2011 Winter Music Preview

Winter has been dead for the music industry for a couple years and it managed to get worst this year with multiple albums have broke the dubious distinction of the worst sales for the number one album in the Soundscan era and we are just one month in. And looking ahead, that record is not very safe. But it may pick up soon with many high profile acts set to release albums later in the first quarter, but not many have not set a street date yet, just a vague “Spring” release date. Here are some albums that you may have to look forward to while watching the snow melt: Click on the album name to pre-order at Amazon, or the artist name to do so in iTunes.

February 1
Musica + Alma + Sexo – Ricky Martin
Go Down Under – Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

February 8
Mondo Amore – Nicole Atkins
Tell Me – Jessica Lea Mayfield
The World Is Yours - Motörhead
The Sing Off: The Best of Season 2

Slaughterhouse EP - Slaughterhouse

Febuary 15
Go-Go Boots – Drive-By Truckers
People’s Key – Bright Eyes
What If – Mr. Big

February 22
21 – Adele

March 1
The Valley – Eisley
Blessed – Lucinda Williams
Wounded Rhymes – Lykke Li
Going Out in Style – Dropkick Murphys

March 8
Collapse into Now – R.E.M.
Lasers – Lupe Fiasco
Goodbye Lullaby – Avril Lavigne

March 15
Rome – Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppe
Scandalous – Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

March 22
Stone Rollin’ – Raphael Saadiq
Live on I-5 - Soundgarden

March 29
Gimme Some - Peter Bjorn and John
Doggumentary Music – Snoop Dogg

April
TBD – Foo Fighters
So Beautiful or So What – Paul Simon
Time of My Life – 3 Doors Down
Blood Pressures – The Kills

May 3
In Your Dreams – Stevie Nicks

Unknown Date
Watch the Throne – Kanye West & Jay-Z
Songs of Ascent – U2
Hot Sauce Committee parts 1 & 2 – Beastie Boys
Codes and Keys – Death Cab for Cutie
BlakRoc II – BlakRoc
TBD – Fiona Apple
TBD – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Fleet Foxes LP2 – Fleet Foxes
Black and White America – Lenny Kravitz
Euphoric Heartbreak – Glasvegas
TBD – Mary J. Blige
Lifestyle – Nelly Furtado
TBD – The Ting Tings

And what would be a music preview without the prerequisite maybe this is the quarter we get to hear Detox which is rumored to drop, when else, 4/20.

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 1/30/11

Chuck: Seems a little naïve that Mama Bartowski has been working to bring that Volcov for two decades but Sarah thinks she can do so in short order. But if next week truly is the final showdown between Chuck and Volcov I will miss Timothy Dalton who has been a short in the arm this season. If Mama Bartowski goes down with him, I won’t be as sad to see her go. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: Holy Meg Manning sighting! One thing that has bugged me since the show returned is that the final scenes I have always been under the impression what we are seeing is the scene through A’s eye. Like this week we see what I assume is A picking up his (her? But they looked kind of manly) coat and gloves from Aria’s mom at the dance. Here is what bugs me, last season; we see what we assume to be A destroying Allison’s memorial. But at the start of this season, nerd boy admitted to destroying said memorial. Does that mean he is A or is the last scene not necessarily always A? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Greek: From the first segment, I was hoping that they were actually going to cram Beaver into every scene Lost style, but alas the writers were not clever enough to figure out how to make that happen. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



The Cape: So it has all but said our load that Orwell is Chess’s daughter, but how long has it been that Chess couldn’t even recognize his own daughter even behind a thin mask? Is this a Superman glasses situation? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Cape on iTunes.

Castle: I found it a little creepy that Castle was all but professing his love for Beckett while she was trying to solve her mother’s mother. But we did get another puzzle piece. Which begs the question who is behind it all, the chief of police, a politician, Castle’s buddy, the mayor? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Harry’s Law: If they added Shooter McGavin to the cast, I would watch this show every week. He would make a much better foil for Harry than the balding dude. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Lights Out: I bet that the person slyly taking a picture of Lights giving a gift to the DA’s kid will come out in the near future. Once you owe a favor to a guy like that tends to never go away. Hulu. You can also download Lights Out on iTunes.

Community: I wonder if Pierce saving Annie is sowing the seeds for the group to move into his house at some point when they cannot conceivable have the whole study group in the same classes every year. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Outsourced: I’m with Todd that the fart-o-matic is hilarious. But not as funny as Rajiv’s attempt at making a joke that turned out to be a math problem. And I swear the nameless guy at the lunch table is really just C. Thomas Howell circa Soul Man. Also, bonus points for the sitar infused version of Is She Really Going Out with Him? while Todd was revealing to Charlie that yes, she was really going out with him. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Outsourced on iTunes.