Out This Week 1/8 + 1/15

2016 is off to a slow start for music, so we've combined the past two weeks of new releases. One undeniable highlight is the final album from the late, legendary David Bowie, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it his first No. 1 album ever. KEXP Music Director Don Yates notes, "This veteran British artist's 25th studio album is a masterful set of adventurous, jazz-steeped songs ranging from propulsive, groove-driven tracks to atmospheric ballads, with a dark, beautifully sculpted sound accompanying Bowie's impassioned vocals and often-cryptic lyrics of impending doom and mortality."

Other highlights include the debut from Madrid-based garage rockers Hinds, whose "debut full-length is an impressive outing of ramshackle garage-pop with a lo-fi sound featuring jangly guitars, bouncy rhythms, dual lead vocals and sweet pop melodies that hearken back to '60s girl groups and '50s rock 'n' roll."

Senegalese artist Baaba Maal returns with his eleventh album, "an often-beautifully crafted blend of traditional West African music with elements of rock, folk-pop and electronic styles, though it's marred a bit at the end by a couple of incongruous spoken word tracks featuring British poet Lemn Sissay. The album was mostly produced by Johan Hugo of The Very Best."

Muscle Shoals, AL-bred artist Dylan LeBlanc shares "a solid set of warm, occasionally psych-tinged folk-pop." UK trio Daughter return with their sophomore album, a haunting, contemplative collection of songs reflecting on mortality and life changes. And Seattle's legendary 7 Year Bitch release Live at Moe, comprised of recently uncovered recordings from a 1996 show at Seattle’s Club Moe.

January 8th:

• (Various Artists) Joseph Trapanese – “Police Bust”
• from Straight Outta Compton: Original Motion Picture Score on Universal
• David Bowie – “Lazarus”
• from ★ on Columbia
• Hinds – “San Diego”
• from Leave Me Alone on Mom & Pop/Lucky Number
• Jaill – “Port of Call”
• from Wherever It Be limited edition cassette on Infinity Cat Recordings
• Noveller – “Alone Star”
• from Glacial Glow on Fire Records
• Richard Youngs – “South Eastern”
• from Inside the Future on Glass Records Redux
• January 15th:
• 7 Year Bitch – “The Scratch”
• from Live at Moe on MOE
• (Various Artists) Run The Jewels – “Rubble Kings Theme (Dynamite)”
• from Rubble Kings: The Album on Mass Appeal
• Alan Price
• from Savaloy Dip on Omnivore
• Anderson.Paak – “Come Down (Prod. by Hi-Tek)”
• from Malibu on OBE/Steel Wool/Art Club/EMPIRE
• Baaba Maal – “Fulani Rock”
• from The Traveller on Kobalt / Marathon Artists
• Bloodiest – “Suffer”
• from Bloodiest on Relapse
• Daughter – “Doing The Right Thing”
• from Not to Disappear on Glassnote
• Dylan LeBlanc – “Cautionary Tale”
• from Cautionary Tale on Single Lock Records
• Guy Blakeslee – “Halcyon Movement 2”
• from The Middle Sister on LEAVING
• Hank Williams, Jr. – “Are You Ready For The Country ft. Eric Church”
• from It's About Time on Nash Icon / Universal
• Keys N Krates – “U Already Know”
• from Midnite Mass EP on Dim Mak
• Lycus – “Mirage”
• from Chasms on Relapse
• Panic! At the Disco – “Victorious”
• from Death of a Bachelor on DCD2/Fueled by Ramen
• Wall – “Last Date”
• from Wall EP on Wharf Cat
• Witchcraft – “The Outcast”
• from Nucleus on Nuclear Blast