Upcoming Albums to Look Out For

1. Awaken, My Love! by Childish Gambino

(Projected for December 2016)

Rapper Childish Gambino is becoming even more well known in the wake of his successful new show, Atlanta, and now he’s poised to make a great new album if his last release can be trusted. Because the Internet was a commentary on internet culture and the ways in which we react to it, and now we’ll see whether he can follow up with something equally heavy. This is a project with a lot of question marks around it, however, including theories that its album art is featured in a side-shot of Atlanta. All that said, it’s projected to come out on Dec. 2 according to Amazon Canada and AllMusic.

2. We got it from here... Thank You 4 Your Service by A Tribe Called Quest (Nov. 11, 2016)

If you told me a year ago that A Tribe Called Quest was releasing a new album, I would’ve flipped out then immediately felt saddened by the news of founding member Phife Dawg’s (The Five Foot Assassin) death. Yet, a day away from the album’s release and I’m feeling optimistic, especially when you look at the talent that Quest was able to pull together for this release including Kendrick Lamar, Andre 3000 and Anderson .Paak. After this week’s election, I’d also be willing to be that their Saturday Night Live performance (which will be co-hosted by Dave Chappelle) will be as poignant as ever.

3. Near to the Wild Heart of Life by Japandroids

(Jan. 27, 2017)

Near to the Wild Heart of Life is scheduled to be the third album by seminal new-school indie rock band Japandroids. Japandroids have recently entered the hallowed halls of true indie fame, putting them up there with bands like Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem, so the real question is, did their short hiatus allow them to properly regroup for this newest album, or will this be a messy release comparable to Reflektor.

4. Life Without Sound by Cloud Nothing (Jan. 27, 2017)

Cloud Nothings is a band I’ve been following since Dylan Baldi started it as a solo-project that was far from the punk set that it currently is. The band’s 2012 release Attack On Memory served as a welcome re-education on what Cloud Nothings had become and their subsequent release Here and Nowhere Else is strong and accompanied one of the liveliest performances I’ve ever seen. The only downside to this new album, Life Without Sound, is that the debut single seems to show that Baldi took the wrong influences away from his recent collaboration with Wavves.