Zune Insider

Madonna is back this week with her 12th studio album, and is our Artist of the Week. The pop icon has named her latest record MDNA, short for her name. If your jaw is still dropped from her stunning Super Bowl halftime show, you’re going to want to check out MDNA!

Out this week is Amaryllis, the latest release from Jacksonville, Florida’s Shinedown. It is the post-grunge rock band’s first release since 2008, and the emotionally-charged first single is called “Bully”.

Katy Perry is refreshing her name on everyone’s radar, this time with a re-modeled and re-vamped version of her latest, The Complete Confection. The new deluxe version features Kanye West, Missy Elliott, and more.

The Night The Sun Came Up is out this week, the debut studio album from Dev. Garnering comparisons to Ke$ha and Robyn, this is an album fit for the dance floor.

Canada’s rockers My Darkest Days have a new album, A Sick And Twisted Affair. This is the second full length from the Toronto band, and it is a noisy affair that features more melody than you’d think.

Trending Up this week is The All-American Rejects, who have relinquished their fourth studio record. The album is called Kids In The Street, and it was produced by Grammy Award-winning Greg Wells, who has worked with Mika, Adele, and Weezer.

Leave us a comment about your favorite new release out this week!

Melanie Fiona is back with her second album this week. The record tackles new genres including reggae, electronica, and dancehall. But, it still proves she’s got the soul that won her two Grammys this year for her appearance on Cee Lo Green’s “Fool For You”. Don’t miss out on the The MF Life, the follow up to the Canadian singer’s debut.

The Hunger Games is the latest Hollywood craze, and will be a popular choice at the movie theatres this weekend. Prepare yourself for the blockbuster with The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond, the movie-inspired soundtrack that features Neko Case, Arcade Fire, Taylor Swift, The Decemberists and more.

The Shins are back with their first record in five years, Port of Morrow. This is the band’s fourth album in their 11 year indie rock dominating stint, and the first since James Mercer’s Broken Bells project, a collaboration with Danger Mouse.

The shock-hop collective from Los Angeles, Odd Future, are back with the second volume of their all-encompassing mix tape album series. Is The OF Tape Vol. 2 from Tyler, The Creator’s crew as crazy as their other output?

When you are the son of Joseph “Rev Run” Simmoms from the legendary Run D.M.C., hip royalty is already in your blood. Diggy Simmons unleashed Unexpected Arrival this week, the debut album from the young rap artist.

Trending up on Zune is the UK’s pop star Katy Perry, with a new remix for “Part of Me” by Jaques Ly Cont that is sure to get you moving and shaking this week.

Leave us a comment about your favorite new release out this week!

Tyga, a genre-spanning hip hop artist that has worked with acts from Fall Out Boy to Lil Wayne, is back with his second album this week. Our artist of the week has just unveiled Careless World: Rise Of The Last King, a record featuring cameos from Drake, Snoop Dogg, and The Game. With this arsenal of star-power, why aren’t you listening yet?

The inspired pop songstress Katy Perry has a new single this week that is sure to get at least a portion of you moving. “Part Of Me” is the lead single from the “Teenage Dream” deluxe edition, “The Complete Confection,” which is now available on Zune.

If you’re looking to have some fun this week, this indie pop trio from New York has you covered. Yes, Fun. have a new record out called Some Nights. It sounds like a good time.

What would happen if you paired up one of the hottest current electronic artists with one of the most prolific classic rock bands ever? Find out with Skrillex & The Doors‘ new single, “Breakn’ A Sweat.”

Armed with a guitar riff assault and a bombastic sound, Sleigh Bells caused some buzz with their first record. The New York duo is back with Reign Of Terror, which is out now.

Trending up this week is John West, with his hot new single called “Already There” that features Big Sean. This is the second time that West has collaborated with a rap artist, and this track has a positive vibe and upbeat tempo that’s sure to perk your ears.

Leave us a comment about your favorite new release out this week!

The 54th Grammy’s took place this past weekend in L.A., and leaving the award show with the sweep was our Artist of the Week, Adele. The artist’s sweep came as no surprise, as her album 21 has achieved critical and commercial success. 21 became one of the longest-running number one albums in history, spending over 18 weeks at the top spot.

Russell Marsden (guitar and vocals), Emma Richardson (bass and vocals), and Matt Hayward are Band of Skulls, who are back with their second album this week. They recorded Sweet Sour in Wales with producer Ian Davenport, who has worked with Supergrass and Badly Drawn Boy.

R. Kelly has a new single this week, which is slated to be on his forthcoming record Write Me Back. “Share My Love” is a disco song fit for the dancehall, and a reminder that R. Kelly doesn’t just write soft-crooned love anthems.

For his new single, it’s clear that Chris Brown wants you to turn up the volume while listening. “Turn Up The Music” is the first single off of Brown’s forthcoming record, which will be titled Fortune.

Monica and Brandy have teamed up for the first time in 14 years, and the result is a new single called “It Belongs To Me”. Produced and written by Rico Love, the song will appear on both the artists forthcoming albums that are slated for release in March 2012.

Zune has an exclusive video this week from deadmau5, who took home the Grammy for Dance/Electronic Album of the Year this past weekend. The video contains footage of the full finale of  the Meowingtons Hax Tour’s Toronto show. It’s available now in Zune Marketplace on your Xbox or PC.

Other new release highlights this week include Estelle‘s new single called “Wonderful Life”, new remixes by David Guetta with Nicki Minaj, Flo Rida‘s new remixes with Sia, Craig Campbell‘s new single “When I Get It”, and a new live album by Hillsong UNITED.

Leave us a comment about your favorite new release out this week!

The Weekly Download Episode 61 dated Oct 11th, 2011 is now live and is hosted by Jessica Zahn (jetherealz).

Show notes:
The Weekly Download podcast features audio samples from the hottest podcasts in the Zune Podcast Marketplace and is hosted by Jessica Zahn. Let us know about a hot new podcast that you may have found and send us an email about it to: askzune at microsoft.com, we might feature it and give you a shout-out.

Listen to the full episode below:

FEATURED PODCASTS SHOW NOTES: Knockin’ Boots – IGN.com Podcast – 90 min Audio Show – Monthly on Random Days so Subscribe (:39 – 2:38);  Waking from the American Dream – SModcast Podcast – 90 min Audio Show – Every Thursday (2:38 – 5:01);  Tech History Today - TWiT Podcast – 1 min Audio Show – Daily (5:02 – 6:00);  Anything Ghost Show – 40 min Audio Show – Random every two weeks (6:01 – 9:00); Coaching Basketball Wisely Podcast – 20 min Audio Show – Sun or Monday every Two Weeks (9:01 – 11:58);  Music: Earth by Ceps.

The mp3 file is 8 MB and runs for a 12 minutes. Subscribe to the podcast in the FREE Zune Marketplace 4.8 Media Player software here or on your Windows Phone 7.5. Download the audio file directly here – stream it