DC's July 12 New Release Recap

Happy Tuesday! Check out our picks for this week's new releases -- and take a look at our full listing of titles. Click below to read, link and stream:

Kasey Chambers - Award-winning, multi-platinum-selling Australian alt-country singer/ songwriter returns with the belated U.S. release of her first album of solo material since '06's Carnival...Patty Griffin and Missy Higgins guest...2002 album Barricade and Brick Walls sold 7x platinum Down Under on the strength of the #1 single: "Not Pretty Enough... new album, released last fall internationally, entered the Aussie charts at #3... // Release: Little Bird (Sugarhill) // Sounds like: Chambers' girlish voice, an acquired taste over the years, has mellowed and matured while her songwriting has sharpened while expanding beyond her early insecure melancholy, "Not Pretty Enough" now moving to self-acceptance and empowerment...more DC

Thomas Dybdahl - In his native Norway,  Dybdahl is an award-winning, platinum-selling performing songwriter who has released five critically praised albums in Europe over the past decade. Having recently given his music a proper introduction in the U.K., Dybdahl finally gets a long overdue U.S. relaunch with the release of Songs (Decca), a fourteen track collection that compiles highlights from his earlier works. All we can say is it's about time. While Dybdahl can easily slip into the modern neo-folk style of his acoustic-toting contemporaries, there's an adventurous eclectic spirit also at work...more DC

Eleanor Friedberger - Debut solo album from the Fiery Furnaces frontwoman is very much a "New York" album, a smart, brash, confident statement that doesn't so much revel in the past as it does use it for something new and fresh...while there are plenty of upbeat, almost sunny moments to add warmth and bright energy, there's also an impetuous "just can't sit still" quality that give the project a freewheeling, unpredictable edge // Release: Last Summer (Merge) // Sounds like: Friedberger's lyrics practically tumble out of the melodies, dense verbiage served atop a melange of diverse moods and styles...rarely does an album combine such a masterful polish with a production that has an appealing "first take" feel...more DC

Amy Stroup - A consistent go-to source for Grey's Anatomy-friendly sweet/tart melodic folk/pop tracks, Nashville songwriter gathers up favorite songs from her three digital EP's for a full length CD...considered one of the best of the recent crop of Music City pop tunecrafters, Stroup heads out soon on the 2011 acclaimed  "Ten Out Of Tenn" tour of regional performing songwriters // Release: The Other Side of Love Sessions  // Sounds like: Stroup's voice has light, wistful and unadorned vocal style reminiscent at times of Deb Talan of The Weepies -- an ideal instrument for her simply laid out but affecting songs of love...more DC

JD Malone & The Experts - Drawing on the classic alt-country, blue-collar bar stool hymns and no-frills roadhouse rock from the likes of John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen (Tunnel of Love era), John Mellencamp and Tom Petty, this Philly-based band serves up a hearty, meat-and-potatoes musical stew // Release: Avalon (ItsAboutMusic) // Sounds like: sturdy rock riffs mingle with a dusty twang while the rhythm section rumbles like a well-tuned hemi on a flat, open stretch...the Vermont-raised Malone sounds more like he spent countless nights at some sweaty Georgia juke joint..more DC

Alkaline Trio - Damnesia (Acoustic)
Amy Stroup - The Other Side of Love Sessions DC
Ashton Shepherd - Where Country Grows
Brian McKnight - Just Me
Buke and Gass - Riposte
Colbie Caillat - All Of You
Comet Gain - Howl of the Lonely Crowd
David Bromberg - Use Me
Eleanor Friedberger (Fiery Furnaces) - Last Summer DC
George Thorogood & The Destroyers - 2120 S. Michigan Ave.
Incubus - If Not Now, When
JD Malone & The Experts - Avalon DC
Kasey Chambers - Little Bird DC
Little Dragon - Ritual Union
Luther Russell - The Invisible Audience
Matt Lowell - Drop Your Guns (EP)
Nikki Jean - Pennies In A Jar
R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant (Deluxe 2-CD)
Robin and Linda Williams - Stonewall Country
The Horrors - Skying
The London Souls - S/T
Thomas Dybdahl - Songs DC 
Washed Out - Within and Without
William Elliot Whitmore - Field Songs
Yes - Fly From Here