Good Vibes Ahead

It seems like every second year (the odd ones) always turn out to be excellent for new releases, whereas the even years tend to be a little disappointing. While 2005 was incredible, 2006, by comparison, was a bit of a downer (although Beck never seems to fail me on those off-years.) Consequently, my expectations of 2007 are pretty high, and at this point it looks like I'm not going to be let down, at least just yet. Over the next couple of weeks, there are four (count 'em: four) new albums coming out that I can't wait to get ahold of. So here's a little heads-up on what I'm going to (probably) be buzzing about for the next little while.

The Shins - Wincing The Night Away

The Shins are just one of those bands that can do no wrong in my book, and I've listened to both their previous records to death already so I'm pretty excited about getting some new material from them. Their last album, Chutes Too Narrow came out in 2003, so this one is probably a little bit overdue. I have a feeling this one will be my first big listening overindulgence of 2007.

Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

I've got a lot of Of Montreal records, but the one that I listen to almost every second day walking in to work is their previous release, The Sunlandic Twins, which took me from casually liking Of Montreal to totally loving them, and even going down to Toronto to see them last year. What's doubly-awesome - you can stream the whole album online here. I'm listening to it now, and it's really good. Go check it out!

The Earlies - Enemy Chorus

Okay, this one I wasn't sure I was going to post about, but what the heck. I have their last album, These Were The Earlies, which I listen to every now and again, and while I like it, I've never really connected with it, although I dig their sound a whole lot. Their new album is supposed to be even more of a 60's psychedelic thing, which makes it a pretty solid sell for me. I guess I'm more excited about hearing their new album from what I've read about it than I am from the band in general, but we'll see how I feel about that in a few weeks.

The Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder

The Apples are one of the founding bands of the Elephant 6 Recording Company (who also brought us Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, the Minders, Of Montreal, Beulah, etc.) and haven't had a new album since 2002. What's funny is that I actually saw them play at Barrymore's (they were opening for someone, but I forget who) and I remember not paying a whole lot of attention since I didn't know who they were and I didn't think they were very good. It wasn't until years later that I picked up Tone Soul Evolution, which is a fantastically catchy album that I was hooked on from start to finish. Anyway, I was a little surprised to read about a new Apples In Stereo release, so this one's probably at the top of my must-have list.

If 2007 continues like this, I will be one happy music geek.