Don’t Miss New Albums From The National, Snoop Dogg, The Cure & More

Described as the “definitive live document of The National,” the band’s live album, Rome, arrived today via 4AD. Spanning The National’s two-decades long career, the 21-track collection was recorded live on June 3, 2024, at Cavea of the Auditorium Parco della Musica Ennio Morricone in Rome, Italy. Presented without overdubs, the live set was mixed by longtime collaborator Peter Katis.

Rome features live takes on The National favorites “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” “Don’t Swallow the Cap,” “I Need My Girl,” “The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness,” “England,” “Mr. November,” “Terrible Love,” “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” and “Fake Empire.” Also included are deeper cuts “Runaway,” “Lemonworld,” “The Geese of Beverly Road,” “Lit Up,” “Humiliation” and “Murder Me Rachael.”

Rapper Snoop Dogg put out a new album, Missionary, which arrives 30 years after his debut album, Doggystyle. Like Snoop’s debut, Dr. Dre produced Missionary and also appears on multiple tracks. Other guests contributing to the 15-track LP include 50 Cent, Eminem, BJ The Chicago Kid, Method Man, Jhené Aiko, Alus, Smitty, Cocoa Sarai, Kaan Düzarat, and others. Additionally, Sting appears on the track “Another Part of Me” and Jelly Roll appears on an interpolation of Tom Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” titled “Last Dance with Mary Jane.”

In November, The Cure released Songs Of A Lost World, their first studio album in 16 years. Today, the band fronted by Robert Smith released a live edition of the album, Songs Of A Live World: Troxy London MMXXIV. Last year, Smith brought The Cure out on the road for their first extended North American Tour since 2016. In a bit of foreshadowing, the trek was titled Shows Of A Lost World Tour. The live album, recorded earlier this year this at the Troxy in London, features live versions of all eight songs on the original studio release.

Birth Of The Blue captures the first recording session by the Miles Davis Sextet that would also record Miles Davis’ groundbreaking album, Kind Of BLue. Supporting the legendary trumpeter was the equally renowned collective of tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, alto saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb. The group, who had first come together less than two weeks prior, recorded the Birth Of The Blue source material in 1958 at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio in New York City. The new album features recordings of “On Green Dolphin Street,” “Fran-Dance,” “Stella By Starlight” and Love for Sale.”

The Way Out of Easy was recorded live on January 2, 2023 at ETA in Los Angeles. The performance was part of seven-year Monday-night residency at the venue led by guitarist Jeff Parker. By the end of 2023, ETA co-owner Ryan Julio announced a sudden pending closure, and Parker’s final residency performance occurred on December 23, 2023. The January 2, 2023 concert at ETA saw Parker backed by the ETA IVtet composed of saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss and drummer Jay Bellerose. The album features four tracks, opening with Parker’s composition “Freakadelic” from his 2012 release Bright Light in Winter. The set continues with the B-side “Late Autumn” and the album’s title track. The album ends with fully improvised dub/reggae groove identified as “Chrome Dome.” The concert was recorded and engineered by Bryce Gonzales, who in the liner notes he wrote, stated:

“There are many different ways to make recordings and they all have their place. But for this band, the most important thing to consider is: not doing anything to get in the way of what they are saying to each other.”

Saint Etienne deliver “an ambient escape from the chaos of daily life, capturing the essence of the after-hours” with today’s release of their 12th album, “The Night”. Produced by the British trio (Sarah Cracknell, Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley) and Augustin Bousfield during sessions held between January to August 2024, “The Night” was recorded at facilities in Saltaire and Hove.

“I think ‘The Night’ sounds really three-dimensional. A lot of that is down to Gus Bousfield who played the guitars and did a wonderful production job,” Stanley said. “Recording it in his studio, with so much light and space, has helped to shape it too. The three of us brought in our own songs, but lyrically we were all in tune with each other without having to swap notes first.”

BANKS marked the 10th anniversary of the release of her 2014 debut album, Goddess, with an acoustic version of the album available today as Goddess: Unplugged. The anniversary edition of Goddess follows a series of intimate concerts in London, New York, and Los Angeles where she returned to the same venues in each city she played during the tour in support of Goddess a decade ago.