We’ve finally got our hands on Regina Spektor’s new record, Home, before and after, and one full listen through all ten songs has me intrigued. I love her piano playing but I’m more interested in the songs where a full band fleshes out her ideas. The album gets off to a rocking start with “Becoming All Alone,” “One Man’s Prayer,” and “Up The Mountain,” before settling into the lullaby of “Raindrops.” “SugarMan,” brings us back up before the second half of the album slows the pace down again. Spektor talked with Mary Siroky about the title of the album saying, “We can’t really find our home without really leaving it — and then at some point, returning to it.”

“Cold Heart” brings The Kooks back onto our #RADAR. Ten Tracks To Echo In The Dark, their 6th album, is due out July 22nd and so far we heard a handful of funky singles. At this point, it’s starting to feel like a Luke Pritchard solo album, and I’m missing that scrappy Kooks band that drew us all in some years ago.

I’m really digging this island music that FloFilz is bringing us lately. While it’s just a little over two minutes, the beat gives us just enough atmosphere to warrant a Mai Tai or Margarita. #PlaylistWorthy

Atmosphere returns with The Grouch on “The Muah On Your Cheek,” and the beat is hard to grasp, feeling like it’s just a weird, discombobulated sample that doesn’t have a bed to rhyme over. This one won’t do your summer playlist any justice, just saying.

I’ve loathed Chris Brown since he beat Rhianna and barely got a hand slap. I’m allowing this track in my #RADAR only because Wheezy’s verse is so good.

“Kamera – The Unified Theory Of Everything Version” deconstructs the original Wilco song, bringing Jeff Tweedy’s vocal into a new light, with buzzsaw guitars. It’s a fun remix that has you imagining Yankee Foxtrot Hotel in a different way.

Like FloFilz, Engelwood’s schtick is jazzy island vibes, but here he heads a little south of the border. “Tijuana” has more of a disco dancing feel, rapidly upping those BPMs so you can get your groove on.

A friend of mine is a big fan of Talk Talk, and I have been paying more attention to them over the last few years. This week on Release Radar we get a version of “It’s So Serious” from a BBC Radio Session that happened way back in 1981. I was just turning 7 at the time so I was still into Star Wars figures and not music. I’m glad there are forces leading me back to songs like this, and friends telling me about music that I might have missed.

Talk Talk’s 1982 debut album, The Party’s Over, is to be reissued on colored vinyl for its 40th anniversary. The album features the singles “Mirror Man,” “Talk Talk,” and the band’s first top 20 hit, “Today.” –Paul Sinclair

Your Jazz Cut Of The Week is “Lonely” from David Mrakpor and Blue Lab Beats. A smooth jazz cut that will get you dancing around the kitchen while you’re cooking breakfast. “Order up!”

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