2014 Winter Music Preview

Today actually sees the first albums released in 2014 by artists you recognize. Though like many first quarters before it, there really is no marquee releases scheduled yet unless you are extremely excited for a Bruce Springsteen rarities album or been waiting for a Toni Braxton / Babyface joint album since he wrote Breathe Again for her (and I doubt anyone will be Beyonceing their album in the next three months). But before you fear that 2014 is going to be as bad as 2013 I term of music, there is a lengthy list of albums to get excited for in the TBA section but we will probably will not hear anything from them until Spring and maybe not until late summer. Click the album title to pre-order on Amazon and the artists name to be taken to their iTunes page.

January 14
High Hopes – Bruce Springsteen
Give The People What They Want – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Fading West - Switchfoot
Songs From The Movie - Mary Chapin Carpenter
The River & The Thread - Rosanne Cash
Projection Room – Sleepy Kitty
Crystal Method – The Crystal Method

January 21
Mind Over Matter – Young the Giant
Warpaint - Warpaint
Is there Anybody Out There? – A Great Big World
Revelation - Los Lonely Boys
The Wishing Forest – Hilary Capps

January 28
Croz – David Crosby
B-Sides - The Gaslight Anthem
Too True – Dum Dum Girls
Broken Hearts & Stolen Money - Gangstagrass

February 4
After the Disco – Broken Bells
Love, Marriage & Divorce – Toni Braxton & Babyface
I’m a Fire – David Nail

February 11
Acoustic at the Ryman – Band of Horses
Time Moves On – Maggie McClure
I Was Going To Be An Astronaut – Greg Laswell

February 18
Lions – William Fitzsimmons
Somewhere Else – Lydia Loveless
Full Frequency – Sean Paul

February 25
Helios – The Fray
St. Vincent – St. Vincent
Blank Project – Neneh Cherry

March 4
English Oceans – Drive-By Truckers
By Request – Charlotte Sometimes

March 11
Stereolithic - 311

March 18
Supermodel - Foster the People
TBD - Lindsey Pavao

March 25
Out Among The Stars – Johnny Cash (lost album from the early eighties)
Teeth Dreams – The Hold Steady

April 1
Himalayan – Band of Skulls
Roses and Revolutions – Roses & Revolutions

April 15
Wastland – Needtobreathe

April 22
Pop Psychology - Neon Trees

April 28
Food - Kelis

TBD
Morning Phase – Beck
Girl Power – Cee Lo Green
Nobody Smiling - Common
The Last Zulu – Q-Tip
A Better Tomorrow – Wu-Tang Clan
Tetsuo and Youth – Lupe Fiasco
E.L.E.2 (Extinction Level Event 2) – Busta Rhymes
9 – Eddie Murphy
Quack – Duck Sauce
Adele
The Black Keys
Brian Wilson
Clipse
Colbie Caillat
Coldplay
Damon Albarn
Dan Wilson
Death Cab for Cutie
Ed Sheeran
Foo Fighters
Frank Ocean
Fun.
Grimes
Jack White
John Mellencamp
Kanye West
Lily Allen
Miguel
Nas
Pharrell Williams
Roger Waters
Sleeper Agent
Shakira
Stevie Wonder
Taylor Swift
Tom Morello
U2

And let me end with the obligatory this may be the quarter when Dr. Dre finally drops Detox.

The Five Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2013

It has not been a very good year for music. If you think about this time last year we had Fun. and Gotye blowing up while The Lumineers were still bubbling up. This year: nothing. There is not even anything this year as annoyingly catchy as Call Me Maybe (sorry Macklemore). It is probably not a good sign that were are almost halfway through the year and my personal favorite album so far was a traditional country album (Kacey Musgraves debut). Hopefully that will change soon, possibly as early as tomorrow as there are a few worth wild albums coming our way in the second half of 2013. Unfortunately most of them are currently listed under the dreaded TBD which usually means we will not get them until around Christmas. Here are five or six albums that we should hear before the leaves start turning.

1. The Civil Wars – The Civil Wars (August 6): The duo put out one of the best debut albums this decade but a couple months ago they canceled their tour due to “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” They were not breaking but it was ominous nonetheless. But as Fleetwood Mac showed “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition” can lead to great music. You could not claim anything on their debut to be cheerful, but first single The One That Got Away (as in I wish you were the one that got away) actually sound darker than their first batch of songs. Who knows if we will ever get a third album (The Mac did manage to release six after Rumours), but the second one is shaping up nicely.

2. From Here to Now to You – Jack Johnson (September 17): Jack got some early promotion for the new album when he filled in as the headliner for a last minute cancellation by Mumford and Sons. First single I Got You is another laid back acoustic, sitting on the deck at the end of the day song that Johnson excels at. It is too bad we will have to wait until the end of the summer to hear most of the rest of the album.

3. The Blessed Unrest – The Blessed Unrest - Sara Bareilles (July 16): I am not totally sold on the first single Brave which was co-written with one of the dudes from Fun, but Sara’s first two album s were solid, so hopefully there are better things to come on her third.

4. Yeezus – Kanye West (Tomorrow): This would have been number one on my list, and then I heard Kanye perform two songs on Saturday Night Live and got a horrible 808's and Heartbreaks flashbacks. But instead of the crappy emo and auto-tune drenched songs inspired by the mope rock of last decade, New Slave and Black Skinhead sounded like Kanye was listening to way too much Joy Division and other moody new wave acts of the early eighties. Not a very good first impressions. Hopefully the rest of the album is much better.

5. Haim / Churchill (TBD): Neither new band has had the bust out moment that Gotye or Fun had last year, but both released solid four song EPs over the past year and are both are aiming at a full length debut later this year that hopefully live up to the early hype building around both bands.

And here are the rest of the albums worth at least one stream on Spotify coming your way this summer. Click on the album name to pre-order the album on Amazon or the artist’s name to go to their iTunes page.

Tomorrow
Anthem – Hanson
More Light – Primal Scream

June 25
Love Is the Future – John Legend
Vh1 Storytellers – Alicia Keys
One True Vine – Mavis Staples
Moonlander - Stone Gossard
Sound The Alarm – Booker T.
Gifted – Wale

July 4
Magna Carta Holy Grail - Jay-Z

July 9
Dont Look Down – Skylar Grey
My Name Is – Pusha T

July 16
Last of the Great Pretenders – Matt Nathanson
Where Does This Door Go – Mayer Hawthorne
Amelita – Court Yard Hounds
Electric – Pet Shop Boys
Lickety Split – Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Walk Through Exits Only – Philip H. Anselmo and The Illegals
White Teeth, Black Thoughts – Cherry Poppin' Daddies
One – Sarah Miles

July 23
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Stars Dance – Selena Gomez
A New Era Begins – Mariah Carey

July 30
In a World Like This – Michael Franti & Spearhead

August 6
Give The People What They Want – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

August 13
Paradise Valley - John Mayer

August 27
Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action – Franz Ferdinand
Electric Slave – Black Joe Lewis
Age Against the Machine – Goodie Mob

September
Mechanical Bull – Kings of Leon
Wise Up Ghost – Elvis Costello and The Roots
The Last Ship – Sting
New Constellations – Toad the Wet Sprocket
Hesitation Marks – Nine Inch Nails
Spreading Rumours – Grouplove
The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You – Neko Case

October
Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song – Amos Lee

TBD
& Then You Shoot Your Cousin – The Roots
The Last Zulu – Q-Tip
Speak a Little Louder – Diane Birch
The Electric Lady – Janelle Monáe
A Better Tomorrow – Wu-Tang Clan
The Diving Board – Elton John
James River - D'Angelo
Girl Power – Cee Lo Green
Fly International Luxurious – Raekwon
Fading West – Switchfoot
Crystal Meth – Method Man
Blackout 3 – Method Man & Redman
Matangi – M.I.A.
Broken – Nelly Furtado
Street King Immortal – 50 Cent
All Over the Place - Avril Lavigne
AC/DC
Arcade Fire
Beck
Beyoncé
The Black Keys
Broken Bells
Eminem
Foster the People
Lauryn Hill
Pearl Jam

And of course, let me end with the obligatory this may be the season we finally get to hear Detox by Dr. Dre.