Nearly three years after the release of Bright Eyes' last studio album, singer Conor Oberst is rewarding patient fans with two discs at once.
The Nebraska-bred emo-folk artist's brainchild, Bright Eyes, will release two albums this week, the traditional I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, and the more experimental Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Oberst didn't shoulder all the burden for the two albums, though; he brought in a couple of musically inclined friends for support, including Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who appears on five Digital Ash tracks, Emmylou Harris, members of the Faint and others.
Worlds Apart from Bright Eyes' style is the new ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead album. The album, which kicks off with a grandiose introduction featuring a choir chanting the names of Egyptian gods, was held back by the band's label to keep it from getting buried under a glut of holiday releases by big-name artists.
While he works on his solo debut, Bred to Die, due later this year, Lil Scrappy is tiding fans over with the chopped & screwed edition of his split album with Trillville, The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Lil Scrappy and Trillville, which was released in February 2004.
Also hitting stores this week are albums by the Chemical Brothers (Push the Button), Emma -- of Spice Girls fame -- (Free Me), Erasure (Nightbird), Ani DiFranco (Knuckle Down), Agnostic Front (Another Voice), Buck 65 (This Right Here Is Buck 65) and LeAnn Rimes (This Woman).
- 7 Seconds - Take It Back, Take It On, Take It Over! (SideOneDummy)
Agnostic Front - Another Voice (Combat/Relativity) Kelli Ali - Psychic Cat (One Little Indian) ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Worlds Apart (Interscope) [article id="1492736"]Read: "Trail Of Dead's Plan To Save Rock And Roll Postponed Until January"[/article]
Aqueduct - I Sold Gold (Barsuk) Aura Noir - The Merciless (Tyrant Syndicate/Peaceville) Lou Barlow - Emoh (Merge) Adrian Belew - Side One (Sanctuary) Big Business - Head for the Shallow (Hydra Head) Big Noyd - On the Grind (Monopolee) The Black Maria - Lead Us to Reason (Victory) Bluerunners - Honey Slides (Bayou Vista) Bright Eyes - Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (Saddle Creek) [article id="1492239"]Read: "Bright Eyes Slam 'Off-The-Leash Administration'; Give Details On New Albums"[/article]
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (Saddle Creek) Buck 65 - This Right Here Is Buck 65 (V2) Chemical Brothers - Push the Button (Astralwerks) Kenny Chesney - Be as You Are: Songs From an Old Blue Chair (BNA) Sean Costello - Sean Costello (Artemis/Tone-Cool) Graham Coxon - Happiness in Magazines (Astralwerks) Crash Kelly - Penny Pills (Liquor & Poker) Devlins - Waves (Nettwerk) Stefano Di Battista - Parker's Mood (Blue Note) Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down (Righteous Babe) Daz Dillinger - The Dogg Pound Gangsta LP (Gangsta Advisory/Daz Dillinger Music) Dog Fashion Disco - The City Is Alive Tonight: Live in Baltimore (Artemis) Dave Douglas & Nomad - Mountain Passages (Greenleaf/Koch) Emma - Free Me (19 Recordings) Erasure - Nightbird (Mute) Marianne Faithfull - Before the Poison (Anti/Epitaph) Forever Einstein - Racket Science (Cuneiform) Tom Freund Copper Moon (Surf Road) Inara George - All Rise (Everloving) God Dethroned - Lair of the White Worm (Metal Blade) Rosco Gordon - No Dark in America (DualTone) John Hammond - In Your Arms Again (Back Porch) Ray Wylie Hubbard - Delirium Tremolos (Philo/Rounder) Jennifer Gentle - Valende (Sub Pop) Kill Your Idols - From Companionship to Competition (SideOneDummy) James King - Bluegrass Storyteller (Rounder) Kyau Vs. Albert - Here We Are Now (Varese Sarabande) Sonny Landreth - Grant Street (Sugar Hill) Blaine Larsen - Off to Join the World (BNA) Lemon Jelly - '64-'95 (XL/Beggars Group) Lil Scrappy & Trillville - The King of Crunk and BME Records Present: Lil Scrappy Chopped & Screwed (Reprise) Lumberjacks - Goodie Mob Presents the Lumberjacks: Livin' Life as Lumberjacks (Koch) Low - The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop) Sylvain Luc - Ambre (Dreyfus) Lucky - Who Shot Me (Thump) M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us (Mute) Machine and the Synergetic Nuts - Leap Second Neutral (Cuneiform) Pat Metheny Group - The Way Up (Nonesuch) Moaners - Dark Snack (Yep Roc) Jeff Parker - The Relatives (Thrill Jockey) Parker and Lily - The Low Lows (Warm Electronic) Pierces - Light of the Moon (Universal) Pitty Sing - Pitty Sing (Or Music) Pony Up! - Pony Up! (EP, Ten Fingers/Dim Mak) Archer Prewitt - Wilderness (Thrill Jockey) Alex K. Redfearn and the Eyesores - The Quiet Room (Cuneiform) LeAnn Rimes - This Woman (Curb) Pete Rock - Surviving Elements: From Soul Survivor II Sessions (BBE/Rapster) Romanowski - Party in My Pants (Future Primitive Sound) Mando Saenz - Watertown (Emergent) Bettie Serveert - Attagirl (Minty Fresh) The Chris Stamey Experience - A Question of Temperature (Yep Roc) Stands - All Years Leaving (Echo) Stereo Total - Do the Bambi (Kill Rock Stars) Street Dogs - Back to the World (Brass Tacks) Hubert Sumlin - About Them Shoes (Tone-Cool/Artemis) Supersuckers - Live at the Tractor Travern (Mid-Fi) Keni Thomas - Flags of Our Fathers - A Soldier's Story (Moraine Music) Martha Wainwright - Bloody Mother F---ing A--hole (EP, Rounder) Various artists - Come to the Mountain: Old Time Music for Modern Times (Rounder) Various artists - Hi Power 2005 (Thump) Various artists - Hotel D'Amour (Varèse Sarabande) Various artists - "Mulan II" soundtrack (Walt Disney) Various artists - "One Tree Hill" soundtrack (Warner Bros.) DVD: BeauSoleil - "Live From New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival" (Shout! Factory) DVD: Funky Meters - "Live From New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival" (Shout! Factory) DVD: Old 97's - "Live" (New West) DVD: Pietasters - "Live at the 9:30 Club" (Music Video Distributors) DVD: Various artists - "Beyond Warped: The Vans Warped Tour 04" (Trinidad/Aloha Films) DVD: Various artists - "Burn to Shine: Washington DC - 01.14.2004" (Trixie) DVD: Various artists - "Tension and Release: Springing the Blues 2003" (Music Video Distributors) Mötley Crüe - Red, White & Crüe (Hip-O) [article id="1494559"] Read: "Original Lineup Of Motley Crue Reuniting For World Tour"[/article]
Tina Turner - All the Best (Capitol) Various artists - 2005 Grammy Nominees (Capitol) Sage Francis - Healthy Distrust (Epitaph) Brian McKnight - Gemini (Motown) 3 Doors Down - Seventeen Days (Universal) Blue Merle - Burning in the Sun (Island) Goldfinger - Disconnection Notice (Maverick) They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs (Disney) 
