Required listening from the week in music.

Coheed and CambriaCoheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez is easily the busiest multitasker on the music scene. "Year of the Black Rainbow," the band's latest set of muscular prog-metal, comes with a 352-page novel (penned by Sanchez and comic book writer and "Star Trek" novelist Peter David) that serves as a prequel to the epic sci-fi narrative that runs throughout Coheed's albums. The album itself is a prequel to the story and features some of the band's most grandly cinematic music to date. Geek out below with an exclusive video, featuring Matt Pinfield and Richard Christy discussing the track "Far," along with behind-the-scenes footage of Sanchez and the band in studio.

Also in stores:
-- Brooklyn hipsters MGMT return with "Congratulations," a defiantly psychedelic freak-out album that should appeal to fans of Syd Barrett–era Pink Floyd and the less radio-friendly side of The Flaming Lips. (Listen to the full album -- through giant headphones for more indie cred -- right now over on Spinner.)
-- Longing for the dance-floor-jam sound of MGMT's first album? Check out the deluxe edition of Passion Pit's "Manners," which adds new tracks to the collection of synth-pop delights, which was easily among the best albums of 2009. (Check out the band's trippy cover of the Cranberries' "Dreams" currently streaming on NPR. Is it time for Cranberries nostalgia already?)
-- Iggy and the Stooges get the double-album treatment with "Raw Power," featuring the original David Bowie mix of the album and a second disc of previously unreleased live recordings and outtakes.