Not much nostalgia for the month – most of these are new to me:
- Fresh from his role in the the Monsters of Folk triumph, M. Ward switches to the duo of She & Him; if Volume Two is as good as their debut, it will be a pleasure to hear
- James Mercer, the glowing light behind the magic of The Shins, is back teamed up with Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse); Broken Bells arrives with freighted expectations
- Do the Liars really have no influences, as they claim? Sisterworld will reveal all
- A rare punk album for me, The Soft Pack’s self-titled release
- Spoon shouldn’t work but they do, so Transference is much anticipated
- The oddbeat nu-folk of Tunng returns on And Then We Saw Land
- More folk-rock: Sparkle Lane by Edward Rogers
- A limited range of electronic music used to be one of my favourite genres but in the last decade most of it has headed to the dance floor; this month I’ll try two, beginning with Pantha du Prince’s Black Noise
- . . . and also Four Tet’s There Is Love in You
- Turning up the volume is Frightened Rabbit’s The Winter of Mixed Drinks