Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
Anyone expecting the debut release from the Black Kids to live up to the breathless hype that was lavished upon them in the past year may end up disappointed by Partie Traumatic (especially if you are a Pug). Anyone who is willing to take the band on their own terms and just listen to the music will be in for a treat. The group’s youthful energy, their rambunctious performances (captured ably by producer Bernard Butler) and most of all, Reggie Youngblood’s songs, combine to make Partie Traumatic one of the better ’80s-influenced albums released in the past few years.

David Bowie - Live in Santa Monica ‘72
Long the province of bootleggers and semi-legal releases, David Bowie’s Live In Santa Monica ‘72 finally gets an official release this week. Recorded at Bowie’s first American radio broadcast, this finds the Spiders from Mars at a near-peak as a band, eclipsing the soundtrack to the Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars movie and arguably standing as Bowie’s best live album.

CSS - Donkey
CSS made a name for themselves by cranking out raw, sometimes trashy songs about art, sex and music, so it’s more than a little surprising that the band sounds so cleaned up and respectable on most of their second album. Polished instead of rough, thoughtful instead of brash, Donkey has a few songs that capture CSS’ old magic and a few that move the band’s sound forward, but a lot of the album feels like an odd and slightly disappointing move from a group that didn’t necessarily need to change its direction.

Miley Cyrus - Breakout
Breakout is the first album Miley Cyrus has released without her alter ego Hannah Montana’s name attached to it, but it doesn’t sound remarkably different than Hannah’s sunny, guitar-driven pop. There are a few more ballads and a couple of nods to country, but musically speaking, this isn’t much of a breakout. That may be a savvy move on Disney’s part, however – Breakout manages to give Hannah fans a fix and move Miley ever so slightly closer to a pop music career under her own name.

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
This week sees the physical product release of Nine Inch Nails’ The Slip, Trent Reznor’s surprise release from May this year. Following the dense conceptual Year Zero and the instrumental clearinghouse Ghosts, The Slip is the opposite of both records: it’s tight, muscular and relentless, the most vigorous music Reznor has made in years.

U2 - Boy (Deluxe Edition)
U2’s first three albums — 1980’s Boy, 1981’s October and 1983’s War – receive the deluxe reissue treatment this week, with each album expanded to a double-disc set overseen by the Edge. Each set has a bonus disc of rare material, including previously unreleased songs and non-LP singles that are seeing their first-ever appearance on CD. While some of the music is a little shaky, all three sets are superbly done and such a deluxe reissue campaign for U2 is long overdue.

Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
Paul Weller’s magnum opus 22 Dreams sees a stateside release this week. An old-fashioned double album, sprawling out over two CDs and tied together by a loose concept, 22 Dreams is Weller’s most ambitious record in years and it’s also one of his best, as it finds him opening up to collaborations — Robert Wyatt, Graham Coxon and Noel Gallagher all are involved — and reconnecting to his adventurous spirit.

The Avett Brothers - The Gleam II
Black Sabbath - The Rules of Hell
Bodies of Water - A Certain Feeling
Buffalo Killers - Let It Ride
Burning Spear - The Best of Burning Spear
Candlebox - Into the Sun
Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning - Something for All of Us…
Eliza Carthy - Dreams of Breathing Underwater
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu Live
Chris Difford - The Last Temptation of Chris
Dr. Dog - Fate
Trevor Dunn - Four Films
Helena Espvall/Masaki Batoh - Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh
Faun Fables - A Table Forgotten
¡Forward, Russia! - Life Processes
Noel Gourdin - After My Time
Buddy Guy - Skin Deep
Hell Rell - Black Mask Black Gloves
High Places - 03/07 - 09/07
Benji Hughes - A Love Extreme
Janis Ian - Best of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Collection
Individuals - Fields/Aqua Marine
Syleena Johnson - I Am Your Woman: The Best of Syleena Johnson
Jon Peter Lewis - Break the Silence
Low vs Diamond - Low vs Diamond
Mars - Mars LP
Maria Muldaur - Yes We Can!
One Day as a Lion - One Day as a Lion
Pacific! - Reveries
Stephen Pearcy - Under My Skin
Pepper - Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations
The Rumble Strips - Girls and Weather
Bon Scott - Early Years 1967-1972
Shaggy - The Best of Shaggy
Christopher Titus - Norman Rockwell Is Bleeding
Peter Tosh - Best of Peter Tosh
Ike Turner - Classic Early Sides 1952-1957
U2 - October (Deluxe Edition)
U2 - War (Deluxe Edition)
Various Artists - Bluegrass: Independent Label Sides 1951-1954
Original Soundtrack - The Rocker