I have to admit, when Beck announced his Song Reader album, I was undoubtedly disappointed. It felt like a bit of a copout, making an album you don’t play yourself and ask other people to make. It just feels incredibly lazy. But once you really think about what all a decision like this entails, it becomes much more interesting. So here are three reasons this is a brilliant idea.
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Of the artists we most anticipated new albums from in 2012, two of them failed to release a new album (Outkast and Kanye). We decided to be a bit less lofty with our prognostications this year, and are relatively comfortable that all the artists on this year’s list will end up dropping a new full-length (except my “just missed”, which is the same as last year, and a complete shot in the dark). As always, some artists will surprise us with great new releases, but we can only base our list now on who has given strong vibes something new is coming in 2013. Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment on who you are personally anticipating or where we messed up. Enjoy!
10. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience
Has Justin Timberlake ever faltered since he began his solo career? No, no he hasn’t. Making as smooth a transition from boy-band front man, to Michael Jackson-esque solo debut, to hyper-aggressive sophomore album Prince sound has seemed all too easy for ole’ JT. Let’s hope The 20/20 Experience is no different.
Now that 2012 is in the rearview mirror and we have properly summed up all the best stuff from last year, it’s time to push ahead to what awaits us this year. Here are five songs from five upcoming albums we can’t wait for.
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Django Django
Django Django
Django Django by Django Django: talk about the department of redundancy department. To make it even more amusing, they sound like the musical equivalent of Rango, the Johnny Depp-starred animated Western. Fortunately for the listener, the London indie rockers’ songs are full of everything beside Mumford and Sons-ish repetition. Their self-titled debut is 13 assorted and amusing psych pop songs that make for one of the major surprise albums and bands of 2012.
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Ohh, the nineties. How we all miss the “whatever, who cares” attitude you bestowed upon our generation. Baggy shirts, and even even baggier pants. The rebirth of “chucks” and a noisy, dirty, fuzzy new breadth of music that will never be forgotten. Not to mention other rarities in music that can never be replicated, and will always be legendary. Alanis Morissette may not have made the list, but her new release this week was the inspiration for it. Our criteria for the list was simple: nineties tunnel vision. This means that we had to block out any knowledge of anything that happened outside of 1990-1999. For example, the Beastie Boys were prevalent in the nineties, but how did their nineties material stack up against the rest? This list is for the bands that we felt left their strongest marks on the decade with no regard. As per usual, let us know if you agree.
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