Lil Wayne, Spencer Bohren, Jazz Fest and more: catching up with new spring releases

Brad Paisleys new album Wheelhouse was far and away the most discussed new release of the week, due to its strange single Accidental Racist (which features LL Cool J talking race and history with the country star) so much so that I devoted a separate blog post to it.

Heres a bit of other new-music news from around these parts:

Lil Waynes hotly anticipated I Am Not A Human Being 2 debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 the last week of March, with not quite enough juice to displace Justin Timberlakes The 20/20 Experience. Wayne, whom the New York Times recently called one of hip-hops loosest cannons, has been startlingly hit-or-miss since 2007s triumphant Tha Carter III, either knocking it out of the park (I Am Not A Human Being, the original) or leaving fans scratching their heads (remember Rebirth?)

Reviewers are so far assessing IANAHB2 as a qualified success: The Times, in the same piece, said the rapper still radiates exuberance, ecstasy and rebelliousness but and reviewer Jon Caramanica wonders if Weezys court-ordered sobriety is affecting his muse less manic, less experimental, less unpredictable. Rolling Stone called it a solid album by a brilliant MC whos half-interested; Billboard, whose track-by-track review is likely the best way to take on the uneven album, offered the backhanded praise of there are stellar moments buried deep.

Wayne recently announced his summer and fall 2013 tour dates a New Orleans performance is not among them.

Spencer Bohren has a new album of folk blues, "Tempered Steel," which includes classics like Wayfaring Stranger, Blind Willie McTells Broke Down Engine and Stephen Fosters Hard Times, performed on lap steel. If you order it from his website, you get access to stream the full album online while you wait for the physical product to arrive; or, you can pick it up now at the Louisiana Music Factory.

Guitar-pop duo Generationals third studio album, Heza, dropped April 2; national sites like Paste and Pitchfork are grumbling a bit that it doesnt pay off on the promise of its predecessor, 2011s Actor Caster, but overall voted it cheery and likable.

New Orleans hip-hops comeback kid, Fiend, has a new mixtape, Lil Ghetto Boy; download it here.

Bounce MC Nicky da Bs Diplo-produced track Express Yourself turned up in a Doritos commercial.

And of Ja! zz Fest i! nterest:

Charles Bradley, erstwhile James Brown impersonator and newly minted Daptone Records soul star (Blues Tent, 5:40 p.m. April 27) dropped Victim of Love, his second album for the label, April 2.

Willie Nelson (Gentilly Stage, 5:45 p.m. May 3) celebrates his 80th birthday with Lets Face The Music and Dance, an eclectic trip through the American pop and country songbook, on April 16.

South Alabama country singer Andrew Duhon (Lagniappe Stage, 5:25 p.m. April 28) has a new album, the rough-hewn and heartfelt The Moorings, out now.

Cajun-country singer-songwriter (and childrens author) Yvette Landry (Fais Do-Do Stage, 1:30 p.m. May 4) has her latest, No Mans Land, dropping May 28.