The Users’ Best of 2011 list has been posted in its entirety. Feel free to skim through it and lament the omission of your favorite albums.

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of January 31, 2012. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.

The 2 Bears – Be Strong (DFA)
Alcest – Les Voyages de L’Ame (Prophecy Productions) — Kyle Ward
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – Out Of Frequency (B.A.R. Music)
Astral Doors – Jerusalem (Metalville)
Black Bananas – Rad Times Xpress IV (Piccadilly Records)
Bleeding Through – The Great Fire (Rise Records)
Cirith Ungol – Servants of Chaos [Re-Issue] (Metal Blade)
Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas (Columbia)
The Doozer – Keep It Together (Woodsist)
Candy Dulfer – Crazy (Razor & Tie)
Lana del Rey- Born to Die (Interscope) — Adam Downer
Matt Flinner – Winter Harvest (Compass Records)
Ruthie Foster – Let It Burn (Blue Corn Music)
Aretha Franklin – Knew You Were Waiting: The Best of Aretha Franklin 1980-1998 (Sony Legacy)
Jacques Greene – Concealer (Self Released) — Deviant
Gotye – Making Mirrors (Universal Republic)
Grimes – Visions (4AD) — Conrad Tao
Hit The Lights – Invicta (Razor & Tie) — DaveyBoy
Imperial Teen – Feel The Sound (Merge Records)
The Internet – Purple Naked Ladies [Physical Version] (Odd Future) — Deviant
The Jealous Sound – A Gentle…

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of January 24, 2012. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.

Aborted – Global Flatline (Century Media)
Archetype – Red Wedding (Dekagon Records)
Atomic Forest – Obsession [Remastered] (Now Again)
Battle Beast – Steel {EU} (Nuclear Blast)
Bhi Bhiman – Bhiman (Redeye Label)
Biohazard – Reborn In Defiance (Nuclear Blast)
Blessed By a Broken Heart – Feel the Power (Tooth & Nail Records)
Bleubird – Cannonball!!! (Fake Four Inc.)
Chairlift – Something (Columbia)
Cloud Nothings – Attack On Memory (Carpark Records) — Adam Downer
Joe Cocker – Hard Knocks (Savoy Label Group)
Dead Icons – Condemned (Bullet Tooth)
Dion – Tank Full of Blues (Blue Horizon Ventures)
Craig Finn – Clear Heart Full Eyes (Vagrant Records) — Adam Knott
First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar (Wichita Recordings)
Foxy Shazam – The Church of Rock and Roll (EMI)
Gangrene – Vodka and Ayahuaska (Decon Inc)
Gonjasufi – MU.ZZ.LE. (Warp Records) — Deviant
Graffiti6 – Colours (Capitol)
Irdorath – Dekonstrukteur Des Fleisches {EU} (Massacre Records)
Kari Jobe – Where I Find You (Sparrow/EMD)
Lacuna Coil – Dark Adrenaline (Century Media) — Trey Spencer
Lamb of God – Resolution (Epic) — Steve M.
Madchild – Little Monster (Suburban Noize Records)
Tim McGraw – Emotional Traffic (Curb Records)
Ingrid Michaelson – Human Again (Cabin…

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of January 17, 2012. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.

The Anabasis – Back From Being Gone (10T Records)
Steve Aoki – Wonderland (Ultra Records)
Attack Attack! – This Means War (Rise Records)
Jessie Baylin – Little Spark (Blonde Rat)
The Big Pink – Future This (4AD Records) — Steve M.
Bombay Bicycle Club – Different Kind of Fix (A&M)
Cate Le Bon – CYRK (The Control Group) — Robin Smith
Roger Creager – Surrender (Thirty Tigers)
The Devil’s Blood – Thousandfold Epicentre (Metal Blade)
Ani Difranco – Which Side Are You On (Righteous Babe)
Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur (Zoe/Rounder)
Matt Elliot – The Broken Man (Ici d’ailleurs)
Enter Shikari – A Flash Flood of Colour (Hopeless Records)
Farsot – Insects (Prophecy)
Girls Generation – Boys (Interscope Records)
Anthony Green – Beautiful Things (Photo Finish)
Guided By Voices – Let’s Go Eat the Factory (Guided By Voices) — Robin Smith
Howler – America Give Up (Rough Trade)
Kells – Anachromie (Season of Mist)
Koncept – Awaken (Soulspazm Records)
Lantlos – Agape (Prophecy Productions)
The Life & Times – No One Loves You Like I Do (Slimstyle Records)
Loincloth – Iron Balls of Steal (Southern Lord)
Martina McBride – Hits and More (Sony Nashville)
Modern English – Ricochet Days (4AD Records)
Amaia Montero – 2…

Welcome to a new year and a new, quick-as-shit server. As we count down to our eventual extinction on December 21st,  you might consider checking out a few of these new releases. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.

Acretongue – Strange Cargo (Metropolis Records)
Aesthetic Perfection – Inhuman (Metropolis Records)
Gabrielle Aplin – Home EP (Self Released) — Steve M.
Joshua Bell – French Impressions (Sony Masterworks)
Cyanotic – MedPack Vol. 1 (Glitchmode Records)
David Crowder*Band – Give Us Rest (Six Step Records)
KG Omulo – Ayah Ye! Moving Train (KG Omulo)
Lil Wayne – I’m Back (Deep Distribution)
The Little Willies – For the Good Times (Milking Bull/EMI)
Van Morrison – Live on Air (IMV BLUELINE)
Eric Nicolau – Won’t You Stay (Still Sails Music)
Nightwish – Imaginaerum (Roadrunner Records)
Rebelution – Peace of Mind (Controlled Substance Recordings)
Red Wanting Blue – From The Vanishing Point (Fanatic)
Safetysuit – These Times (Universal Republic Records)
SITD – Icon:Koru (Metropolis Records)
Snow Patrol – Fallen Empires (Universal Music Group)
Yo Gotti – Live From the Kitchen (J-Records)

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Album Streams:

KG Omulo – Ayah Ye! Moving Train

Eric Nicolau – Won’t You Stay

Rebelution – Peace of Mind

Red Wanting Blue – From The Vanishing Point

Yo Gotti – Live From the Kitchen

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SputnikMusic’s Most Played Artists of the Week (according to Last.FM):

Staff:

01)…

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of November 8, 2011. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.

65Daysofstatic – We Were Exploding Anyway [US-only 2-CD release] (MONOTREME RECORDS)
Absolute Body Control – Shattered Illusion (Metropolis Records)
Aesthetic Perfection – All Beauty Destroyed (Metropolis Records)
Angels and Airwaves – Love Pt. II (Rocket Science) — Steve M.
Animals As Leaders – Weightless (Prosthetic Records)
Apodiablosis – Tardigrade (Self Released)
As I Lay Dying – Decas (Metal Blade)
Atlas Sound – Parallax (4AD Records) — Robin Smith
Autumn – Cold Comfort (Metal Blade)
Buraka Som Sistema – Komba (Enchufada)
Judy Collins – Bohemian (Wildflower)
Jonathan Coulton – Artificial Heart (Jocoserious Records)
The Dear & Departed – Every Waking Moment (Equal Vision Records)
Disturbed – The Lost Children (Reprise)
Brian Eno – Panic Of Looking (Warp Records)
Johnny Foreigner – Johnny Foreigner vs Everything (Alcopop!) — Adam Knott
Four Year Strong – In Some Way, Shape, or Form (Universal Republic)
Funeral for a Friend – See You All in Hell (Distiller Records)
Noel Gallagher – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (Mercury)
Glyder – Backroads To Byzantium (Steamhammer)
Gold Panda – DJ-Kicks: Gold Panda (!K7) — Deviant
Il Divo – Wicked Game (Columbia)
iVardensphere – APOK (Metropolis Records)
Keith Jarrett – Rio (ECM Records)
Kottonmouth Kings – Hidden Stash 5-Bong Loads & B-Sides (Suburban Noize)
David Lynch – Crazy Clown Time (Play It Again Sam)
M+A – Things.Yes (MONOTREME…

The first round of promotions is officially over. Click here for the final list of those that made the transition. New staff should click here to be added to the staff Last.fm page and new contributors should click here for their page.

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of November 1, 2011. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors.

The Beach Boys – The Smile Sessions [Box Set] (Capitol)
Justin Bieber – Under The Mistletoe (Island Records)
Blouse – Blouse (Captured Tracks)
Susan Boyle – Someone To Watch Over Me (Columbia)
The Decemberists – Long Live the King (Capitol) — Steve M.
The Dreaming – Puppet (Epochal Artists Rec.)
Elizabeth! – Brainchildren (Canopy Jazz)
Florence and the Machine – Ceremonials (Universal Records) — Keelan H.
Girl In A Coma – Exists & All The Rest (Blackheart Records)
Idle Warship – Habits Of The Heart (Fontana)
Insane Clown Posse – Featuring Freshness (Psychopathic)
Joker – The Vision (4AD) — Deviant
Carole King – A Holiday Carole (HEAR MUSIC)
Krisiun – The Great Execution (Century Media)
Miranda Lambert – Four The Record (SONY NASHVILLE)
Lou Reed and Metallica – Lulu (Warner Bros.)
Megadeth – TH1RT3EN (Roadrunner Records) — Mike Stagno
Mike Patton – Solitude of Prime Numbers (Ipecac Recordings)
Rapper Big Pooh – Dirty Pretty Things (For Members Only)
Sick of it All – Nonstop (Century Media)
Slipknot –…

In case you missed it, there was a new group of people promoted last night (and earlier in the week). Please join me in welcoming our new Contributors, Staff, and even a new Moderator.

Earlier in the week my friend and yours, Channing Freeman, made the historical leap from Emeritus to Sputnik Moderator. Tread lightly for his wrath is limitless.

After resting for a few days, Mx returned and delivered us a new batch of contributors & staff. Please welcome them, as well.

Staff:

– Conradtao

– Deviant.

– Adam Knott

– Sowingseason

– Crysis *

Contributors:

– Alex Robertson

– This Life is Genocide

– Irving

– AngelofDeath

– iFghtffyrdmns

– Voivod

– pizzamachine *

– Eli (Xenophanes) *

You might also notice that Jom and I underwent a title change from Moderator to Sputnik ModAdmin. This last promotion will have very little effect on the average user but it’s there. Anyway, congratulations to our new promotions and if you weren’t promoted this cycle, just keep trying.

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* Late addition due to accidental omission during the initial promotions