Album Watch: Six Upcoming Releases RIB Is Most Looking Forward To

So there's a ton of new stuff coming down the pipeline that we here at RIB are excited about, and we're hearing more and more every day about each. Off the top of our heads, here's the six we're most anticipating, in order of release date:




1. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

We've said plenty about this one already. Geoff G. seems happy. Matthew hasn't heard it and still plans to be disappointed. RELEASE DATE: March 6




2. The Innocence Mission - We Walked in Song

From clips we've heard, this promises to be another precious, ephemeral and way-too-short record from Lancaster's finest. Every one of their albums is like a letter from a friend - let's hope there's a tour to go with this one. RELEASE DATE: March 13

The Innocence Mission - Happy Birthday [mp3]




3. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

His last one got us plenty innarested. ("Get out your measuring cups/And we'll play a new game/Come to the front of the class/And we'll measure your brain/We'll give you a complex/And we'll give it a name".) This could make us full-fledged fanatics. RELEASE DATE: March 20

Andrew Bird - Heretics [mp3]




4. Feist - The Reminder

We haven't listened to Let It Die in some time, but that record was good enough to warrant picking this one up, too. Now At Last is a great hidden-final-track-on-a-mix song. And we've been using a Feist postcard as a bookmark for months. RELEASE DATE: April 24




5. Bjork - Totempole (rumored title) Volta

Few artists have made a better record this decade than Vespertine. Jen hates her, but she'll probably be hearing a lot of this one. Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons) sings on two tracks. Don't know anything else about this one, though we're betting she'll have another irresistible gimmick that will make us fall in love with her all over again. RELEASE DATE: On or around May 8




6. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

Their last two albums (at least) were classic, so we're expecting a lot from Jeff Tweedy & (ever-changing) Co. We're not completists though, so these songs will all be new to us when we hear them. Which means we won't bitch and moan about how the songs are better live or as demos - although we won't make any promises where Geoff G. is concerned. RELEASE DATE: May 15



Others of varying interest: Son Volt - The Search (March 6); Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy (March 6); Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (April 10); Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero (April 17); A Tribute To Joni Mitchell - featuring Sufjan Stevens and Bjork (April 24); Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band (April 24); Iron & Wine - Shepherd's Dog (coming in the fall), and some TBDs (at least according to Metacritic) from Architecture in Helsinki, Beastie Boys, The Cure, PJ Harvey, The Postal Service, Okkervil River, Radiohead and Gillian Welch - especially TPS and Gillian. And we're hoping R.E.M. stops fiddling away their career and releases a raw rock record within a week of entering the studio.

What are we forgetting? We'll keep adding to this list as we think of/hear of them.