2007 was a fantastic year for music. Month after month, the great new releases just kept on coming. The upcoming 12 months don’t look quite as promising, but there are definitely a few albums worth watching for. From the local scene to the world of mega-band reunions, this is your guide to music to look forward to in 2008.
JANUARY
• The Black Mountain army is set to unleash their latest creation: In the Future promises to condense the rough-hewn energy of their eponymous debut into less meandering fare. Blending social activism with musical prowess, frontman Stephen McBean has established himself as one of the most forward-thinking musicians on the Vancouver scene — hopefully, this album will bring his message to a wider audience.
• Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power) is poised to plug another dime in the Jukebox — her second album of cover songs. Her last album in this style was widely acclaimed, and the rich body of song she draws upon in this iteration is promising. Avoiding the temptation of campy cross-genre covers, the sultry chanteuse will tackle a variety of folk and soul fare as well as some traditional favourites.
• Drive-By Truckers stealthily produced one of their best albums ever with 2006’s A Blessing and a Curse. Hopefully they’ll be able to drum up another dose of magic on Brighter than Creation’s Dark. This would be all the more refreshing since the 2007 releases by alt-country scions Wilco and Son Volt were hugely disappointing.
• The Mars Volta’s releases have dwindled in quality since they rose from the ashes of At the Drive-In to deliver the epic Deloused in the Comatorium. At least their titles keep getting more bizarre: their new offering, The Bedlam in Goliath, will attempt to atone for 2006’s disappointing Amputechture.
• Also in January: Death Cabber Chris Walla’s solo debut, Joe Jackson’s first album in decades and Xiu Xiu’s portrayal of Women as Lovers.
FEBRUARY
• Bradford Cox of the now-defunct Deerhunter will strike out on his own as Atlas Sound. The infamously publicity-hungry front man has posted several samples from Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel on his MySpace page. Surprisingly, they sound a lot more structured, coherent and — perish the thought — musical than anything by his erstwhile band.
• The delightfully bizarre Mountain Goats have prepared Heretic Pride, another dose of introspective folk-rock musings. Lead goat John Darnielle will be joined by an exciting supporting cast, including members of St. Vincent and Superchunk.
• Confusingly named Welsh party animals Los Campesinos!, who earned their chops touring with Broken Social Scene, will make their long-awaited full-length debut. Hold On Now, Youngster... will continue the trend of excessive punctuation and jaunty, tongue-in-cheek pop tunes.
• k.d. lang will release Watershed, her first album of original material since 2000’s Invincible Summer. More recently, she released Hymns of the 49th Parallel, a lauded collection that covers Canadian-written songs.
• Other purveyors of new music in February will include the B-52s, whose last album 15 years ago yielded no memorable tunes in spite of its five singles, and British electro-poppers Hot Chip, whose Made in the Dark is already making waves among critics.
MARCH
• During last year’s Sled Island festival, Calgarians got a taste of new material from Dan Bejar (a.k.a. Destroyer). One of the high points of the show was “Foam Hands,” a song that will appear on the Vancouver-based songsmith’s upcoming full-length, Trouble in Dreams. Recently made available online, its loping melody is every bit as haunting as material from 2006’s fantastic Rubies.
• Ladyhawk, Kelowna’s charmingly effusive, beard-bedecked stoner rock quartet, will release their sophomore LP, Shots. Their recent Fight for Anarchy EP was a half-hearted disappointment compared to their eponymous debut album, but a tossed-off EP never stopped anyone from releasing a stellar second record (see also: VanGaalen, Chad). Success with this release could do great things for this promising young group of musicians.
• Indie pioneer Stephen Malkmus, along with his post-Pavement cohorts The Jicks, is aiming low with the self-deprecatingly titled Real Emotional Trash. Brushing aside the hype, the preview tracks that the band are currently circulating online are extremely promising. Calgarians will be crossing their fingers for a visit from these trash-mongers in 2008.
• Other new releasers in March: Montreal post-rock holdouts Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band, Canadian producer Daniel Lanois and the Presidents of the United States of America, with a somewhat-exciting return from hiatus.
LATER THIS YEAR
• Man Man — Rabbit Hats: The long-awaited followup to Six Demon Bag from everyone’s favourite Philadelphia noise collective will be their first release for ANTI-.
• The Breeders — Mountain Battle: The sisters Deal (Kim, of Pixies fame, and Kelly, her hot little sister) will try to drum up some excitement with their first album in five years and (hopefully) their first memorable songs since 1992’s Last Splash.
• The Silver Jews — Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea: More post-Pavement action from David Berman et al., this will be their first release since 2005’s excellent Tanglewood Numbers and their first album to diverge from the two-word title formula.
• Of Montreal — Skeletal Lamping: Kevin Barnes successfully parlayed his fucked-up life story into a modest crossover hit with Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? It will be interesting to see whether he’s found balance in life and whether that will affect his ability to write amazing songs.
• Islands — (TBA): Nick Thorburn and friends will release their sophomore album, and fans will discover whether recently departed drummer and fellow Unicorns holdover J’aime Tambeur was the glue holding the act together.
• Weezer — (TBA): Diehard fans got a big treat in 2007 with Rivers’ collection of home recordings; unfortunately, the band’s last official release, Make Believe, was near unlistenable. Few fans of the band’s early material will have high hopes for the new release.
• Portishead – (TBA): Having played a handful of exclusive shows over the past few years, this British trip-hop group will finally give fans the album they’ve waited more than a decade for.
• Rounding off the list: new albums from Final Fantasy, Menomena, My Morning Jacket, Jim Noir and The Constantines.
