Hear Gorillaz' Plastic Beach And Broken Bells' Self Titled Debut

Two of the biggest and most talked about albums of the year (so far, anyway) will be in stores next week: Gorillaz's anticipated follow-up to their successful 2005 release, Demon Days, entitled Plastic Beach and the long awaited collaboration between James Mercer of The Shins and Danger Mouse entitled Broken Bells. A week is a long time to hear these albums so NPR is streaming both of them. Stream Gorillaz's Plastic Beach here and Broken Bells' self-titled debut here.

Hear Spoon's Transference

NPR is giving you a chance to listen to a stream of Spoon's forthcoming release, Transference, on their site. Transference is the followup to 2007's critically acclaimed, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and will be in stores Tuesday, January 19th. Listen to Transference at NPR.

Hear Norah Jones' The Fall

After hearing reports of Norah Jones working with Ryan Adams and Okkervil River's Will Scheff, the anticipation for her new album, The Fall, is high. The album's first single, "Chasing Pirates," with its beautifully sung melody, is only one example of her sound which is a combination of Norah Jones' sound and melody but with some tweaking, experimentation and a new lineup of musicians. Stream The Fall at NPR.

Hear The First Disc Of Big Star's Box Set, Keep An Eye On The Sky

NPR is hosting a stream of the entire first disc of the forthcoming, four disc Big Star boxset, Keep An Eye On The Sky. Definitely, check out the gems on the first disc and visit Hightower And Jones this Friday for the September mixtape. This month's tape is a tribute to Big Star and features Bat For Lashes, The Bangles, Elliott Smith and various other artists paying tribute of a band so cool that their lead singer/guitarist became the title and subject for a Replacements song.