What We’re Looking Forward To In 2011

It won’t be easy to beat 2010, but we’re counting on the likes of Lykke Li, PJ Harvey, James Blake, and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart to give last year a run for its money.

Check out our anticipated albums and books for 2011, and let us know what you’re watching out for, too!

J. EDWARD KEYES, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Joy Formidable, The Big Roar (Feb. 1): One of the best new bands of last year, I’m excited to here what Joy Formidable does next. As long as they retain their big-guitars-and-piercing-vocals approach, and as long as they continue to put charismatic frontwoman Ritzy Bryan front and center, they cannot fail.

PJ Harvey, Let England Shake (Feb. 15): Cheating a little since I’ve heard this one already but oh my god you guys. When the Flaming Lips masterpiece Embryonic came out, it felt like the elder statesmen coming to teach the young psych punks how it’s done. It feels like there’s a similar thing happening with PJ here. This record is spooky: forward-thinking, edgy, inventive, songs written from snatches of other songs. It is a monster. You’re gonna love it.

Saigon, The Greatest Story Never Told (February TBA): I’m probably setting myself up for disappointment with this one, but I’ve been anticipating this album since 2007 or thereabouts, when it was originally supposed to come out on Atlantic. I had high hopes for Saigon way back when, mostly courtesy of his Return of the Yardfather mixtapes. Admittedly, the follow-ups have not been great. But I’m stubborn. Come on, Sai-giddy. Don’t let me down.

R.E.M., Collapse Into Now (March 8): Let the mockery ensue. Alright, dudes, I know, I know. But I still have a crush on this band, and I’m always going to look forward to their records. I loved Accelerate, and I’m curious to see where they go from there — will they even out and expand? Will this be the New Adventures in Hi-Fi to Accelerate’s Monster? Will anyone care other than me?

Trap Them, Darker Handcraft (March TBA): This band’s 2008 album, Seizures in Barren Praise was fucking sick — 10 mercilessly brutal; songs in 25 minutes. Last year’s Filth Rations EP was an OK stopgap, but I’m dying to hear if these guys can somehow get even more punch-you-in-the-face on a proper follow-up. The title is certainly promising.

Baroness, TBA, (TBA): Dying to see where this band goes after the mountain-scaling they did on 2009′s Blue Record. That one found them expanding in fascinating ways while still retaining their roots in metal and post-hardcore. Here’s hoping they can continue that expansion without sacrificing muscle or throttle. The band is relocating to Philadelphia, aka Hostile City (and this is coming from someone who lived there), so hopes are high. I’m also curious what color this one will be named for.

Pig Destroyer, TBA (TBA): Pig Destroyer’s Phantom Limb was a full-on metal psychodrama, full of weird medical references, disturbing vocal samples and buzzsaw guitars. I’m hoping they can keep the anarchy levels high on its sequel.

Raekwon, Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang (TBA): OK, I don’t know which label is putting this out, despite my efforts to find out, so apologies if I’m baiting a trap here. But: this was first announced in the wake of 8 Diagrams as Raekwon’s retaliation record against the RZA over what he perceived to be shortcomings in the production. And while I’m not sure that concept is still in play, a) I like the idea of “a house divided” and b) I loved Only Built for Cuban Linx 2. So call me cautiously optimistic about this one.

Skeletonwitch, TBA (June): It’s fucking Skeletonwitch you guys. Come on, now.

SEAN FENNESSEY, DIRECTOR OF MERCHANDISING

Wanda Jackson, The Party Ain’t Over (Jan. 25): Jack White revivifies lady legend. This happened once before and it was good.

Lykke Li, Wounded Rhymes (March 1): I have heard this. It is an awesome leap forward for the Swedish ingénue, who is now too old to be called an ingénue.

Lupe Fiasco, Lasers (March 8): This is mostly a masochistic choice. I so desperately want to understand (be a part of?) the cult of Lupe. And yet, I am regularly disturbed by what passes for progressive lyrical rap. Have more fun! RANT OVER.

Moon Duo, Mazes (March 29): I have been thrilled by this drone-psych-dirge twosome’s previous work, but a set at last year’s SXSW set phasers to bore. So it’s with trepidation and a cup of coffee that I approach this one.

Hunx and His Punx, Too Young To Be In Love (April 5): Expecting a rad album cover here.

JAYSON GREENE, INTERNATIONAL EDITOR

Yuck, Yuck (Jan. 18): The greatest Sebadoh record since Sebadoh III? The greatest Archers of Loaf record since Icky Mettle? Basically, this record is incredible — a resonant home run, and one using some of the most well-worn indie-rock materials out there.

James Blake, James Blake (Feb. 8): The expectations for this 22-year-old London prodigy are almost absurdly high — no one should be forced to shoulder the kind of anticipatory burden on their first album. But Blake has done it to himself, by building and stoking a mystique through a series of audacious EPs, each of which invented a new strain of electronic music and then explored it to its outermost boundaries in 20 minutes flat. I am cheating also, since I have technically heard this. But that has only ramped up my excitement for what it’s going to do to the world when everyone else does.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Belong (March TBA): Oops. I’m “that guy” in the editorial dept — “bias” doesn’t really begin to cover my relationship with this band — but fuck it, I’m really really really excited about this album. (Confession: I’ve heard it. Once. On speakers that were at least 15 percent non-functional. It sounds awesome.)

Rick Ross, God Forgives…I Don’t (TBA): Come on. COME ON.

LAURA LEEBOVE, PRODUCTION EDITOR

The Low Anthem, Smart Flesh (Feb. 22): The Low Anthem’s last LP, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, was equal parts beautiful harmonies and rowdy Americana romps. I love how Ben Knox Miller flawlessly switches from a Tom Waitsian howl to a soulful croon, and can’t wait to hear what the group does next.

Middle Brother, Middle Brother (March 1): An mid-level-indie-folk supergroup, if you will. Middle Brother is Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), John McCauley (Deer Tick) and Matthew Vasquez (Delta Spirit), and their collaboration is sure to be full of twangy acoustic guitars and big harmonies. And beards.

Oh Land, Oh Land (March 15): Denmark’s Nanna Oland Fabricius writes bright electro-pop tunes with layered vocals that can be both bombastic and soulful. 2011′s Florence and the Machine, if you will. Check out her EP that we already have on the site to get a taste.

Those Darlins, Screws Get Loose (March 29): On their self-titled debut, these three rowdy Tennessee ladies sang about things like getting drunk and eating chicken. I’ve heard a bit of the album so far and it’s not quite as raw as their punk-meets-country first release, but definitely just as fun(ny) — song titles include “Be Your Bro,” “Fatty Needs A Fix” and “Hives.”

Okkervil River, I Am Very Far (May 10): You know — super-literate, straightforward indie rock. If the band’s performance on Fallon the other night is any indication, this will be great.

MARIS KREIZMAN, AUDIOBOOKS EDITOR

Karen Russell, Swamplandia! (Feb. 1): The debut novel by the author of St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. Expect plenty of magical realism and oddity set in the Everglades.

Al Yankovic, When I Grow Up (Feb 1): Weird Al is doing a children’s book. He’s narrating. ‘Nuff said.

Simon Rich, Elliot Allagash (February TBA): I am a sucker for novels set in elite Manhattan prep schools. This one is by SNL writer and author of the hilarious Free Range Chickens, Simon Rich, so it’s sure to be funny.

Benjamin Hale, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore (February TBA): Guys, the narrator of this novel is a chimp. A chimp who has learned to read and speak and do other awesome things (expect interspecies sex). What does it mean to be human? Ask a chimp.

Tea Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife (March TBA): Obreht was the youngest of writers on the New Yorker‘s “20 Under 40″ list, and her debut novel about a young doctor who works in an orphanage in a war-torn Balkan country.

Joyce Carol Oates, The Widow’s Story (March TBA): The prolific Oates heads into Joan Didion territory in this memoir about the unexpected death of her husband. Expect an excerpt to appear in The New Yorker.

David Foster Wallace, The Pale King (April 15): The last book by one of the greatest writers of the past 20 years, The Pale King tells the story of the tedious lives of IRS employees in Peoria, Illinois. Fittingly, the book will be published on Tax Day.