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10 Albums to Stream: Neil Young, Sharon Van Etten, Mariah Carey, and More

neil young, a letter home, stream

Happy Memorial Day weekend! Soundtrack the unofficial start of summer by streaming new albums from Neil Young, Mariah Carey, Sharon Van Etten, the Walkmen’s Hamilton Leithauser, and more. Find details and links below.

1) Neil Young, A Letter Home. “Neil Young’s covers album A Letter to Home includes everything from Bruce Springsteen’s ‘My Hometown’ to Willie Nelson’s ‘On the Road Again’ to the Everly Brothers’ ‘I Wonder if I Care as Much.’ The 10-song set was recorded at Jack White’s Nashville HQ, in Third Man’s ’40s-era Voice-O-Graph booth.” — SPIN (via The Huffington Post)

2) Mariah Carey, Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse.Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse is now set for a May 27 release and, in advance, is streaming in full on iTunes… The album clocks in at 15 tracks on its standard edition, featuring collaborations with Nas, Wale, Mary J. Blige and more, including her “#Beautiful” single with Miguel that was released last year.” — Radio.com (via iTunes Radio)

3) Sharon Van Etten, Are We There. “Third track ‘Your Love is Killing Me’ is the first thing we’ve heard in 14 years to match the ransacked passion of PJ Harvey’s transplanted opus, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. There aren’t enough shivers.” — SPIN (via iTunes Radio)

4) Hamilton Leithauser, Black Hours. “Hamilton Leithauser sounds worn-out and weary on Black Hours, his first solo record since his long-running band the Walkmen went on indefinite hiatus late last year… Recorded in collaboration with few likeminded all-stars — including Richard Swift, Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij and The Walkmen’s Paul Maroon — Black Hours feels stately and hand-crafted, even as bits of vein-bulging intensity poke through.” (via NPR)

5) Röyksopp & Robyn, Do It Again.Do It Again, by the Scandinavian dream team of Röyksopp and Robyn, is neither act’s official ‘new album,’ but rather a five-song mini-album from the group Röyksopp & Robyn… The euphoria peaks with the pulsating, exuberant title track (the one most reminiscent of Body Talk), with a thumping, dance-floor-filling beat and joyous synth washes that recall Calvin Harris, Tricky Stewart and The-Dream’s work with Rihanna and Beyoncé.” (via NPR)

6) Owen Pallett, In Conflict.In Conflict finds [Pallett’s] bright tenor and even brighter arrangements at their most assured in years… If there’s any conflict at all throughout these 13 tracks, then it’s purely an internal one for Owen Pallett, a legit composer who also possesses the instincts to craft brilliant pop songs.” (via NPR)

7) Hundred Waters, The Moon Rang Like a Bell. “It’s counter-intuitive, but making deeply emotional music often comes across as a matter of restraint and timing, calculation and manipulation, rather than as an indulgence or purging. All over its darkly shimmering second album, Hundred Waters shows a new ability to pull listeners’ strings… Hundred Waters’ members make music to burrow deep into, to obsess over.” (via NPR)

8) Clear Plastic Masks, Being There. “Nashville-via-New York transplants Clear Plastic Masks stay true to their name on their full-length debut Being There. The album’s focal-point and open book is frontman Andrew Katz, who seems incapable of holding anything back at all. As captured in the studio by Andrija Tokic, Katz’s voice takes the spotlight on all 11 tracks; even at a murmur, his raw yowl sounds intense enough to shred vocal cords.” (via SPIN)

9) David Douglas, Moon Observations. “Dutch producer David Douglas’ new album, Moon Observations, is an 11-track journey through sun-kissed disco mutations and gentle electronic pop. On the new LP, Douglas looks towards the wonders of the natural world for inspiration, weaving organic textures and contoured field recordings in alongside more robotic landscapes and dub-wise studio tricks.” (via SPIN)

10) Chris Schlarb, Making the Saint. “Through his Psychic Temple project — which has looped in everyone from Mike Watt to Serengeti to Nedelle Torrisi to Sufjan Stevens — Chris Schlarb has earned a rep for combining rock, jazz, and soul to stunning effect. His new album, Making the Saint, has an inclusive, panoramic feel — like a wide-armed hug.” (via SPIN)