New Music Releases

If you’re looking to buy some new music this week, your money would be most well-spent on Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earth Relief, which is a round up of all the songs performed at the Hope for Haiti benefit organized by George Clooney that aired last Friday night. All the proceeds from purchase of the songs go directly to the Haiti cause. The album logged the biggest album pre-order in iTunes history and is currently Number One in 18 countries and it’s no wonder why. The big draw has been in thanks to  “Stranded (Haita Mon Amour)”, which is an original track performed by Jay-Z, Bono, the Edge, and Rihanna, and Justin Timberlake’s version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” with Matt Morris and Charlie Sexton. Other tracks on the album include “Lean On Me” performed by Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock and Keith Urban, “We Shall Overcome” performed by Bruce Springsteen, and “Let It Be” performed by Jennifer Hudson with the Roots. The album also features Madonna, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Stevie Wonder and many others…CMA’s Vocal Group of the Year, Lady Antebellum, release their sophomore effort Need You Now. Says Charles Kelley, “We put our heart and soul into the songs on this album.”…..Also out this week is Charlotte Gainsbourg’s third studio album, IRM, which further establishes Charlotte as an artist in her own right, not just the spawn of French music’s royal couple, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin…Corrine Bailey Rae returns with The Sea, the follow-up to her 2006 self-titled debut, which entered the U.K. album chart at #1 and made it into the Top 5 of The Billboard 200…The Scots in Travis release A Chronological Acoustical Tour Through the Travis Back Catalogue, which features live versions of classics like “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?” and “Turn”... Magnetic Fields offer up Realism, which in true Stephen Merritt form features no synthesizers, but very varied instrumentation including accordions, violins, cellos, tablas, banjos, tuba, and even falling leaves….Seal releases his sixth studio album, Soul, a covers album that includes soulful hits like Sam Cooke's “A Change Is Gonna Come” and Ben E. King's “Stand By Me”… David Bowie’s A Reality Tour is now being released as a double-album. It’s a live album from his 2004 tour and includes three previously unreleased tracks: live versions of “China Girl”, “Breaking Glass” and “Fall Dog Bombs The Moon”...Just in time for Valentine’s Day there are a slew of love-themed releases, beginning with NOW That’s What I Call Love, a collection of love songs by 20 of today’s biggest artists. Tracks include Colbie Caillat’s “Bubbly”, Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love”, Alicia Keys’ “No One” and Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”…Vince Gill’s Love Songs features Gill’s hit love songs from the past 15 years…Barry Mainlow releases The Greatest Love Songs of All Time, which features classic love songs made famous by other artists, including The Carpenters’ “We’ve Only Just Begun” and Elvis’ “Love Me Tender”…Essential Love Songs by Dean Martin includes 16 tracks by the classic crooner including “Everybody Loves Somebody” and “That's Amore”…