Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Out of Frequency (Chrysalis)

As their name might imply, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour are somehow less of a band than they are a many-legged, ever- evolving, constantly moving party machine. Unlike so many of their Scandinavian contemporaries-bands that often attack pop music with an almost surgical precision-The Asteroids Galaxy Tour's vision of Pop music is a much more a freewheeling affair: a symphonic collision of big pop hooks, soaring horn sections, retro-synth flourishes, and epic beats. Inspired by everything from Blaxploitation soundtracks to Primal Scream to old reruns of Dynasty, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour evolved from a bedroom recording project between friends into a Psychedelic big band of the future.

Black Bananas - Rad Times Xpress IV (Drag City)

New band led by former Royal Trux member Jennifer Herrema. After 3 albums under the name RTX, Jennifer Herrema and her bunch decided to flip the script, and kick open the doors of perception a little bit. See, RTX was not Royal Trux, not a metal band, not a 70s bar band and not a toxic substance; RTX was something, all of those things and none of them and now they are Black Bananas. The band is set for the next all-inclusive Rock 'n' Roll crusade, the one that includes even and especially all the shit you don't like, woven into all the shit you can't live without. This has been the name of Jennifer's game.

Canyons - Keep Your Dreams (Modular)

True to its title, Keep Your Dreams unfolds like a feverish series of frantic chords, loose synth lines and macerated drum machines, sun-bleached sitars, hypnotic hooks and sandblasted saxophones and increasingly blurry blends of what's live and programmed. Guests on the album include Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), Nick Albrook (Pond), Ramona Gonzales (Nite Jewel), Fredrik Liston (The Embassy) and Paul Roberts (Sniff 'n' the Tears).

Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas (Columbia)

From our master singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen, here are ten new songs that mine the heart, shake the body and break the boundaries as everybody knows only Leonard can do. A signature of our time, Leonard's baritone holds us like the voices of Hank, Frank and Ray. These are songs that nobody knows and everyone will treasure. The album was produced with Patrick Leonard, Anjani Thomas, Ed Sanders and Dino Soldo. Complementing Cohen's signature baritone on Old Ideas are the exceptional vocalists Dana Glover, Sharon Robinson, The Webb Sisters (Hattie and Charley Webb) and Jennifer Warnes. The album's cover design and drawings are Cohen's own.

Lana Del Rey - Born to Die (Interscope)

She calls herself the "gangsta Nancy Sinatra" and defines her genre as "Hollywood pop / sadcore", a dramatic new loop for pop music. Lana Del Rey's direct influences were visual as well as musical; David Lynch, soundtracks for '50s black and white movies, the whirring sound of the Ferris at Coney Island, fame itself. She lived in a New Jersey trailer park and decked her homestead in flags, streamers and seasonally inappropriate Christmas lights. 'All the things I love,' she notes. This was Lana's world now and it needed to sparkle.

Gotye - Making Mirrors (Universal)

Belgian-Aussie artist Gotye (pronounced like Gauthier) delivers a great art-pop album in the form of Making Mirrors. If you like your music original, interesting, with killer hooks and an arty slant then this is for you. Standout track, Someone That I Used to Know has just become the biggest selling Australian record since Savage Garden's Truly Madly Deeply in 1995. 50 million youtube views can't be wrong!

Kam Kama - The Tiled House LP (Sister Cylinder)

Bloomington band Kam Kama release their debut 12" EP. Described as "a dark, post-punk doozy...through and through it's a fantastic record" - DECODER MAGAZINE and "frenetic style... they channel Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, and Joy Division" - CACTUS MOUTH. THe band features Patrick Clarke - guitar, Jim Kalwara - guitar, Jenna Beasley - synthesizer, organ, Scott Ferguson - bass and vox, Jon Anderson - drums. Recorded at Magnetic South by John Dawson. Mastered by Paul Mahern. Design by Luke Shumard. Pressed on 180g white vinyl, only 300 copies made.

Wiley - Evolve or Be Extinct (Big Dada)

Evolve or Be Extinct covers house, hip-hop, electro, bashment, comic skits and, oh yes, a bit of grime. And while Scar (one of two efforts with Mark Pritchard, a dance producer of similarly prodigious output), I'm Skanking and Boom Blast are the tracks whose hooks dig deepest, every song has something to intrigue. "I'm a weirdo, but I'm not a bipolar," is Wiley's take, and it's true that his magpie energy is compelling partly for its wonkiness. A stern, surreal and evolutionary forward bounce.

The Vinyl Zone (get into the groove!)

The Caretaker - Patience (After Sebald) LP (History Always)
Magnetic Fields - Andrew in Drag 7" (Merge)
Sunn O))) - 00 Void LP (Southern Lord)

Also Released This Week

PJ Harvey - Let England Shake DVD (Vagrant)
Hospitality - s/t (Merge)
Imperial Teen - Feel the Sound (Merge)
The Internet - Purple Naked Ladies (Odd Future)
The Jealous Sound - A Gentle Reminder (Militia)
Lilacs & Champagne - s/t (Mexican Summer)
Metallica - Beyond Magnetic EP (Warner Bros)
Prinzhorn Dance School - Clay Class (DFA)
Radiohead - King of Limbs Live DVD (TBD)
Ringo Starr - Ringo 2012 (Hip-O)
John Zorn - Mount Analogue (Tzadik)