THIS WEEK

Everybody on the Record Store Day bandwagon!

Yes, Record Store Day is this coming Saturday, April 20. I’ll have more specifics on that in a Friday post. Meanwhile, record companies large and small — in addition to providing exclusive CDs and LPs to participating stores — love to issue a boatload of official releases in the same week, hoping you’ll notice a few as you’re browsing the bins on Saturday. It’s not possible to review or even fully preview them all, so here’s a list of notable titles available this week, sorted roughly by genre. (Above: photo of Life Coach by John Kane.)

Pop/Rock

Drivin’ N’ Cryin’: Songs from the Psychedelic Time Clock (New!/Redeye)
Homage to the Sixties (third of four scheduled EPs with a theme).

Vicky Cryer: The Synthetic Love of Emotional Engineering (Fancy Animal)
Louis XIV frontman Jason Hill hosts “late-night recording parties” for guests including members of Muse, the Killers, the Mars Volta, and Jamiroquai.

Hard Rock

Oleander: Something Beautiful (Re_Ignite/Kobalt)
First release in 10 years.

Ugly Kid Joe: Stairway to Hell (MRI)
First release in 17 years.

Swedish Metal

Ghost B.C.: Infestissumam (Loma Vista)
Publicist: “The music is dark and melodic but still really accessible. And the visual aesthetic is insane. They are dressed as satanic popes and completely anonymous; no one knows their true identities.”

Photo of Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam by Craig Kief

Folk etc.

Iron and Wine: Ghost on Ghost (Nonesuch)
Sam Beam says he has moved away from the “anxious tension” of his last two albums.

Country etc.

Steve Earle & the Dukes (& Duchesses): The Low Highway (New West)
First album with a Dukes credit since 1990’s The Hard Way.

Willie Nelson and Family: Let’s Face the Music and Dance (Legacy)
A collection of 20th-century standards, from country to jazz. Willie turns 80 on April 30.

Kim Richey: Thorn in My Heart (Yep Roc)
Twelve new originals, with guests including Trisha Yearwood, Jason Isbell, Wilco’s Pat Sansone, and My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel.

Indie/Alternative/etc. etc.

Dead Can Dance: In Concert ([PIAS] America)
Second live album. Editions: CD, Deluxe 2-CD, extended digital, and (on April 30) Limited Edition 3-LP box set.

Life Coach: Alphawaves (Thrill Jockey)
Phil Manley (of Trans Am) and Jon Theodore (of Queens of the Stone Age and the Mars Volta).

Major Lazer: Free the Universe (Secretly Canadian)
DJ/producer Diplo’s second collaborative release, with appearances from Bruno Mars, Wyclef Jean, Shaggy, Dirty Projectors’ Amber Coffman, and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig.

Meat Puppets: Rat Farm (Megaforce)
It’s “real blown-up folk music,” says Curt Kirkwood.

Thermals: Desperate Ground (Saddle Creek)
Sixth album from Portland (Oregon) band.

Allison Weiss: Say What You Mean (No Sleep)
Hard power-pop singer/songwriter.

Photo of Jane Monheit by Vincent Soyez

Singers

Sarah Brightman: Dreamchaser (Simha)
Press release: “Inspired by the wonderment and beauty of space, Dreamchaser is a reflection of Brightman’s lifelong dream to travel into space. As announced last year in Moscow, Brightman is anticipated to be the first musician to travel to the International Space Station, turning her dream into reality.”

Carla Bruni: Little French Songs (Verve)
First album since becoming ex-First Lady of France.

Jane Monheit: The Heart of the Matter (EmArcy/Decca)
Homage to songwriters and voices from a variety of genres.

Olly Murs: Right Place Right Time (Syco/Columbia)
Big overseas, is Olly (runner-up for The X Factor in 2009), and this American debut takes seven tracks from last year’s same-named British album and adds three hits from its predecessor, In Case You Didn’t Know.

Jessie Ware: Devotion (Cherrytree/Interscope)
American release of soulful songstress’s August 2012 debut.

Jazz

Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom: No Morphine, No Lilies (Royal Potato Family)
Drummer (who has played with Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and Brandi Carlile) is also the composer for her quartet, which includes Myra Melford on piano.

World

Lúnasa: Lúnasa with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra (Lúnasa/City Hall)
The Irish traditional acoustic ensemble meets the country’s national orchestra.

Tributes

Beatallica: Abbey Load (Oglio)
Yes, the Beatles in the style of Metallica.

Various Artists: Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake (StorySound)
Highlights from a series of U.K. tribute concerts, with participants including Robyn Hitchcock, Vashti Bunyan, Teddy Thompson, Lisa Hannigan, and Scott Matthews. Arrangements by Robert Kirby and Kate St. John.

Reissues and Archival Releases

Art Brut: Top of the Pops (The End)
One disc of best-of, one disc of B-sides and other rarities. Plus two new tracks: “Arizona Bay” and “We Make Pop Music.”

Blind Melon: Blind Melon (Capitol/UMe)
The band’s 1992 debut is remastered and expanded with the previously unreleased EP, Sippin’ Time Sessions.

David Bowie: Aladdin Sane (Virgin/UMe)
In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the album has been remastered, but there are no bonus tracks (and no surround mix).

Dust: Dust/Hard Attack (Legacy)
On one CD, the two albums (from 1971 and ’72) made by the proto-metal trio of bassist Kenny Aaronson (who would go on to play with everyone from Bob Dylan to Rick Derringer), drummer Marc Bell (who would become Marky Ramone), and guitarist/vocalist Richie Wise (who would turn into a producer, helming the first two Kiss albums as well as Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “Midnight Train to Georgia”).

Shuggie Otis: Inspiration Information/Wings of Love (Epic/Legacy)
Disc 1: 1974’s Inspiration Information and four bonus tracks. Disc 2: 14 previously unreleased studio/live tracks recorded between 1975 and 2000 (accordingly, the first “new” music from the composer/guitarist since 1974).

Simple Minds: Celebrate: The Greatest Hits (Virgin/UMe)
Available in two-CD and three-CD editions. Both have two new tracks: “Blood Diamonds” and “Broken Glass Park.”

John Coltrane: Sun Ship: The Complete Session (Verve Select)
Two-CD set includes newly discovered and previously unissued alternate takes from one of the final studio sessions by the John Coltrane Quartet (August 26, 1965). A three-LP edition will be released by Mosaic on May 21.

Byron Janis: The Complete RCA Collection (RCA Red Seal)
The legendary classical pianist is celebrated in an 11-CD box set, with a documentary film on a bonus DVD.