Music Releases For May 7th, 2013

I guess not all of the weekly releases are supposed to be glitter and sunshine.  I was sifting through the releases this week and there was some slim pickings.  Not that I couldn't find some decent albums, I just saw a s**tload of albums that I had no interest for such as Lady Antebellum or Rod Stewart.  There is at least one decent album from rock, EDM, classical and indie.  So that should fill your cup, at least 1/2 full.

Head to your local record shop, online retailer or other legal source to grab an album or two.  Cheers and be sure to drop your thoughts!

(Armin Van Buuren - Intense)

Armin nods to his long-time trance style and fans with the driving beats and etherial vocals of “Won’t Let You Go” and “Love Never Came” with famous trance vocalists Aruna and Richard Bedford, respectively. It’s definitely worth a listen through this album, where each song is relatively unique, wonderfully dynamic and slow-developing. -DJZ

(The Piano Guys - 2)

The second studio outing from YouTube celebrities the Piano Guys (pianist Jon Schmidt. cellist Steven Sharp Nelson, and multimedia specialists Al Van Der Beek and Tel Stewart), the appropriately titled Piano Guys 2, offers up another highly imaginative, shape-shifting set of offbeat mash-ups (Taylor Swift and Bach) and quirky renditions of pop culture staples (the Mission Impossible theme with fellow YouTube giant Lindsey Stirling, The Lord of the Rings Theme, etc. ). As was the case with their prior outing, Piano Guys 2 is available in a deluxe version that includes a DVD containing all of their most popular videos. -All Music

(Joe Satriani - Unstoppable Momentum)

To my ears, the true sign of a well-crafted instrumental is that you could easily imagine lyrics going along with the melody. On “Can’t Go Back,” Satriani begins with a new wave-ish groove before launching into a wah-drenched melody á la “Cool #9.” For the Satriani army, this will be a welcome return to a stripped-down sound that relies a little less on futuristic themes and motifs and more on what inspired many of his followers—a cool guitar plugged into a loud amp. -Premier Guitar

(She & Him - Volume 3)

The pair has palpable fun mixing pop tunes, torch songs and vintage rock ‘n’ roll elsewhere. A bouncy disco beat propels “Together” and its sing-along chorus. They have a blast with the sock-hop beat on their cover of Blondie’s “Sunday Girl,” with Deschanel singing the last verses in French. “Turn To White” is a delicate and breezy meditation that features confident crooning and understated instrumentation that includes her ukulele. They tack on a dreamy reprise of “I Could’ve Been Your Girl” to close the album. All in all, it’s just good fun. And more than a little bit clever. -Paste Magazine