My Morning Jacket returns this week with their fifth studio album, “Evil Urges.”

My Morning Jacket has always been a favorite of ours since we first heard “Death Is a Sleazy Pay” on a sampler from Uncut Magazine back in 2001.

“Urges” is the Kentucky quartet’s follow-up to 2005’s critically-acclaimed “Z.”

While the band’s first three studio albums were recorded in the group’s own studio in Louisville, “Urges” was recorded at the Avatar Studios in Manhattan, New York as a way to help get the band out of its comfort zone according to the band’s Web site.

“We wanted to deliberately try to make ourselves uncomfortable and shake it up,” says Jim James, frontman for My Morning Jacket. “I feel like New York is just limitless possibility—you never knew what you’d see on the way to the studio, every morning was an adventure.”

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While Madlib is no stranger to collaborating with some of music’s more talented artists like the late  Jay Dee and MF Doom, the producer/emcee traveled south of the Equator to find his latest partner in crime.

Jackson Conti is a project between the California native as Otis Jackson Jr. and Ivan “Mamão” Conti, who is known for his work with the Brazilian band Azymuth.

Their album, “Sujinho,” is a blend of the various styles of Brazilian music as well as soul, funk, and jazz.

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 Legendary hip-hop act The Roots return this week with the release of their latest studio album, “Rising Down.” “Rising Down” is the group’s 10th release. The crew from Philadelphia features Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter (vocals), Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson (drums), Kamal Gray (keyboards), Frank Knuckles (percussion), Kirk “Captain Kirk” Douglas (guitar) and Owen Biddle (bass). The band has made a name for themselves as being one of the best live acts around.

For more on The Roots, check out their Web site.

Click here to pre-order “Rising Down.”