Fast forward to…
Massive Attack
Title: Heligoland
Release date: Feb 9
Exactly seven years following their last release, 100th Window, the trip hop kings of Bristol return with an album that has so far been three years and at least two different versions in the making. Recent EP Splitting the Atom suggests a lighter mood to previous efforts. Look out for cameos from Portishead’s Adrian Utley and the omnipresent Damon Albarn.
Amy Winehouse
Title: As yet unknown
Release date: Expect it by the summer
There can be few albums as anticipated as the third from Mad Amy. Her second, Back to Black, was a genius amalgamation of beehive chic and funky sass (as if any of you need it explaining). How to follow it up, though? Rumours abound that she has learnt to play the drums for the new album. Not even her record company know what to expect.
Gorillaz
Title: Plastic Beach
Release date: Should be here by March
Damon Albarn had a busy 2009, but 2010 will see him turning his attentions to the new Gorillaz collection. ‘I’m making this record the most pop album I’ve ever made,’ he told the media recently. Contributors include Snoop Dogg, Mos Def and Lou Reed – Albarn will have his work cut out with that poppy crew.
Beastie Boys
Title: Hot Sauce Committee
Release date: Expect it during the spring
Hot Sauce Committee was intended to be a two-parter, but the first part was delayed due to Adam Yauch’s lymphoma. Now cancer-free and vegan, the Beastie Middle Agers have both parts ready for release and are apparently eager to get back to what they do best – paaaaartying (albeit with plenty of raw vegetable juice in place of the usual beverages).
Worth a playback…
Vampire Weekend
Title: Contra
Release date: Jan 11
With a dash of Congolese-inspired soukous music, a singer who sounds like he’s from anywhere but New York (Liverpool, London, Congo – take your pick), one of 2008’s most promising bands returns after a two-year absence. New single ‘Cousins’ is more upbeat than anything else they’ve done. It’s not too much to say that we can’t wait.
Lightspeed Champion
Title: Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You
Release date: Feb 16
If you haven’t made the jump to Lightspeed Champion’s odd little world, check out the video for ‘Galaxy of the Lost’. His latest single, ‘Marlene’, is up on YouTube too, and it hints at a funksome, inventive direction – wholly welcome in a world where indie has died a death at the hands of The Killers and their unimaginative ilk.
Fleet Foxes
Title: As yet unknown
Release date: Second half of the year
Their wintery eponymous album came drenched in banks of reverb, so much so that the band sounded as though they were performing at the end of a vast cavern. There seems to be a movement in indie music at the moment – not wholly unpleasant – in which bands try as hard as they possibly can to sound like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Fleet Foxes take the idea and run as far with it as they possibly can. Still, if it ain’t broke… It’s difficult to see Robin Pecknold changing his retro sound too much, but more of the same wouldn’t be too much of a crime, for one more album at least. Expect it in time for Christmas 2010.
Quick, wipe the tape…
Ringo Starr
Title: Y Not
Release date: Jan 12
The title suggests he’s spent enough time justifying this album’s creation already. The big news is that it’s the first self-produced album of his career, but that’s not going to save it from being a pocket full of ear rot. The fact remains that Ringo Starr may be the luckiest man on the planet: a sickly scally who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Our office dog could play better drums than him, and we don’t even have an office dog.
Oasis
Title: To be confirmed
Release date: To be confirmed
Yes, yes, we know they’re supposed
to have split up, but at the time of going to press, Liam was threatening to keep the name and go back into the studio. Take the words ‘flogging’, ‘dead’ and ‘horse’, and make a sentence out of them, if you can, Master Gallagher.
