh, and a greatest hits album from the Beastie Boys and new albums by Sloan, Booker T. Jones, and Kate Bush. (Note: I just realized the Warren Haynes Band is playing at NYC's Beacon Theatre Thursday, May 12th; you can get tickets here.)

As always, there are more offerings available than the selections shown below.

NPR First Listen:
"The Book of Mormon" Cast Recording
"Feel It Break" by Austra (Canadian band blending classical music and electronica)
"Director's Cut" by Kate Bush
"Follow Me Down" by Sarah Jarosz

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Rome" by Danger Mouse And Daniele Luppi (streaming until June 7)

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Burst Apart" by The Antlers
"I Am Very Far" by Okkervil River
"Move Like This" by The Cars
"The Road From Memphis" by Booker T. Jones
"Solid Gold Hits" by Beastie Boys
"Celebration, Florida" by the Felice Brothers
"She Was a Boy" by Yael Naim
"The Double Cross" by Sloan
"Man in Motion" by Warren Haynes
"Life Like" by Joan of Arc
"Collider" by Sam Roberts Band