Goodness me, what a week! Finally it feels like summer has truly begun, once with this new wave on awesome new stuff. First up is Coldplay’s long awaited follow-up to their critical and commercial hit X & Y, in the form of “Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friends” (we’ve gotten used to the title by now, check out the stream here). The Goo Goo Dolls are also back with yet another awesome compilation, after last year’s Greatest Hits: Volume One, this time however in “Greatest Hits: Volume Two“, Dolls fans can catch up with the band’s rarities, B-Sides and various other unreleased gems. There’s some great news for metal fans as well, as gender icons, Judas Priest, roll out their latest studio effort “Nostradamus.”

Punk rock is also set to make a comeback once with The Offspring’s new release, “Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace,” after a more or less disappointing  previous record, the 2003 Splinter. One of the most recognizable and respected bands in the independent music scene, Wolf Parade, is in full throttle with their sophomore LP “At Mount Zoomer,” after a fantastic, genre shattering debut album, Apologies to the Queen Mary.

Other notable releases include new albums from Silver Jews, MIGGS or The Briggs.

Coldplay: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

The Offspring: Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace

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Hip-hop’s back in full throttle this week, with two highlight releases that will probably be in the top 10 rap list of the year. These are none other then the new records from Lil Wayne, with “Carter III,” his sixth full length studio album and the final take in the Carter trilogy, and N.E.R.D., respectively, with their latest effort “Seeing Sounds,” the follow-up to the critical darling “Fly or Die.” However, my personal favorite and probably most anticipated album, out of this week’s bunch, has to be My Morning Jacket’s latest work, “Evil Urges.” Something well worth pick up is, also, The Fratellis‘ sophomore record “Here We Stand,” after their shockingly successful debut.

Other notable releases include new records from Adele, Jakob Dylan or Martha Wainwright.

Lil Wayne: Tha Carter III

My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges
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The drought has past, as the swarm of fabulously delicious new music rolls in. I think we’ve just, officially, entered the summer new music, badass festivals bonanza. First up is Weezer and their long awaited sixth studio release, “The Red Album.” Up next, we’ll be making a swift shift from geeky alternative rock to hard core metal, as Disturbed gears up for their forth installment “Indestructible“. Radiohead are also back; no, they haven’t released another shocking album our of the blue, but rather yet another compilation album, “The Best Of,” released by their former label EMI, just a year after another compilation album…

Oh, and then there’s Robert Pollard. Man, where does this man get so much energy and inspiration from? I mean here’s already at his third record for 2008, titled Robert “Pollard Is Off to Business“, after subsequently releasing four records in 2007! The man’s a machine, but nevertheless we salute his new found exuberance. On the indie barricade we’ve got some very sweet new albums lying around, this week. Leading the indie pack is one of my favorite new band, Fleet Foxes, a five piece from Seattle, that are well worth checking out and who’ve just released their debut self-titled record. The Texan veterans from Shearwater are also back, but this time with a superb, stelar album, in the form of “Rook“; a record that may just be the best of ‘08 so far.

Other notable releases include new music from the likes of Ashanti, Jewel, Ladytron, Bret Michaels.

Weezer: The Red Album

Shearwater: Rook

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Ah, sadly this is one of those really scarce weeks, both in number of releases and in value, not that we’d like to upset any of this weeks featured artists. Not by a long shot; there’s still a few records that are more then worth your humble consideration. First up is the legendary singer/songwriter John Hiatt and his latest addition to his already huge discography, “Same Old Man,” proving although he’s well past his glory years, the man’s still got it. Up next is yet another musical legend, the American gospel icon Al Green, who’s featured this week thanks to his latest record “Lay It Down.” As we head over to more poppish, modern music we can’t help mention the latest release from The Futureheads, who are back with their third studio effort “This Is Not The World.”

John Hiatt: Same Old Man

The Futureheads: This Is Not The World

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There’s a bit of drought this week, but, still, plenty of new, interesting music to choose from. Leading the pack this week is the popular post-grunge quintet 3 Doors Down, who are back with their second self-titled album and their fifth one overall. Up next is the beautiful Scarlett Johansson with her first musical debut, in the form of the Tom Waits cover collection, titled “Anywhere I Lay My Head.” Also the punk rock cabaret (does this genre even exist?) Boston duo The Dresden Dolls are back with the second compilation album “No, Virginia,” shortly following in the foot steps of their last studio album Yes, Virginia. Oh and let’s not forget the indie veterans from Leeds, The Wedding Present and their eight studio effort “El Rey.”

3 Doors Down: 3 Doors Down

Scarlett Johansson: Anywhere I Lay My Head

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Things have cooled off a bit, after these last few weeks of really serious releases. Nevertheless, there’s still a few interesting stuff out this week, that will definitely grace your ears with some fine music.  First off there’s the pop/rock/acoustic/jazz, and whatever different genres he’s playing, singer/songwriter Jason Mraz, with his highly anticipated third record “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things.”  One of my old time favorites, the indie rock quartet Death Cab for Cutie, are also back with a new record, this time with “Narrow Stairs“, a highly praised released by critics all around.  Punk rockers The Explosion also have some new music instored for us, in the form of “Bury Me Standing,” which unfortunately is their last record together, after just recently announcing they were gonna split up. Finally there’s the Welsh soul diva Duffy, who’s been getting a shit load of attention after her debut record, “Rockferry,” hit Europe in March; now it’s time for the US fans to get a taste of her music.

Jason Mraz: We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things

Duffy: Rockferry

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Finally, the trip hop pioneers of Portishead are back with their long awaited third album, suggestively titled “Third“, the band’s first record in 10 years! Then there’s “Rising Down,” the latest, highly anticipated studio effort from behalf of The Roots. Possibly this week’s highlight, however, is “Hard Candy,” the latest album from “the queen of pop,” Madonna. Another highly interesting release is Foxboro Hot Tubs‘ debut album “Stop Drop And Roll;” if you didn’t yet know this FHT is the moniker under which Green Day are planning to diversify their music, incorporating primarily late ’70s garage rock influences.

Veteran rockers, Def Leppard, are also back with a new release, in the form of “Songs from the Sparkle Lounge,” the follow-up to their earlier, highly appreciated album, the platinum awarded “Yeah!.” Other notable releases includes new music from: Robyn, Steve Winwood, Mudcrutch, Mindless Self Indulgence or Estelle. Dearest me, what a week!

Portishead: Third

The Roots: Rising Down

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Hope you’ve saved some money folks, cause this week’s a definite killer, in terms of new release. We’ve got tons of new music, spearheaded by titan Elvis Costello, closely followed by the British lo-fi rockers Elbow. Another interesting release to pick up is the debut album from The Shadow Puppets, titled The Age Of The Understatement, formed by Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and MIles Kane (The Rascals). And of course I couldn’t have rapped up this week’s New Music Monday post without mentioning my favorite record, from the one and only Flight Of The Conchords (listen to this and you’ll soon share my love).

Other notable releases includes new music from Tokyo Police Club, dEUS, Whitesnake and Barry Adamson.

Elvis Costello: Momofuku

Flight Of The Conchords: Flight Of The Conchords

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My favorite record for this week is clearly Anthony Gonzales,’ or M83 as he’s better know, fifth LP “Saturdays = Youth.” I’ve always been fascinated by the way he masterfully mixes electronic and shoegazing elements, that gave as result some wonderful eclectic ambient music. Then there’s of course one of our recent favorites Tristan Prettyman, and her latest sophomore release “Hello…x.” Also another album worth picking up this week, is the latest LP from the Californian neo-psychedelics The Brian Jonestown Massacre, titled “My Bloody Underground.”

Other worthy mentions include new material from Mariah Carey, Kooks, Jason Mraz, Freddie Stevenson, Joseph Arthur or Everclear.

M83: Saturdays = Youth

Tristan Prettyman: Hello

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April seems to be packed new music, with this week being flooded by new records from the likes of new and old acts alike. FIrst off there’s Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds, who’ve released their latest “Dig, Lazarus, Dig” LP in the UK, at the beginning of last month and are ready for US soil. Then there’s the indie veterans The Breeders, who’ve released their forth record in their long career, the highly anticipated “Mountain Battles.” The record’s already been getting a lot of attention and critical appraisal, like “near-perfect indie rock” from the New Your Sun.

The five piece Sheffield indie rockers of The Long Blondes simply blew me away with their smashing 2006 debut, now they’re back with their sophomore effort “Couples,” a release to keep an eye on for sure. I’ve been a fan of P.O.D. since like they first come up the radar, but their last albums, especially the last one, were very modest and kinda slumpy. This week the San Diego quartet will put out their seventh full length studio album in the form of “When Angels & Serpents Dance“; I just hope they make another Satellite. I’m also a bit curios to see how one third of the brilliant indie trio PB&john, sounds like alone. I’m talking about Peter Moren’s upcoming solo record, titled “The Last Tycoon.”

Other notable mentions include new records from Mel C, Man Man, Colin Meloy (ex-Decemberists), Tapes ‘n Tapes and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (the name always puts a smile upon my face).

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!

The Breeders: Mountain Battles

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