Aurally Speaking

Hitting Shelves: April 30, 2013

• Airborne Toxic Event-Such Hot Blood (Buy)
• Cayucas-Bigfoot (Buy/Stream)
• Coliseum-Sister Faith (Buy/Stream)
• Daughter-If You Leave (Buy/Stream)
• Denison Witmer-Denison Witmer (Buy/Stream)
• Iggy Pop and The Stooges-Ready To Die (Buy/Stream)
• Koji-Crooked In My Mind (Buy/Stream)
• LIGHTS-Siberia [Acoustic] (Buy)
• Melvins-Everybody Loves Sausages (Buy/Stream)
• Ola Podrida-Ghosts Go Blind (Buy/Stream)
• Streetlight Manifesto-The Hands That Thieve (Buy/Stream)
• !!!-Thr!!!er (Buy/Stream)

Hitting Shelves: April 23, 2013

• The Appleseed Cast-Illumination Ritual (Buy/Stream)
• Junip-Junip (Buy/Stream)
• Kidi Cudi-INDICUD (Buy/Stream)
• New Found Glory-Mania 7” (Buy)
• Phoenix-Bankrupt! (Buy)
• Snoop Lion-Reincarnated (Buy/Stream)
• Young Galaxy-Ultramarine (Buy/Stream)

Hitting Shelves: February 26, 2013

• Atoms For Peace-Amok (Buy/Stream)
• Boy-Mutual Friends (Buy/Stream)
• Doldrums-Lesser Evils (Buy/Stream)
• Gold Fields-Black Sun (Buy/Stream)
• Johnny Marr-The Messenger (Buy/Stream)
• Steafan Hanvey-Nuclear Family (Buy/Stream)
• Taddy Porter-Stay Golden (Buy/Stream)
• The Weeds-Roots/Routes EP (Buy/Stream)

Hitting Shelves: February 5, 2013

• The Bronx-Bronx IV (Buy/Stream)
• Coheed and Cambria-The Afterman:Descension (Buy/Stream)
• Diamond Youth-Orange (Buy/Stream)
• Eels-Wonderful, Glorious (Buy/Stream)
• Funeral For A Friend-Conduit (Buy/Stream)
• Josh Groban-All That Echoes (Buy/Stream)
• Silverstein-This Is How the Wind Shifts (Buy/Stream)
• Summer Hours-Closer Still (Buy/Stream)
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra-II (Buy/Stream)

Hitting Shelves: October 23, 2012

• Bayside-Covers: Volume 1 EP (Buy/Stream)
• Further Seems Forever-Penny Black (Buy/Stream)
• Kendrick Lamar-Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City (Buy)
• Of Montreal-Daughter of a Cloud (Buy/Stream)
• P.O.S.-We Don’t Even Live Here (Buy/Stream)
• Red Hot Chili Peppers-Californication [Vinyl Reissue] (Buy)
• Shiny Toy Guns-III (Buy/Stream)
• Taylor Swift-Red (Buy/Stream)

• Anberlin-Vital (Buy/Stream)
• Autumn Owls-Between Buildings, Toward The Sea (Buy)
• Ben Gibbard-Former Lives (Buy/Stream)
• Civil Twilight-Holy Weather Remix EP (Buy/Stream)
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor-‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (Buy/Stream) 
• In Fear and Faith-In Fear and Faith (Buy/Stream)
• The Swellers-Running Out Of Places To Go (Buy/Stream)

Hitting Shelves: September 18, 2012

Just when you thought September had nothing to offer but a line-up of ad nauseum television programming and disgusting amounts of pumpkin spice lattes, let this week’s Hitting Shelves be the one thing to keep you optimistic for a more fulfilling fall.

I know the list below is fairly dense, but don’t let its length scare you away; otherwise, you’ll be missing out on a ton of amazing listening opportunities. After you’re done with your daily dosage of streaming, be sure to drop us a line to let us know what stood out and which ones you simply couldn’t stomach.

• Becoming The Archetype-I Am (Buy)
• Ben Folds Five-The Sound of the Life of the Mind (Buy/Stream)
• Bright Little Field-Treatment Bound: A Ukele Tribute to the Replacements (Buy/Stream)
• Dinosaur Jr.-I Bet On Sky (Buy/Stream)
• Down-The Purple EP (Buy/Stream)
• G.O.O.D. Music-Cruel Summer (Buy/Stream)
• Go Radio-Close The Distance (Buy/Stream)
• Grizzly Bear-Shields (Buy/Stream)
• The Killers-Battle Born (Buy)
• Local H-Hallelujah! I’m A Bum (Buy/Stream)
• Michael Jackson-Bad 25 (Buy/Stream)
• Nelly Furtado-The Spirit Indestructible (Buy)
• Pebula-Carry Life (Buy/Stream)
• P!nk-The Truth About Love (Buy)
• Set It Off-Cinematics (Buy/Stream)
• Title Fight-Floral Green (Buy/Stream)
• We Are The Ocean-Maybe Tomorrow, Maybe Today (Buy/Stream)
• Weezer-Blue Album [Vinyl Reissue] (Buy)

Hitting Shelves: September 11, 2012

Since I’m really pressed for time today, I decided to save myself the trouble of stressing myself out with the writing portion of Hitting Shelves and just present to you the releases. While I can’t guarantee that next week will be any less busy, this at least buys you one week without having to read my long-winded previews.

In any case, let’s hope you’ll go in with good faith as a listener and reader and just try these albums out blindly. I promise, you will love what there is to discover amongst this week’s wave of releases. Enjoy. 

• Amanda Palmer-Theatre Is Evil (Buy/Stream)
• The Avett Brothers-The Carpenter (Buy/Stream)
• The B-52s-Original Album Series Boxset (Buy) 
• Billy Talent-Dead Silence (Buy)
• Blaqk Audio-Bright Black Heaven (Buy/Stream)
• Bob Dylan-Tempest (Buy)
• Calexico-Algiers (Buy/Stream)
• The Dandelion War-We Were Always Loyal To Lost Causes (Buy/Stream)
• Dave Matthews Band-Away from the World (Buy/Stream)
• Field Report-Field Report (Buy/Stream)
• Gallows-Gallows (Buy/Stream)
• The Helio Sequence-Negotiations (Buy/Stream)
• The Raveonettes-The Observator (Buy/Stream)
• State Champs-Overslept (Buy/Stream)
• The xx-Coexist (Buy/Stream)

Hitting Shelves: August 28, 2012

This week in music, we’re wrapping up the end of August with a piping hot batch of releases from some of the industry’s best. Fans with eclectic taste can find something from every sphere of the music world in the biggest and most varied Hitting Shelves yet.

Today you can get your hands on Alanis Morissette’s eighth studio album, Havoc and Bright Lights; Art Garfunkel’s massive assemblage of hits, The Singer; Circa Survive’s first independent release, Violent Waves; The Easy Star All-Stars’ reggae tribute to Michael Jackson’s Thriller; the new progressive-dance album on quaaludes from Minus The Bear entitled Infinity Overhead; and the ethereal post-rock landscape of Pan’s These Are The Things That I Love And I Want To Share Them With You. 

I have undoubtedly been looking forward to this week’s batch of releases more than any of the others that I have posted in the week’s passed. If you’re scratching your head in doubt and wondering why; then drop your eyes down below to the full list and let the releases tell you the rest.

• Alanis Morissette-Havoc and Bright Lights (Buy/Stream)
• Art Garfunkel-The Singer (Buy/Stream)
• The Chariot-One Wing (Buy)
• Circa Survive-Violent Waves (Buy/Stream)
• Dwele-Greater Than One (Buy/Stream)
• Easy Star All-Stars-Thrillah (Buy/Stream)
• Flobots-Circle In The Square (Buy/Stream)
• Get Started-Built For Blame, Laced With Shame (Buy/Stream)
• Minus The Bear-Infinity Overhead (Buy/Stream)
• Pan-These Are The Things I Love, And I Want To Share Them With You (Buy/Stream)
• Sheppard-Sheppard (Buy/Stream)
• Slaughterhouse-Welcome to: Our House (Buy)
• Tamia-Beautiful Surprise (Buy/Stream)

Hitting Shelves: August 21, 2012

This week in music we’re seeing Bloc Party back to their Blur infused-origins with the abrasive riffing and jagged rhythms of Four. It is their first album since 2008’s Intimacy, shattering the 3 year silence of their hiatus. While Bloc Party reached new sonic peaks with the meticulously layered digital universe of Intimacy, fans feared that the band would continue on in a direction that was further away from what they broke out with. After a three year hiatus, those fans can take solace in the fact that Bloc Party is back to what we grew attached to with their debut, Silent Alarm.

Also coming to you this week is Vexations from power-pop powerhouse I Was Totally Destroying It, Project 86’s eighth studio album Wait For The Siren, and Circles Around the Sun from indie roots-rockers, Dispatch. Be sure to check out these and this week’s other releases in this week’s edition of Hitting Shelves.

• Bloc Party-Four (Buy/Stream)
• The Darkness-Hot Cakes (Buy/Stream)
• Dispatch-Circles Around The Sun (Buy/Stream)
• The Heavy-The Glorious Dead (Buy/Stream)
• I Was Totally Destroying It-Vexations (Buy/Stream)
• Lynyrd Skynyrd-Last Of A Dyin’ Breed (Buy/Stream)
• Our Last Night-Age of Ignorance (Buy/Stream)
• Owl City-The Midsummer Station (Buy)
• Project 86-Wait For The Siren (Buy/Stream)
• Shreddy Krueger-Curses EP (Buy)
• Yeasayer-Fragrant World (Buy/Stream)

Hitting Shelves: August 14th, 2012

Not since the early 2000s have Wes Borland and Kottonmouth Kings shared a release date or been mentioned in the same breath, but Hitting Shelves likes to pull out all the punches with each weekly feature and most of all, remind you of those rap-rock stricken times. 

This week in music we’re throwing ‘bows to Such Gold’s powerhouse hardcore full length Misadventures; exploiting ghosts with singer-song writer Jilette Johnson’s Whiskey & Frosting; shredding our fingertips to Steve Vai’s The Story of Light; and welcoming back Yellowcard with their glorious album Southern Air. You’d be remiss to not check out these albums brought to you by some talented artists in the thick of the summer.

Be sure to check them out below and let us know what you’re digging most over here.

• Black Light Burns-The Moment You Realize You’re Going To Fall (Buy/Stream)
• The Classic Crime-Phoenix (Buy/Stream)
• The Faceless-Autotheism (Buy/Stream)
• The Foreshadowing-Second World (Buy/Stream)
• Jilette Johnson-Whiskey & Frosting (Buy/Stream)
• Kottonmouth Kings-Mile High (Buy/Stream)
• Slightly Stoopid-Top of the World (Buy/Stream)
• Steve Vai-The Story of Light (Buy/Stream)
• Such Gold-Misadventures (Buy/Stream)
• Thieves-Achiever (Buy/Stream)
• Why?-Sod In The Seed (Buy/Stream)
• Yellowcard-Southern Air (Buy/Stream)