Still, there were a handful of new albums I really loved this year, and a bigger handful of albums I truly like and might grow to love as time goes by. Instead of the arbitrary numerical ranking I’ve done in the past – which I always question as soon as I click “Publish” — I’m going to separate this list into two clumps of records: the ones I love right now, and the ones I like right now.

2011 Records I Love

• Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
  OK, so I’ll break the rule I set in the last sentence and make this grand declaration — Helplessness Blues is easily my favorite record of the year. This record is fantastic on all fronts — songs, sentiment, production, playing — but ultimately, this works for me because of those unreal vocal harmonies. Also, the mind-boggingly great show they put on at the Ryman just a few weeks after the release date helped.
• War on Drugs – Slave Ambient
  The best driving record of the year. Classicist rock played over a complimentary ambient/drone record, synced up Wizard-of-Oz/Dark-Side-of-the-Moon style. Really integrates heavy experimentation in sound without sacrificing or obscuring undeniable songwriting. The pairing is so simple and effective, it’s sort of a “why didn’t I think of that?” record.
• Real Estate – Days
  Jangle jangle jangle, with a big debt to early R.E.M. and The Feelies. Obviously love at first listen.
• Radiohead – The King of Limbs
  I disagree with the general assessment that this is Radiohead’s first disappointing record (they already made one…it was called Hail to the Thief). This is the most subtle record they’ve ever made, but it’s successful in two things: dialing down the histrionics (these dudes are middle-aged, after all — writing another “Just” would just be embarrassing) and making an affecting IDM record that sounds like it’s played by a band. Even Kid A (note: this is not me saying that The King of Limbs is as good as Kid A) sounded like a tracklist of band songs + electronica songs; King of Limbs meets in the middle. If you’re not at least significantly impressed by the rhythmic complexity herein, you’re not really paying attention.
• Tom Waits – Bad as Me
  Best Waits record since Mule Variations — I chalk it up to shorter song forms and a willingness to mix tunefulness with weirdness. Particularly great side 2, with some of his finest noir ballads (“Kiss Me,” “Back in the Crowd”) plus some very fine unhinged barnburners (“Satisfied,” “Hell Broke Luce”).
• Wilco – The Whole Love
  A comfortable Wilco record without sounding bored (like Wilco the Album). Not perfect, but some moments — like “I Might,” “Black Moon,” “Red Rising Lung,” and “One Sunday Morning” — are among Wilco’s best.
• Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Mirror Traffic
  I still scratch my head at how many Pavement uber-fans (ahem, Jay Erter) haven’t really given Malkmus’ solo career a shot. I still contend that his first self-titled solo record is brilliant — it was my gateway into Pavement since they weren’t at all on the musical radar in my hometown. Mirror Traffic is significantly more consistent than any record he’s made since, and it was in heavy rotation this year.

2011 Records I Like

• Tristen – Charlatans at the Gate
  My favorite record this year by a local Nashville artist.
  
• Bill Callahan – Apocalypse
  Skip “America!” (annoying), but “Baby’s Breath” and “One Fine Morning” are great.
• Bon Iver – s/t
  Here’s the thing: I like this record. A lot. But I also totally get how someone might hate it for being toothless, pretentious, and full of mush-mouthed sentimentality set to Peter Cetera keyboards. To each his own; for now, at least, I really like this album.
• Vetiver – The Errant Charm
  Granted, Vetiver makes wallpaper indie-pop but sometimes wallpaper music is exactly what I need.
• R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now
  Not the best R.E.M. record (Reckoning or Fables for me); not even the best R.E.M. record on Warner Bros (Automatic or Monster for me); not even the best R.E.M. record since Bill Berry left (Up or Accelerate, for me). But still, a very good R.E.M. record — a few clunkers, nothing terribly embarrassing, and a few songs that sound vital (“Discoverer,” “Mine Smell Like Honey”). I’m happy they quit on the back of two solid records and one phenomenal live record (Live at the Olympia) instead of after the missteps they took between 2000 and 2007 — I just wish I had gone to see them on the Accelerate Tour.
• Yuck - s/t
  90s rock revival part one, leaning towards the Dinosaur Jr. sound.
• The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
  90s rock revival part two, leaning towards the Smashing Pumpkins sound, but with a girl singer. Starts really strong but gets boring towards the end.
• St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
  I verge on loving this record. I really do love most of it, but I can’t help but feel like Annie Clark could make a truly great record if she’d hold back some on the keyboards and stop fussing with the arrangements so much. Live videos of these new tunes put her and her guitar front-and-center, and it’s so much more engaging. Still, I think she’s brilliant and I really look forward to what she does next.
• Jessie Baylin - Pleasure Center EP
  I just crossed paths with this, and liked it immediately. The songs are good but the production shines, and we can thank Richard Swift for that — excellent example of the production complimenting the songwriting.
• TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
  Almost forgot about this one. Put it back in rotation a few weeks ago and was surprised at how much I liked it. TVOTR’s most tuneful, soulful record — works very well for them.
• Richard Swift – Walt Wolfman 12″
  Even Richard Swift’s toss-off EPs and 12″s are awesome.
• Atlas Sound – Parallax
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra – s/t
• CANT – Dreams Come True
• Washed Out – Within and Without
• Toro Y Moi – Underneath the Pine
• William Tyler - Behold the Spirit
  Hooray for Nashville!
  
• The Features – Wilderness
  Hooray for Nashville!
  

Random Mentions (New and New to Me)

• Harry Nilsson – Nilsson Sings Newman and Son of Schmilsson
  It’s funny how you can be familiar with an artist but it takes the right input for it to really click. Late last year I went from being aware of Nilsson to obsessed with Nilsson (mostly because of the fantastic “Who is Harry Nilsson” documentary), and this year I assembled and dissected the full catalog. Harry is one of those artists that I can’t believe I didn’t love before turning 30, but I had so much fun this year digging into his catalog. I think Nilsson Sings Newman is his masterpiece — a perfect record of his incredible voice, his sense of mischief, and his willingness to try any idea. Funny that it’s not a record of his songs, but still — it’s basically the best record of ballads ever recorded (scientific fact, I think). Son of Schmilsson is my favorite record of his original songs: I’ll admit it’s more uneven than Pussy Cats or Nilsson Schmilsson, but to my ears it best captures Harry’s cult of personality, which swings wildly from being beautifully sentimental, to slyly funny, to outright bawdy, to irreverent, and back to self-serious.
• Matthew Sweet – Altered Beast
  Been a casual fan of Matthew Sweet since high school, but I recently acquired this record (thanks, Dan) and am scratching my head at why I never dug deeper than Girlfriend and 100% Fun.
  
• The Strokes – Angles
  I was prepared to totally hate this album, because First Impressions of Earth was such a staggering turd of a record. I was surprised: I think about 40% of Angles is actually really great, particularly “Two Kinds of Happiness,” “Taken for a Fool,” and “Gratisfaction.” The 60% that isn’t great is either tolerable or terrible..
  
• The Decemberists – The King is Dead
  Another band that I had grown tired of after a huge misstep (Hazards of Love = turd), but was pleasantly surprised by the new record. As with Angles, it’s not perfect, but there are a handful of great songs and this definitely puts the band back on track.
  

I’m thrilled. This change represents the last step in a full turn in my career that I’ve worked very hard to achieve over a relatively short timeline. It’s been three years since I first reevaluated my career and began to realize my passion for education. While teaching ultimately became an outcome I couldn’t justify (sadly, mostly a financial decision, which says a bit about the state of our education system), the research lead me to instructional design as a field that combined my interest in cognition, learning, and technology. I imagined I’d spend a few years building experience in corporate learning and adult education, and then parlay that into a move to a tech company in the K-12 space. I figured it was something that would take years, and I began to think it wasn’t something I could do in Nashville.

HealthTeacher is the move into K-12 education that I’ve wanted all along.As I have a child that approaches school-age faster than I can comprehend, I find my passion for education growing exponentially. There’s no field I’d rather work in; in my mind, there’s no opportunity to change the world greater than improving an education system that is in serious need of new ideas, new technologies, and new approaches.

Furthermore, HealthTeacher’s mission is big, important, and meaningful in a whole other way — the company is focused on building a youth health movement by teaching good health habits to children. It’s been said that 75% of healthcare costs go to treat conditions that are largely preventable and even reversible by preventative lifestyle choices. Studies have shown that lifestyle choices could prevent at least 90% of all heart disease. Spiraling healthcare costs continue to burden our economy.

We form habits early in life. Good health should be a habit, a competency, a language that we learn at a young age. I’m excited to go to HealthTeacher and build exciting education products that do just that.

In making this decision, I leave behind a job I’ve truly enjoyed. My two years at HealthStream have been fantastic. I believe 100% in what HealthStream does. It has great leadership, fills a very important need in the world, is run with strong vision, and treats it’s employees with respect. I felt like family there, and I’m sad to say goodbye — but this opportunity is too close to my heart to pass up.

Here’s hoping for a relatively-change-free 2012! I could use one year of maintenance.

Pocketknife

Sunday afternoon -
a grandmother removes
a tiny green package
from her bedside table
and drops it gently
into his eager hands.

The boy rubs the inside
of his short index finger
along the glossy green paper
and leans his young frame
against her marigold dress,
while he slips his finger
under the crease
to loosen the tape.
In respect for
this unexpected gift
he does not tear the paper,
but slides the battered case
out of its tight wrapping.

He opens it wordlessly,
his grandmother looking away,
and into his hands falls
a rusty pocketknife
with a handle of worn wood,
delicately carved by
the blade of another,
deeproot stained by years of use,
and scratched onto one side -
the initials of her father,
whom he had never met
but had always known.

Every night,
the cautious evening crept into the house
and the water in the pipes would settle,
and the air conditioner would choke itself
in an aluminum rattle -
the vents exhaling their last cool breath
the dust sinking silver against the windows.
I would lie in the dark
restless as the moonlight,
and strangled by the hands of patience.

Sometimes at 2 a.m.
my father, still awake in his tiny office,
would hear my pacing,
slip wordless into my room
and put “Blood on the Tracks” on the old stereo -
Bob Dylan crooning soft and desperate
about losing his wife.
I didn’t understand the words,
but I think I always understood the sound,
the inexorable fear of emptiness.

Now, sitting at the desk,
breathless,
I realize
sometimes the empty spaces
weigh as much as the movements.

UPDATE: As usual, I forgot a few. I’m too lazy to do a full update so let me add:

• Sharon Van Etten — “Epic”
• Beach House — “Teen Dream”
• Vampire Weekend — “Contra”

A Few of My Favorite Songs of 2010:

• “Excuses” — Morning Benders
• “Radar Detector” — Darwin Deez
• “Burden of Tomorrow” — The Tallest Man on Earth
• “Coronado” — Deerhunter
• “Blue as Your Blood” — The Walkmen
• “Bloodbuzz, Ohio” — The National
• “Digging for Something” — Superchunk
• “I Can’t Wait” — Twin Shadow
• “Norway” — Beach House
• “Month of May” — The Arcade Fire
• “White Table” — Delta Spirit

The Backstory:

So, here’s the summary (for the unitiaited, which, is really everybody excluding the 30 or so people who gave a crap back in the day):

First, the name: we were always pretty ambivalent about it but we never agreed on anything better. (“The Wild Faced Butt Cats/Butt Faced Wild Cats” never received a majority vote.)

We started with the concept of being an alt-country band (you know, a rock band with acoustic guitars and lap steel and banjos and stuff). A lot of the time we sounded more like a band that preferred the end of songs to get big. In fact, we had a song that was referred to privately as “The Big Song.”

We made a full-length record of songs all recorded at 2 in the morning on weeknights because Kevin Honnoll could sneak us into the studio after hours. It sounds like an alt-country band for the first 3 songs, then like a 90′s rock band, then like an alt-country band again, and then like a band that might tentatively title something “The Big Song.”

We later recorded an EP of which we’re still very proud. Not much alt-country on the EP; more jangly, anthemic rock that suited us much better (and we like to think we were pretty good at). The EP ends with a song that is also big, although we trick you by making the beginning very quiet. However, by the seven-minute mark, there are no less than 10 independent wordless vocal tracks. It is impossible to play this song live without it sounding like a total wreck.

There was also a novelty Christmas song in there called “Merry Christmas, Donkey Babies” but that’s another story.

We split up in 2005 to move and get married and get jobs and what not. In the years since, we’ve played three times: once at the Mobley Wedding in late 2005, once as a four-piece at the Briggs Wedding in 2006, and at an official (but not rehearsed) Reunion Show in April 2010.

The Recorded Output:

“When It Was Me” — Recorded summer 2002 to January 2003 at Belmont University studios, released Winter 2003.

“These Years Come To Rest” — Recorded periodically November 2003 to April 2004 at Bel Air House studios, release February 2005.

Outtakes, Demos, and Rarities

The Video Archive:

• The Farewell Show: February 2005
• The Reunion Show: April 2010 (Great photos from this show at from Chris Wage at Flickr and Melissa Mobley at Facebook.)
• Blue Sky Court: April 2003 (Note: in retrospect, this has to be the most boring show we ever played. These are the highlights and the rarities — and that’s saying something.)
  

I’ll provide the details, but first, here’s some really non-insightful insight: technology is crazy awesome. From the very beginning of our process, I was keeping friends and family up to date on the whole experience via Twitter and Facebook — it was easier than making dozens of phonecalls and fielding a hundred text messages (plus, we don’t pay for unlimited text so I have to cut ya’ll off somewhere). Plus, I was just so excited at what turns out to be the most unbelievable joyous experience of my life that I wanted to share it, loud and clear. Maybe that’s part of the generation I’m growing up in, maybe I just like to hear myself talk. (Both, probably). But, at the end of it, I have a nice play-by-play journal of the whole three day experience.

So, rather than post a labored-over retelling (seriously, that is not a pun), I’m going to just copy and paste my transmissions from those few days — the chronology of the birth of my first son, Ansel Franklin Briggs.

Day 1:

In which someone decides to crash the party two weeks early.

• February 13, 2010 10:38AM:
  Working at @Grimeys today — come buy records from me.
• February 13, 2010 1:55PM:
  Today is the first time since working at Grimeys that I had the opportunity to reccomend a listener’s first R.E.M. record. It was awesome.
• February 13, 11:46PM:
  My weekend plans have changed: Ashley’s water just broke!!!!
• February 13, 11:28PM:
  Thanks to everyone for the encouraging messages! We’re packing bags and watching “Shaun of the Dead” in preparation.
• February 13, 11:51PM:
  I feel like we’re trying to pack light for this hospital trip, but the problem is we have 6 different small bags.

Day 2:

Tom Petty once said something about the waiting being the hardest part. Tom Petty is a wizard.

• February 14, 7:01 AM:
  Got a full night of sleep. Real contractions mmmmaybe starting now?
• February 14, 11:17 AM:
  Still waiting on contractions — going to try accupuncture at 1 in an effort to avoid induction.
• February 14, 1:25 PM:
  Acupuncture = neat.
• February 14, 3:02 PM:
  On to the next plan: spicy spicy Thai food…
• February 14, 6:02 PM:
  I think maybe we’re gradually starting to get somewhere. Is it because of Ghostbusters 2?
• February 14, 7:44 PM:
  Longest. Day. Ever. And I’m pretty sure it’s going to last at least 8 – 12 hours longer.
• February 14, 10:42 PM:
  At the hospital. Looks like we’re going to be here a while…
• February 14, 11:09 PM:
  Ash is getting some drugs to encourage “cervical ripening” and we’re going to try and get a little sleep before the real fun starts.

Day 3:

The Real Olympics. That other stuff is just playing in the snow.

• February 15, 7:55 AM:
  Got a full night of sleep, waiting to see the midwife and see where we are. Regardless, we’re having this baby today.
• February 15, 9:38 AM:
  Contractions are fo’ real now! Ash is making it happen.
• February 15, 1:09 PM:
  Everyone is anxious for an update… Not much to say: still pregnant and having regular, strong contractions. Ash is doing great!
• February 15, 1:13 PM:
  Cross county skiing? Pssshhh – not impressed. We’re trying to push a baby through ladyparts here.
• February 15, 3:24 PM:
  Got a quick coach break: sandwich and a shower. Not simultaneously.
• February 15, 5:44 PM:
  New update: poor Ash was getting worn out so we took a light epidural in order to get a break before pushing.
• February 15, 5:54 PM:
  Man, they weren’t joking: having a baby = crazy hard. So proud of Ashley for what she’s done in the last two days.
• February 15, 7:53 PM:
  Team Ansel is back at it after an hour of sleep. We’ve decided: this dude is gettin’ born tonight.
• February 15, 8:26 PM:
  It’s go time!!! About to start pushing – he got ready while we were sleeping!
• February 15, 9:08 PM:
  He’s here, and he’s perfect!! Ansel Franklin Briggs, born 8:49 PM!

• February 15, 10:17 PM:
  7 pounds 10 ounces, for those counting.
• February 15, 11:51 PM:
  Me and my boy, already getting used to a sleeping bag.
• 

• February 16, 12:57 AM:
  Nothing so perfect has ever happened in my life. Love my wife, love my boy, love my life. Thanks all for the well wishes, they mean so much.

Let’s call this part the prologue:

..In which we get back to some semblance of real life, although 70% of everyone I talk to tells me “real life” will never really be the same, which I fully understand but that’s an awful ominous thing to say to a person, right?, but that’s probably another blog post…

• February 16, 10:41 AM:
  What some might call a washcloth, hospitals call a towel.
• February 16 6:51 PM:
  Trying to get with it — all three of us have been decimated by an unplanned nap.
• February 17 6:41 AM:
  Ansel had many opinions last night, but most of them could simply be expressed as “WAAAAA.” Sleeping soundly now, though.
• February 17 7:57 AM:
  Best morning ever – spent napping with Ansel in the sun. Headed home no later than 5 PM to introduce our boy to his furry brothers.
• February 17 9:40 PM:
  In case you were wondering what Ansel has been listening to non-stop since he came into this world: his playlist – http://bit.ly/dtZmtb

…and after many days of adjustment…

• March 4 3:24 PM:
  Forgive me this sugary sentimentality: I can’t believe how much I love my wife and little boy. Can’t wait to get home.

Rachel sent me an email last night to give me another piece of great news — her song cycle won a national competition and will be premiered in Boston with the Boston Metro Opera for their 1st Annual Contemporary AmericanaFest in May! Details are here and here.

Rachel is immensely talented and I’ve always been humbled by her dedication — I’m so happy to see her being recognized and happy to be a small part of it.

For those wondering, the two poems in question are below.

*********************************************************************

Coil

One shoulder takes the weight
while the other rests in waiting
for the slow steady shift.

As midnight settles, a rusty halo
emerges around the Nashville skyline,
and the hour exchanges regret
for numb awareness and silver stillness.
There is the sound of the airport sleeping,
of Interstate 24 slowing its shuttle,
the dim arterial hum of a city in relief.

And there is the clock, aching to reset -
a muted shift of method from gear to rod,
pin to pendulum, pulpit to hand,
and again to a series of gears,
where the key is not and never was.
It divides by twelves and by sixty,
and rations to each arm
an emotion of precise mathematics -
driven, by design, to find an ending
and at once another stark beginning.

One shoulder shifts the weight to the other.
The coil builds tension, and aches for release.

*********************************************************************

Only Memory of a Family Vacation, Age Nine

A bright Georgia summer
and there’s heat rising off the asphalt
ahead, slurring the horizon
like oil in standing water,
the sprawling pitch pines
blurred together into dusty green
like their crooked limbs
have grown tangled together.
My father drives, keeps the window
cracked a half inch and the radio
hardly audible under the whitened rush,
the sound of motion.
My mother hums to herself,
holds a book about the apostle Paul
in her lap, knows that to read it
will make her carsick, but still holds it,
trusting in intention.
And I am in the backseat
of that silver station wagon,
seatbelt unbuckled, shoelaces untied,
again considering her Sunday School lesson
on how God was never born
and will never die -
and under the heat and the motion
and the weight of infinity,
I rest my head
against the window
in fear of disbelief.

The project was to design an instructional or informational site using CSS. I had lots of help from my co-workers in navigating CSS, and I feel pretty comfortable now looking at code and knowing what’s going on. I chose “climbing” as my topic, as I knew I had quite a few photos I could use for my site design.

You can view the site at http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~briggsa/climbingsafety/index.htm.

Note that the site isn’t actually AT ClimbingSafety.com. I might eventually buy a domain and launch the site off of the school servers, but money doesn’t grow on trees.

Stereogum has a great post right now listing their 69 most anticipated records of 2010, and the follow-up records to most of the highlights of 2007 are on schedule for next year. Based on this list, 2010 is going to be heavy with music from artists I already love and maybe beat 2007 in the race for the most great releases. Since I’m still in the spirit of making inane lists (see my “Favorites Albums and Songs of 2009″ post), I thought I’d whittle the list down to the ones I’m looking forward to:

VAMPIRE WEEKEND – CONTRA
JANUARY 12 (XL)
All signs — including the three songs I’ve heard so far — point to Contra being a strong follow-up to one of my favorite records of last year. Seems as if they’re not making any radical stylistic shift, just building on the formula they set with the first record. I really liked that formula, so I’m looking forward to hearing the full album.

Vampire Weekend – “Horchata” (MP3)

THE AVALANCHES
TBA (MODULAR)
If you’ve never heard Since I Left You, you’ve missed one of the best sample-based dance records of the decade — if not one of the best ever. It’s been nine years since they released Since I Left You, and the follow-up is finally on slate for 2010. Interested to see what happens when an album is in production for nine years.

BEACH HOUSE – TEEN DREAM
JANUARY 26 (SUB POP)
“Norway” is floating around the internet right now, and I’m impressed — great woozy guitar, beautiful vocals. I love what Beach House is doing but still looking for the album from them that crystallizes it, makes it all memorable and not just a wash of sound. Hoping Teen Dream is that record, and with a lead song as strong as “Norway” I think it’s quite possible.

Beach House – “Norway” (MP3)

SPOON – TRANSFERENCE
JANUARY 26 (MERGE)
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was the best record of 2007 in my book — the best example of everything that is great about Spoon and easily one of the finest rock records of the decade. So of course I’m looking forward to the follow up. The lead single “Written in Reverse” is on iTunes now, and it seemingly takes the Wire-esque “strip the rock song down to the bones” approach to it’s most basic — the song is basically one chord, minus a two-chord 20 second bridge. It’s all buoyed by one of Britt’s best and most engaging vocals. Can’t wait to hear the rest of it.

Spoon – “Written In Reverse” (Live 7/20/08) (MP3)

THE NATIONAL
TBA (4AD)
I’m still blown away by Boxer and Alligator and playing them frequently, so I can’t wait to see what they have on tap for Boxer‘s followup. According to Stereogum, their intention was to make a record that’s “happier” than Boxer, but the songs might not be trending that way. Fine by me.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
MARCH (DFA)
2008 and 2009 didn’t have a dance-oriented record that really moved me, but 2007 had two of the finest — Justice’s Cross and LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver.

MIDLAKE – THE COURAGE OF OTHERS
FEBRUARY 1 (BELLA UNION)
It’s been a while since Midlake released the undeniably “Fleetwood Mac-ian” Trials of Van Occupanther — one of my favorite albums of 2006. Evidently the band has labored heavily over the followup. According to the band, we should expect a move toward “British folk scene of late ’60s stuff.”

THE HOLD STEADY
TBA (VAGRANT)
The Hold Steady won me over at Bonnaroo 2007 with one of the most infectious live shows I’ve ever seen. 2008′s Stay Positive wasn’t an end-to-end winner, so hopefully the new record captures more of the energy of the live version of the band.

RIGHTENED RABBIT – THE WINTER OF MIXED DRINKS
MARCH 9 (FATCAT)
Loving the new live tune they’re playing (see below) — if any indication of the new record, they’ll improve upon what they did with ther last record.

Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You” (Live On BBC6) (MP3)

ARCADE FIRE
MAY (MERGE)
I’d call Funeral one of the Top 5 records of the decade, and I thought Neon Bible was a great second third album. Can’t wait to hear what they do next.

FLEET FOXES
TBA (SUB POP)
Evidently the follow-up to my favorite album of 2008 is a little “less poppy” and “a little less upbeat”. Personally, the bright upbeat spots of their debut album were the points that balanced the rest and made it the perfect sunny morning album. I’m fine for some darker business, but hoping they don’t leave out that part of their sound that simply revels in the joy of playing music…

THE WRENS – FUNERAL (WORKING TITLE)
FALL (TBA)
The Wrens last record — The Meadowlands — came out in 2003, and I suppose most people figured their wouldn’t be another Wrens record. Evidently we’ll see a follow-up in 2010. I was a big fan of the heart-of-sleeve opus of The Meadowlands, so this is on my list of purchases for sure.

BAND OF HORSES – NIGHT RAINBOWS
TBA (SUB POP)
Yes, please — second album was better than the first, so keep it coming.

THE WALKMEN
SPRING (FAT POSSUM)
Man, The Walkmen are active. I just listened to Bows + Arrows for the first time in a while and was reminded how brilliant these dudes are.

DR. DOG – SHAME, SHAME
SPRING (ANTI-)
Despite a bit of a let-down in Fate, I’m still on board. Evidently we can expect something a bit more “punk” this time around. Fate tended toward goofy in spots, so this is a welcome suggestion.

MENOMENA
TBA (BARSUK)
Loved Friend and Foe, and was blown away by seeing them live (twice!) on Halloween Eve 2007 — giant baby costume and all. Hoping they also keep their tendency toward really awesome album art.

R.E.M.
TBA (WARNER)
Evidently my favorite band of all time is back in the studio making their fifteenth album. My fingers are firmly crossed that they’re making it quick and keeping the vigor they’ve had over the last two years intact.

MILES KUROSKY – THE DESERT OF SHALLOW EFFECTS
MARCH 9 (MAJORDOMO/SHOUT! FACTORY)

Can’t wait for this one. I’m a huge Beulah fan and hate that I didn’t really discover them until they had split up. Miles Kurosky is the former singer/songwriter from that late great band, and Stereogum reports that his first solo record is “a meticulously crafted, ambitious gem, utilizing a cast of more than two dozen musicians (among them several ex-Beulah members) playing a vast array of instruments.” If it’s as half as great as The Coast is Never Clear or Yoko, I’ll be pushing this one hard on everyone I know.