10 upcoming or up-and-coming albums for which I’m all banzai-clamoring.
There’s nothing like the build-up of a new album coming out from your favorite musician. So many albums are leaked in the age of bit-torrent and are often poor rips of excellent albums, which sadly may give a negative first impression. Artists and small labels are ingenious: offering free singles, streaming albums ala “try before you buy” (thank you NPR!) or buy early get now programs, outtakes and demos downloads, and extra ephemera with preorder or purchase.
Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz (Asthmatic Kitty)
Oct 12th – Here it comes folks, the next Sufjan album and first full LP since 2005. I predict you’ll either love it or hate it, no in-betweeners. Initial listens come at you with a wall of sound and it takes several replays for each song to present their own personality. The album follows in the footsteps of the first two songs released, and ends with a 25 minute opus that is fun to get lost in / may be self-indulgent but has the best use of auto-tune since Autotune the News.
Former Ghosts – New Love. (Upset the Rhythm)
Oct 18th (UK) – Freddy Rupert‘s album has leaked one of those sad rips from vinyl that you should avoid. To tide you over download Welcome to Old Love to hear demos, remixes, and outtakes of the new album. I feel lucky to hear some of the new songs at The Smell and see Rupert’s intense and frenetic performances. Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu and Nika Roza Danilova of Zola Jesus make their reappearances along with new collaborator Yasmine Kittles of Tearist.
Get ready for “New Orleans” (from Pitchfork):
Silje Nes – Opticks (FatCat)
Oct 12th (US) – I could not wait and ordered the album from the UK where it was released last month. The album continues Nes’s trademark sound of noise and electronica and does so with her intelligence and crazy talent. A standout is a cover of Thurston Moore’s “Silver > Blue” which has me rejecting the phrase “folktronica.”
Antony & The Johnsons – Swanlights (Secretly Canadian)
Oct 12th – Gorgeous and difficult, this may be Antony’s most accessible album that you can hear on NPR. The songs are generally more upbeat perhaps because of liberal use of non-analog instrumentation which make his torch songs all the more glossy. Perhaps a nod to his 2009 Coachella set that had Herbert‘s wonderful touch, perhaps because of his collaboration this time with Björk.
Anni Rossi – Heavy Meadow (Self Released)
I’m fairly certain this download only album is the forthcoming 4ad release. You can listen to the first single. There’s more of Rossi’s trademark viola/violin plucking, but there’s a fuller sound with an assortment of other instruments and sounds. Rossi’s voice is seductive and her lyrical phrasing is still off-kilter along with her observations on life.
Avey Tare – Down There (Paw Tracks)
Oct 26th – There will be at least one Animal Collective soloist LP that comes out this year (see #9) and the first single has that underwater & didjeridu signature of Merriweather Post Pavillion. The song is low-key and dare I say has a bit of dark-jazz. What is interesting about this album is that we will hear the contribution Dave Portner makes to Animal Collective as he stands on his own for the first time.
Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark – History of Modern (100%)
Sep 29th – OMD’s title of their album refers to a collection of songs that are rescued from unreleased status 30 years ago mixed in with a set of new ones. Be amazed and try to tell the difference between the new and the old – which goes to show how much of a pioneering-before-their-time force they were when they began. The songs are a comforting reminder of the music I grew up with in the 80s and exciting in how they are still so relevant and ageless.
Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love (Rough Trade)
Oct 12th – Love ‘em, missed ‘em at Hollywood Forever, listen to ‘em now on NPR.
Panda Bear – You Can Count on Me (Domino Record Co.)
Oct 18th – The Tomboy LP is no more or was only a rumor. Instead Noah Lennox will release a series of singles and with it maybe the future of music (weren’t singles the medium of the mid-century?). His next 7” comes out in 2 weeks and I, like many others, have heard some of the songs live or on the Primavera Sound 2010 download.
Parenthetical Girls – Privilege, Pt. II: The Past, Imperfect (Slender Means Society)
The physical vinyl may have been delayed but those who pre-ordered were able to download it the day it was to be released. Other’s can hear the synth heavy single featuring part-time member Freddy Rupert. Zac Pennington creates the most interesting, dense, and individual music today and his choice to release the songs in a series may be a smart one. The songs are more absorbing and immediate in this form and not subject to too much mainstream scrutiny.
Also, Parenthetical Girl videos are always entertaining:
