Scooter McGavin's 9th Green: Most Anticipated

Showing posts with label Most Anticipated. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

The Five Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2012

Back in April I was surprised in how much good music was released that month and hoped that it was a sign of things to come. It was not because good music was few and far in-between of the summer month. But with Christmas just around the corner, record companies are lining up their big guns for release. Here are some I am looking forward to. Click the artist name to be taking to their iTunes page, and the name of the album to pre-order it on Amazon. Release dates are subject to change.

1. Babel – Mumford & Sons (September 25): The band may not have kickstarted the folk rock revival of recent years (that may go to the second band on this list), but the put it into high gear. The managed to outsell almost everyone else in that time not named Adele and now they look to shake the sophomore slump. They said that they have not changed their sound from their debut and first single I Will Wait backs up their charge which had fans of their first album dusting off their air banjos.

2. The Carpenter – The Avett Brothers (September 11): If there is such a thing as folk-punk, The Avett Brothers are it. The Carpenter is the group’s second album produced by Rick Rubin who was behind the board for their breakthrough I and Love and You and lives up to the greatness of its predecessor. Cannot wait a week to give the album a listen? You are in luck because npr.com is streaming The Carpenter in its entirety.

3. Away from the World – Dave Matthews Band (September 11): The big news about Dave and the boys eighth studio album is it their first in over a decade with producer Steve Lilywhite who produced their first three albums (and the aborted fourth album that got leaked to the internet under the moniker The Lilywhite Session before getting a proper released that Stephan Harris finished producing under the appropriately titled Busted Stuff). First single Mercy is a bit sleepy, but for some reason their first singles off their albums are never the best (my guess is the reason is their best songs are over the radio friendly five minutes long).

4. Battle Born – The Killers (September 18): I have a love / hate relationship with the band. I loved their dance rock debut / hated their pretentious we want to be Springsteen follow up. By the time their third album came around I was ready to reluctantly accept their absurdity. After hearing the first single off their four album Runaways, it sounds like the Vegas boys are still looking for that elusive last chance power drive. And still coming up short.

5. Red – Taylor Swift (October 22): Okay, first single We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together is painfully bad (although the cute one take accompanying music video almost makes it listenable, almost) but I will admit I am an unabashed fan of her first three albums. Last time around, Swift wrote and co-produced every song on Speak Now and for better or worse she is bring in a bunch of collaborators including pop maestro Max Martin (which would be part of the “worst” considering he is responsible for Never Ever). The only other confirmed collaborator is English songwriter Ed Sheeran.

Today
Sun – Cat Power
North – Matchbox Twenty
Magic – Smash Mouth

September 11
Tempest – Bob Dylan
La Futura – ZZ Top
Undisputed – DMX
Coexist – The xx

September 18
Mirage Rock – Band of Horses
The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind – Ben Folds Five
Hallelujah! I'm a Bum – Local H
Tomorrowland – Ryan Bingham
Kanye West Presents Good Music Cruel Summer
Charmer – Aimee Mann
I Bet On Sky – Dinosaur Jr.
The Spirit Indestructible – Nelly Furtado
Kiss – Carly Rae Jepsen

September 25
Cedar + Gold – Tristan Prettyman
Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap – Lupe Fiasco
Uno – Green Day
Mystic Pinball – John Hiatt
Push And Shove – No Doubt

October 2
Glad All Over – The Wallflowers
Traveling Alone – Tift Merritt
The 2nd Law – Muse
Born To Sing: No Plan B – Van Morrison

October 9
Wrote a Song for Everyone – John Fogerty
Pines – A Fine Frenzy
Songs for the End of the World – Rick Springfield
Monster - KISS

October 16
Former Lives – Ben Gibbard
Very Special Christmas 25th Anniversary

October 23
The Haunted Man – Bat for Lashes
Man With the Iron Fists
TBD – Gary Clark Jr.

October 30
Merry Christmas, Baby – Rod Stewart

November 6
Music From Another Dimension – Aerosmith

November 13
Dos – Green Day
TBD – Soundgarden
Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors – Big Boi

November 27
Girl on Fire – Alicia Keys
The Art of War III – Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

January 15
Tre – Green Day

TBD
James River – D'Angelo
Watch the Throne 2 – Kanye West and Jay-Z
Psychedelic Pill – Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Matangi – M.I.A.
Indicud – Kid Cudi
The Evil Empire of Everything – Public Enemy
Rooted – Scarface
Alice In Chains
Christina Aguilera
The Bird and the Bee

And let’s not forget the obligatory this may be the year that Dr. Dre releases Detox. Of course if he does, that may mean the Mayans were right.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The Ten Most Anticipated Movies of 2012-13

It is weird to talk about movies these days especially about Batman considering the massacre in Colorado. My heart goes out to anyone who was affected by the shooting. I actually planned to run this for a while and wanted it to coincide with The Dark Knight Rises hitting theaters because it had been on top of my most anticipated list since it was announced. So now that it is out, I need to figure out a new number one. So here are the movies I am looking forward to over the next year.

10. The Is 40 (December 21): I did not find the first trailer particularly funny, but Judd Apatow has yet to make a completely unwatchable movie so hopefully the promo monkeys are to blame and the movie will be as good as the rest of his resume.

9. Iron Man 3 (May 4): I was apparently one of the few people who enjoyed the second installment and am excited a Ben Kingsley enhanced third film even if I am more of a DC guy.

8. Man of Steel (June 14): Another teaser I am not much of a fan of. Couldn’t we at least get a glimpse of Amy Adams as Lois Lane? And I am not sure if I need a Superman movie the in the tone of Christopher Nolan’s Batman. Did they not learn from the moody Bryan Singer version that led to a quick reboot? But I am a DC guy, so I hope this succeeds so we can finally get a Justice League movie, even if that means a new Batman so soon.

7. Oz The Great and Powerful (March 8): Sure this may lead to a crappy The Wizard of Oz reboot, but I am really interested in what Sam Raimi can do with this world.

8. Django Unchained (December 25): Is it wrong that I kind of hope Quentin Tarantino worked in the line, “Where all the white women at?” somewhere into this movie?

5. The Hobbit (December 14): Peter Jackson and J. R. R. Tolkien. What could possibly go wrong.

4. The Evil Dead (April 12): This should be on my list of Movies You Cannot Pay Me to Watch because I hold the original trilogy in such high regard. And who could you possibly get to replace Bruce Campbell’s chin? The answer turned out to be the chick from Suburgatory. Since both Campbell and Sam Raimi are involved hopefully this will be the one remake that does not suck massively.

3. The Watch (July 27): Another movie with an unfortunate history. It was originally called Neighborhood Watch but quickly shortened it after the Travon Martin murder. But this movie is less about vigilante suburbanites and more about aliens. Sure I may be a bit optimistic considering the spotty track record of Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn of late, but at least the trailer looks extremely funny.

2. The Man with the Iron Fists (November 2): If there was one thing I have learned in my life is that you never, under any circumstance, trust a big butt and a smile. If there was a second thing I have learned, Wu-Tang Can ain’t nuthin’ to frack with. For those who do not know why, just check out RZA in this film.

1. Gangsta Squad (September 7): Another movie affected by the massacre in Colorado, the trailer, which was originally attached to The Dark Knight Rises, actually featured a theater being shot up. Now the trailer has been pulled and it looks like the scene will also hit the cutting room floor even though it was integral to the plot, so there are going to be reshoots and presumable the release date is no in questions. Scandals aside, after watching Crazy Stupid Love, I fully endorse any movie that features both Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The Five Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2012

Usually I start off my quarterly music preview by complaining about the lack of good albums, but something strange happened last month, there was actually a dearth a good music released. And though the summer months may not see as many as we did in May, there may still be plenty of worthy music to bump at you cookouts and bonfires this year. Here are the five I am most looking forward to followed by a rundown of what else is coming your way soon. Click the album name (or cover art) to preorder on Amazon or click the artist's name to be taken to their iTunes page.

1. Handwritten – The Gaslight Anthem (July 24): Nas (who is also on this list) famously declared a couple years back that hip-hop was dead. Of course it was not dead, it was just bastardized by ringtone rappers and people who thought Lil’ Wayne, T.I. and Rick Ross were credible rappers. Rock on the other hand has been on life support for a couple years, basically since the month and a half when Kings of Leon was the biggest group in the world. The Black Keys (who also had a theory of why rock was dying revolving around people being fine with Nickleback being the biggest band in the world) brought rock back somewhat with their last two albums and if there is any justice The Gaslight Anthem will have their breakout with their upcoming album.

2. TBA – Mumford & Sons (September 25): Of course sometime the death of rock is not because no one listens to rock anymore, just the mainstream does not talk about it. I am sure everyone would think Katy PerryKaty Perry actually has sold the same amount as Teenage Dream since both were released two years ago. Of course this is what happens when you let teenage girls control the pop culture zeitgeist. It is doubtful the banjo strumming band will become “cool” after the release of their next album, but I bet they have a longer career than Katy Perry.

3. Life Is Good – Nas (July 17): But back to Nas. You want to feel old? The MC is releasing his tenth album this summer. Sure his albums have been hit or miss and sometimes uneven since his seminal debut Illmatic, but Nas has had four years to record a record so hopefully that was time well spent.

4. Write Me Back – R. Kelly (June 26): Kells last album was his best since the nineties and Write Me Back is a thematic sequel of more classic soul music of Love Letter, sharing a similar name. Hopefully more chapters of Trapped in the Closet, which Kells said were “coming soon” back in March will soon follow.