Montreal rock band Islands [pictured] hone the splendidly scattered sound of their 2006 debut into more cohesive rock-orchestral arrangements on their latest release, Arm's Way. -Read an interview with Island’s lead Nick Thorburn at Pitchfork -Read an album review in Rollingstone -Catch Islands when they perform at Walter’s on June 25 -Buy Arm’s Way Usher's new record, Here I Stand, finds the R&B singer at a crossroads; he's changed management, and even sound - faintly......

Young Brit rockers The Kooks are back with plenty of catchy hooks on their latest record, Konk. -Watch a video performance at Rolling Stone -Read an album review in the London Times -Watch the video for the song, "Always Where I Need to Be" at Youtube -Buy Konk Phantom Planet have come a long way since their sunny track "California" became an anthem on the youth drama The OC. The now Jason Schwartzman-less band showcase......

We're really excited about Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin's new album, Pershing. These guys have a demonstrative skill for creating polished melodic songs that are timeless. -Check out SSLYBS' recent Daytrotter Session -Read an album review and watch the music video for the song, "Think I Wanna Die," at Spin -Hear a concert from SXSW on NPR -Buy Pershing Australian new wave group Cut Copy would like to see you on the dance floor......

Recent Rock Hall of Fame Inductees REM release their 14th studio album, Accelerate, today. -Watch the music video for the song, “Supernatural Superserious,” at Youtube -Michael Stipe has a very important press announcement available at Youtube -Read an album review in Rolling Stone -REM did a Take Away Show session at La Blogotheque -Buy Accelerate Blues-rock duo the Black Keys worked with Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse on their new album, Attack and Release. -Rolling Stone......

It's a special delivery – Jack White’s other band, The Raconteurs, release their sophomore album, The Consolers of the Lonely, a few weeks early today. -Why the rush? The Raconteurs explain -Hear a new song, “Salute Your Solution,” on Youtube -The Raconteurs have some tour dates too (Sorry, no Houston) -Buy The Consolers of the Lonely Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings is the first Counting Crows’ album in five years and is a moody record......

Rolling Stone has crowned Kaki King a "Guitar Goddess" for her innovative technique. While Kaki's much-anticipated new album, Dreaming in Revenge, does indeed display her awesome axe skills, it also showcases her growing lyrical range. -Read an interview with Kaki at Gothamist -Watch Making-of the album footage at Stereogum -Kaki is playing at SXSW -You can hear a webcast of her SXSW performance this Friday at NPR.org -Watch a video vignette at AOL Music -Buy......

A number of female artists chance it for a comeback on the charts this week. Prolific soul singer/songwriter Erykah Badu returns with her first album in five years, New Amerykah. -Watch a very cool music video for album single, "Honey," on Youtube -Read an interview with Badu at MSNBC -Badu will be featured in a new Tom Ford Fragrance ad campaign -Read an album review at EW.com -Buy New Amerykah Ethereal electronic star Goldfrapp is......

The Big Sleep has a great band name and a great new album to boot. Instrumental prog-rockers The Big Sleep release their new record, Sleep Forever, today. If you're looking for a calming musical sedative to fall asleep to, you won't find that here. The choice jam sessions on this album mostly make us want to turn up the volume. Really loud. -Download the album's first single, "Pinkies," at French Kiss Records -The Village Voice......

Do You Like Rock Music? If so, British Sea Power has made the perfect record for you. The band's third full length album is aptly titled and rocking and rolling enough to satisfy your musical genre tastes. -Read an album review at Spin.com -Watch the music video for the song, “No Lucifer,” at Youtube -Download the song “Waving Flags” at World's Fair -Stream entire album at AOL -British Sea Power is set to perform at......

We know it's only February, but we would like to prematurely speculate and say that Lightspeed Champion has released one of the most accomplished debuts of the year. Who knew that Dev Hynes [pictured], guitarist of the now defunct thrash punk outfit Test Icicles, was a brooding singer/songwriter bursting at the seams with sentimental feeling? Dev, recording under the moniker Lightspeed Champion, releases his stunning new solo album, Falling off the Lavender Bridge, today. -Watch......

Artists from both coasts duke it out on the charts this week. We’ve been fans of the Helio Sequence's ambient sound for some time now, and today the band releases their fourth album, Keep Your Eyes Ahead. -Download some songs at CNET -Aversion interviewed Helio singer Brandon Summers -Read an album review at Billboard.com -Buy Keep Your Eyes Ahead So if you visit the Mars Volta’s website, you can read a very elaborate story about......

Some of today's brightest new acts are releasing albums today. MGMT’s major label debut, Oracular Spectacular, is out in stores today after being available on iTunes since last year. The title of this album kind of speaks for itself; the young duo concocts some of the dreamiest, glammiest rock sounds your ears will ever come across. -Read an album review in Pitchfork -Watch the interactive music video for the song, “Electric Feel” -The Wall Street......

A little bit of old school, a little bit of new school on the charts this week. According to Magnetic Fields' mastermind Stephin Merritt, the group's latest album, Distortion, was inspired by The Jesus and Mary Chain. We think the Scottish post-punk thing is a good look for Merritt and Co. -Read an interview with Stephin Merritt at Pop Matters -Stream the entire album on AOL -Magnetic Fields are featured in the latest All Songs......

Three female singer/songwriters who march to the beat of their own drums are releasing albums this week, including a 20 year old British musician with a penchant for colorful language named Kate Nash [pictured]. Singer Kate Nash’s debut album, Made of Bricks, is already a hit in her native England, and today it is being released stateside. Nash matches witty and honest lyrics with playful piano chords much like another young star, Regina Spektor. -Read......

We're moving the weekly Live Music Calendar to Wednesdays to make room for our new weekly New CD Releases feature on Tuesday. OK, let's pretend you have a five-day date with some wannabe Sirius radio DJ and you have to wade through everything the city has to offer this week. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Well, good thing you listen to everything we have to say! May we recommend that you start off in familiar territory......