Here are just a few of the many new releases out today! Check our Store page for plenty more!

Rush -Clockwork Angels

CD / Vinyl

"Although Snakes & Arrows was an excellent album, Clockwork Angels is even better, thanks in part to the thematic and musical focus of Peart, Lifeson, and Lee, and in part to just how vibrant a rock record it is. At times the band rocks as hard as they did on 2112, and others they sound as soulful – that’s right, even prog nerds have soul – as they ever have, and they do so with supreme skill and confidence. With the perspective of time, Neil Young’s notion of burning out versus fading away seems a little dated now. Instead, with a band like Rush hitting another peak as their career comes closer to its end, there’s a third Young phrase that seems even more fitting: 'Long may you run.'" - Adrien Bergrand, MSN Music

Metric - Synthetica

CD / Vinyl / Deluxe Vinyl

"Synthetica looks before it leaps, pausing to reconnect with its past, then easing into the future. The record’s first half is dominated by the haunting sonic landscapes that define the band’s catalogue; doomsday anthem 'Speed The Collapse,' for example, pulses with creeping guitar, driving percussion, and icy vocals—like most of Metric’s new wave-inspired output, it’s simultaneously foreboding and catchy ...The record’s second half is a noticeably poppy and slick affair, which is a cautious progression from Fantasies’ glam experiments ... Kicking off this run of lush melodies, the title track reconfigures the band’s normally shadowy synths to add bouncy, energetic contrast to heavy punk riffs. By the close of 'Clone,' spaced-out electronics bubble and sparkle on everything from slinky midtempo hooks to garish Eurodance. That’s not to say the group is only an album away from soundtracking dance clubs—Haines’ angst-laden lyrics demonstrate a strong resistance to pop stardom. On Synthetica, Metric isn’t necessarily making a transition; they’re simply taking stock of where they’ve been before figuring out where they’re going." - Chris Mincher, The AV Club

Metric - "Youth Without Youth" (Preview)

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - The Lion The Beast The Bear

CD / Vinyl out 6/19

"The band’s fourth studio album is a dynamic collection of hip-shaking blues rock overlaid with pop melodies. Though pop sensibilities have long-since drifted the band away from the raw garage blues of its 2005 debut, Potter and company’s bare emotion and charisma remain the driving forces of the music. Potter’s voice is equal parts seductive and dangerous, a powerful and evocative instrument in its own right. Musically, the collection boasts the two most grandiose showstoppers since the two-part 'Nothing but the Water.' The album is Potter’s most expansive to date, with vast sonic and thematic landscapes. Produced by Jim Scott (Wilco, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), The Lion The Beast The Beat deftly balances muscular rock riffs with Potter’s sultry vocals. The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach co-wrote three songs, the swampy 'Loneliest Soul' and the album’s most melodic sing-along tracks, 'Runaway' and 'Never Go Back.'" - Jeremy Lukens, Glide Magazine

Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - "Never Go Back"

Jimmy Fallon - Blow Your Pants Off

CD / Vinyl

"Blow features [12] original and parody songs by Fallon and guests ... Among the tracks, folk rock icons Neil Young and Bob Dylan offer moving renditions of TV show theme songs that will have Gen Y alums swooning. Eddie Vedder, Dave Matthews and more team up with Fallon for cheeky original tunes. Stephen Colbert masters a killer cover of Rebecca Black’s 'Friday,' Paul McCartney helps Fallon with a cute parody of the Beatles’ 'Yesterday,' and respected news guy Brian Williams gets the 'Slow Jam the News' spotlight with a look at Obama’s stance on Super PACs." - Dana Sitar, Laughspin.com

Jimmy Fallon - "Neil Young Sings Fresh Prince of Bel Air"

Future of the Left - The Plot Against Common Sense

CD / Vinyl out 7/17

"While clearly borrowing plenty of aesthetics from the band's previous two discs, The Plot Against Common Sense holds its influences all over the place trading a monolithic noise rock onslaught into an impressively diverse presentation. Thus, angular assault of 'Sheena is a T-shirt Salesman' and 'Camp Cappuccino' is merged with industrialized playfulness of synthesizers-laden 'Failed Olympic Bid' and danceable 'Cosmo's Ladder.' The quartet also fully embraces their pop sensibilities packing the majority of songs with some truly deranged hooks. Mellowed-out 'City Of Exploded Children' revolves around a glorious folk melody and chanting vocals to startling effect, while equally entertaining 'Goals In Slow Motion' is a splendidly jaded attempt at an indie rock anthem. ... Although The Plot Against Common Sense may not be as musically focused as its predecessor, it certainly makes the most of its sheer word wizardry on display. This, being combined with daring, frequently dissonant arrangements, makes for a unique album that will definitely rank among the best rock releases of the year."  - Greg Fisher, Sputnik Music

Future of the Left - "Sheena Is a T-Shirt Salesman"

Hot Chip - In Our Heads

CD / Vinyl

"Most of the London electronic outfit’s fifth album, In Our Heads, fills the perfect middle dance floor between their disparate influences, which range from Luther Vandross to Nightlife Unlimited to, of course, Prince. 'These Chains' bops effortlessly along to a 1-2 step b/w vocoded samples that echo Deep Forest’s ethnic electronica, while on 'Flutes,' co-vocalist and frontman Alexis Taylor commands his band and their audience to 'work that board/ Work the floor' for a masterpiece of emotive house that’s already number three on my Top 25 Most Played. After that, however, starting with the appropriately titled 'Now There Is Nothing,' the album plateaus. The ambient children’s sounds that fit so naturally on 'Flutes' simply sound contrived on 'Let Me Be Him,' or maybe they just can’t compare to the seven-minute floor-filler at the heart of the album. Regardless, In Our Heads‘ last third lets down what would otherwise be Hot Chip’s best effort to date." - Harley Brown, Consequence of Sound

Hot Chip - "Night & Day"

Usher - Looking 4 Myself

CD / Deluxe CD

"It’s more pop than it is revolutionary, but within its 14 songs are a number of fantastic steps forward (and back, and to the side, and twisting all around), key music that draws on a world of styles permeating pop culture in 2012, including electronic dance music, progressive R&B, dubstep, pop and hip-hop, to create an interesting hybrid pop. At its best, Usher and an impressive team of producer/collaborators, which includes longtime muse Rico Love, Diplo, will.i.am, the Neptunes and Swedish House Mafia, tweak the pop recipe enough to offer surprises. But the album is fat, and any revolution within gets nearly stomped to death by too many 130 beats-per-minute defeats.  'Looking 4 Myself' begins with an Usher benediction, declaration and demand: 'Hey, what’s up? This is a jam, turn it up! Play it loud in the club, this is fire, it’s burning me up,' he sings as a hard, jerky beat produced by Black Eyed Peas founder will.i.am. marches forward lock step with synth clusters and the sticky doo-wop melody ripped from Billy Joel’s 'Uptown Girl.' The first of many dubstep bass-drops — wobbly, bottom end synth noises as popularized by Skrillex — arrives a minute later, accompanied by beefy, off-kilter bass pound. Revolutionary? Not so much, but it’s weirder than anything Lady Gaga’s done. The album gets stranger from there, though, and 13 songs and an hour later Usher has made a convincing case for his revolution, even if it never fully comes to pass." - Randall Roberts, LA Times

Usher - "Climax"

Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man In the Universe

CD / Vinyl

"[H]e has survived everything from poverty to drug addiction to being shot by an infuriated wife. Now almost 70, the soul legend has poured the emotional fallout from such experiences into his first album of new material since 1994. Producers Damon Albarn and XL's Richard Russell have framed Womack's lived-in vocals in stark, urbane, minimalist beats. 'Please Forgive My Heart' brilliantly captures the realisation of this 'legendary badass' that 'sorry' isn't enough. In the similarly exemplary confessional 'Whatever Happened to the Times,' he hits extraordinary notes as he sings of struggles with fading memories of long-lost better days. Other tracks vary the mood and pack a different power: 'Dayglo Reflection's' stylishly dreamy duet with Lana del Rey, 'Jubilee's' spiritual/gospel grooves and 'Love Is Gonna Lift You Up's' jubilant party feel. Womack claims this is the best album he's made, and you wouldn't argue because he'd punch you. But it's an album he could only have made in the autumn of his life, at the apex of his game." - Dave Simpson, The Guardian

Bobby Womack - "Please Forgive My Heart"