Our 25 Most Anticipated Albums (Quarter One)

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Album art for The Big Pink's upcoming Future This

Wow. 2011 was a helluva year for music. But, then again, so was 2010. Today, we feel ready to begin it all again (on our second birthday, no less!) with a batch of new records coming our way in January, February, and March. Here's the 25 we're most excited about, with a couple extra on our radar for early 2012 without definite release dates.

January 17th:
1 The Big Pink - Future This (4AD)
2 Jessie Baylin - Little Spark (Thirty Tigers)
3 Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur (Rounder)

January 24th: 
4 Chairlift - Something (Columbia)
5 Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory (Carpark)
6 Madi Diaz - Plastic Moon (Tinyogre)
7 Craig Finn - Clear Heart Full Eyes (Vagrant)
8 First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar (Wichita)
9 Nada Surf - The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy (Barsuk)
10 Rodrigo y Gabriela - Area 52 (ATO)

January 31st: 
11 Lana Del Rey - Born To Die (Interscope)
12 Alyssa Graham - Lock, Stock & Soul (Sunnyside Records)
13 Hospitality - Hospitality (Merge)

February 7th: 
14 Dr. Dog - Be the Void (ANTI-)
15 Ben Kweller - Go Fly A Kite (The Noise Company)
16 of Montreal - Paralytic Stalks (Polyvinyl)
17 Sharon Van Etten - Tramp (Jagjaguwar)
18 The Lemonheads - Hotel Sessions (Hall of Records/Breath of Saltwater)

February 14th: 
19 Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror (Mom and Pop)
20 Tennis - Young and Old (Fat Possum)
21 The Phenomenal Handclap Band - Form & Control (Tummy Touch)

March 6th: 
22 Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself (Bella Union)
23 Bowerbirds - The Clearing (Dead Oceans)
24 The Magnetic Fields - Love at the Bottom of the Sea (Merge)

March 13th: 
25 Delta Spirit - Delta Spirit (Rounder)

[Updated January 12th] On Our Radar:
February 28th - Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, and Yim Yames - New Multitudes (Rounder)
March 6th - White Rabbits - Milk Famous (tbd)
March 20th - Lost In The Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs (tbd)
March 20th - The Shins - Port of Morrow (Aural Apothecary/Columbia)

Yukon Blonde (Dine Alone)

Jam of the Day | Cymbals Eat Guitars - Definite Darkness

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Cymbals Eat Guitars released its debut album Why There Are Mountains in 2009, receiving a response that far exceeded the expectations of most. Two years have gone by since that early hype cycle began, and a lot has changed in those twenty-four months, including more than half of the original lineup that recorded that first LP.

In early 2011, the band settled down in a basement in New Jersey to finish writing a follow-up. Rehearsing and recording demos in a suburban home allowed for a lot of freedom the band hadn’t enjoyed in the past. Shared Brooklyn rehearsal spaces had always meant long commutes, scheduling difficulties, parking tickets. Decamping to the suburbs meant fewer distractions and more time to explore the outer reaches of song structure and melody, and to edit, reign in, and refine those same elements.

Lenses Alien, the result of these collaborative explorations, is a stunning example of a band growing into itself – learning to collaborate, becoming more confident. At its core, it's a marriage of classic pop forms and ambient haze that makes for a stark, dusky psychedelia. Songs like our Jam of the Day, "Definite Darkness," move with the frenetic urgency of romance that seemingly begins and ends all at once. It's a relentlessly complex listen, striking a balance between the archaic and the inviting and is as much a document of doubts and contradictions as of irreverent joy.

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Definite Darkness

Give it a download above and make sure to pre-order Lenses Alien now. It drops October 4th.

Jam of the Day | Yuck - Coconut Bible

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A Speakers in Code Infomercial

Speakers: Like good music? Sure. We all do. But what if I told you an album will soon be released that, while immediately accessible and familiar, has the potential to not only be immensely satisfying but to rock your freaking world? Would you like that?

Audience: Yeeeeees!

Speakers: Well, what if I also told you that, while listening, you will hear sounds that hearken back to early Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. with a little Pixies, Nada Surf, and Beulah thrown in for good measure? Would that pique your interest? 

Audience: Shit yes, it would!

Speakers: That's what I thought. Well. Let me introduce you to Yuck.

Audience: Yuck?

Speakers: That's right Yuck. The UK band that is taking the indie rock world by storm. Let me tell you a little more about them.

Audience: Okay!

Speakers: Over this past year, Yuck has emerged as one of the best and brightest new bands around, not to mention one of the most mercurial and unpredictable. Far from following any set patterns, it has instead forged its own path and cultivated a fervently devoted fanbase in the process.

That awesomely ambitious streak is catapulted directly into your ear-holes on its hotly anticipated debut album which showcases a band capable of sprinting off in pretty much any direction you can think of.

Audience: Oooh...

Speakers: But, that's not all! They are on tour through the U.S. right now and will be playing Local 506 in Chapel Hill this Sunday, January 30th with another white-hot band, Smith Westerns! We will be there and deliver a review next week for those who cannot attend.

[Audience applauds!]
 
Speakers: For now though, check out the album b-side, and our Jam of the Day, "Coconut Bible" below.  It'll give you a little taste of the good things to come!

Coconut Bible by Yuck

(Apologies to Tympanogram for originally hotlinking and giving no credit.)