Yeasayer – Odd Blood (February 9th, Secretly Canadian)
Fresh off producing someone else’s masterpiece with Bat For Lashes’ Two Suns, Yeasayer hunkered down and recorded what hopefully ends up being their masterpiece. Even if all we have to go by is first single “Ambling Alp,” it’s a good omen — updating the exuberant tribalism of first album All Hour Cymbals with glittery, jittery electronics and bombastic vocals, it looks as if 2010’s crossover success has already been determined. –Andrew Ryce
Four Tet – There Is Love In You (January 26th, Domino)
After altering his sound quite radically with Ringer and working with Burial earlier this year, it seems as if Kieran Hebden has been moving away from the human and into the cold, steel arms of mechanistic techno. Strange thing is, his music hasn’t lost any of its warmth or emotional depth. Giving a delicious taste of new album There Is Love In You with his “Love Cry” 12″ late this year, the track effortlessly blended techno, dubstep, and a Cassie sample (!) to synthesize something unmistakably human, even joyous. if the album is anything ilke this (hint: it is!), we’re in for a treat that even the staunchest of rockists could easily get behind. –Andrew Ryce
Eminem Relapse 2 (TBA, Shady/Interscope)
Ok, so I’m probably the only one who’s going to stand by this one. Hold your tongue for a moment, though: a lot has happened since the release of Relapse. According to Slim, on much of the material on that album he was, “still working the drugs out of [his] system, so there was a lot of…just jokey shit.” Following that, he had a bunch of tracks left over, and that was to be Relapse 2. Didn’t happen that way. I’m going to wager right now – and just pray I’m right – Slim is back to who he was back on The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show. He’s been recording all new material instead of using the old sessions: he’s so confident that the new tracks are superior to his previous plans that he’s just releasing a bit of what was to be Relapse 2 as a bonus disc this Christmas. Revisiting Relapse, which, yes, I do enjoy, I can basically hear the brilliant Eminem we all know beginning to break through. Now he says, “I don’t want to make shit that you hear once and then the joke’s over; I want to make records that you could play a hundred times, a thousand times.” He’s been appearing on hot tracks such as “Forever” and guests on Lil Wayne’s latest. He’s stepping outside of the retreat that is Dr. Dre to work with other producers such as Just Blaze and The Alchemist. He’s been confirmed to be recording with Lil Wayne for his own record. Other MC’s very much in the now such as Kid Cudi and Drake are rumored to appear, and so on. I don’t think either of them are worth much, but at least they’d be sure to make the album appear relevant to those too caught up in what is mostly the fodder of current hip hop. I wouldn’t be surprised if this record isn’t even called Relapse 2 when it drops, considering how far beyond it sounds to be vs. what Relapse was, but I am willing to believe this will be the album that brings back Eminem for those that slept on his 2009 effort. At least god I hope so. –Chase McMullen
Hot Chip – One Life Stand (February 1st, Astralwerks/Parlophone)
The always-exciting electro Brit boyband seemed awfully comfortable, even complacent, with the uneven Made in The Dark. But their latest single “Take It In” from the forthcoming One Life Stand has them back on their toes, producing something dark, brooding, and perhaps most importantly, irresistibly sexy. If this album sees them losing their trademark geek iness in exchange for a sleeker, slinkier sound, I’d say that’s a pretty good trade-off. –Andrew Ryce
Los Campesinos! – Romance Is Boring (January 26th, Arts & Crafts)
Los Campesinos! are a fairly divisive band; you either love them or you hate them. There may also be a small minority who just don’t understand them. This extreme reaction comes from several factors within their music; they are loud, they are whiney, they are purposefully obscure and (in this writer’s opinion at least) they are brilliant. In 2008 Los Campesinos! released not one but two records that combined undeniably spikey-yet-melodic tunes with rambling vocals and catchy choruses, and in 2010 they will return with Romance Is Boring an album that could either build on the foundations they’ve already put in place or advance their sound. The two songs unveiled so far have hinted at both prospects. “These Are Listed Buildings” recalls the style of their previous work; squeaky guitars, xylophone and infectious boy-girl vocals. “The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future” is the more exciting number, however; a somber and epic proposition that employs strings in a manner that wouldn’t have been expected from the Welsh septet, and is an indication of how the band has advanced. We’ll have to wait until February to find out which of these songs is more representative of the album in its entirety, but either way we can be fairly certain that it’s not going to disappoint. –Rob Hakimian
Wolf Parade – LP3 (TBA, Sub Pop)
I still don’t think Wolf Parade are going to top Apologies To The Queen Mary. But that doesn’t really bother me because it encapsulated the band at their best, before anyone really knew who Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug were (or at least how talented and full of ideas they were), sounding as fresh and revitalizing as did festered with a sort of paranoia that refuses to give up on believing the ghosts are watching us. At Mount Zoomer lacked the consistency of the 2005 debut but it has some of the band’s best songs buried in the now almost obsessive compulsive sound of a band who sound like they are playing out desperation for finding an answer. And because the listener has to work through a few almost lacklustre songs on Zoomer, it was cast aside and overlooked. I was guilty of this too – it wasn’t until earlier this year I finally felt like I’d managed to penetrate the album.
Since 2008, Boeckner and Krug have released solo albums, continuing, and to some, reaching the top of their creative streak. Krug’s even managed to find time to record his part in the latest Swan lake record and start a new solo project (Moonface) but I hardly fear him running out of steam. His greatest strength is his consistency in the past few years along with an introspective approach to melody and lyrical content. Boeckner might well be writing away but his absence suits him – his work in Wolf Parade always sounds like a man who’s been brooding for months and releasing the nervous tension that’s been building. Together (along with Hadji, Arlen and Dante), at this point in time, they could be well capable of a creating something special but this time I’ll be careful and considerate enough to let it reveal itself. –Ray Finlayson
Spoon – Transference (January 26th, Merge)
Have you heard the first single from Spoon’s upcoming, Transference? If you haven’t, the song’s called “Written in Reverse,” and it’s one of the very best things Spoon’s ever done. I’m a pretty big Spoon fan – although the big ones are getting bigger and bigger nowadays – but my interest in Transference simply skyrocketed after the first time I heard “WiR”. Don’t get me wrong; I think clearly Spoon is on the short-list for contemporary indie bands that “matter” – but they’ve rarely sounded as urgent, confident, or fearless as they do here. Coming off of 2007’s Gax5, which was clearly their most successful release to date, we know expectations will be high for the boys from Austin. But if Transference on the whole is deserving of its opening address, then Spoon’s decade-plus run of excellence may just glide forward another year. –Elias Isquith
Also on our radar:
The Avalanches – LP2 (TBA, Modular)
Burial – LP3 (TBA, Hyperdub)
Drive-By Truckers – The Big To-Do (March 16th, ATO)
Interpol – LP4 (Early 2010, Capitol)
Liars – Sisterworld (March 8th, Mute)
Madvillain – LP2 (TBA, Stones Throw)
The Magnetic Fields – Realism (January 26th, Nonesuch)
Midlake – The Courage of Others (February 1st, Bella Union)
Radiohead – LP8 (TBA, ???)
Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago (TBA, Matador?)
The Wrens – LP4 (TBA, ???)
