New Release Highlights for August 24: The Sword, Usher and Everyone's Favorite "California Gurl"

(New albums are typically released on Tuesdays, i.e., today. What can you spend your hard-earned pennies on this week? Find out below. Post delayed a day due to server issues!)

Apocalyptica 7th Symphony

*Apocalyptica, 7th Symphony
Stream Apocalyptica's seventh album, which features guest vocals by Gavin Rossdale of Bush and Dave Lombardo of Slayer on drums, here.

*Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Hawk
Stream the latest effort from Belle and Sebastian and Screaming Trees vocalists here.

*Chk Chk Chk [!!!], Strange Weather Isn't It
!!! is known for its confusing name and danceable songs. Stream the new album here. Check out the video for "AM/FM" after the jump.

*The video for !!!'s "AM/FM," taken from the new album Strange Weather, Isn't It?

Sugar

*Dead Confederate, Sugar
Dave Simpson says of the new record, "Dead Confederate's second album owes much to Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine, while Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr producer John Agnello shrouds the prerequisite vaguely troubling lyrics ("I was the quiet kid...") in soft grunge production. It's all epic, if slightly textbook stuff, but the title track and By Design conjure up a brooding menace rarely heard since Jane's Addiction. Giving It All Away adds Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis for authenticity, but actually sounds like sonic explorers AR Kane playing PiL." Listen to "Giving It All Away" via the Athens, Georgia band's Myspace page.

*Eels, Tomorrrow Morning
Stream Tomorrow Morning in its entirety here.

Fantasia

*Fantasia, Back To Me
Music reviewer Melody Charles says of the new album, "Although some of the songs don't do her justice (there's the cloying 'Even Angels' and 'Who's Been Loving You' means well, but lacks conviction), it's moments like 'I'm Here,' from the Broadway musical The Color Purple, that make it clear how broad and beautiful her skills actually are. The lyrics, although sung as the character of Celie, seem to echo from within about the life she's lived and the losses she's endured----before and after celebrity---up until the present: 'I don't need you to love me,' she says with quiet clarity to those seeking to break her spirit. '...I got my house, it'll still keep the cold out. I've got my shawl, when my body can't hold out/I got my eyes, thought they don't see as fine now, they see more about how things really are now.'" Stream Fantasia's highly anticipated record in its entirety via its Facebook page.