Dates for the diary

In the next month or so there are loads of new albums coming out by some awesome artists/bands - here are some of the most exciting ones.

MGMT's sophomore album, the somewhat presumptuously titled, Congratulations is officially out on April 13, but is currently available to stream on their website. The duo announced prior to the release that not only would there be no singles from Congratulations, but that it was considerably less commercial, veering towards the trippy, proggy side of their oeuvre, rather than the poppy stuff. That's right, Oracular Spectacular was TOO POP kids... To be fair, I don't think MGMT were ever the kind of band that expected to get as big as they did, so perhaps it's no surprise they've reacted against it - although on first listen Congratulations doesn't seem quite as fiendishly uncommercial as I expected.

I don't think I've really mentioned quite how excited I am about The National's new album, High Violet... It's out May 11th (10th in Europe!), and they've just released a preview of their new single, Bloodbuzz Ohio, available to download from the album's website.



Jamie Lidell, soul crooner/electronic maestro extraordinaire first came to my notice with his 2008 albun, Jim, a collection of soulful tracks that marked something of a progression from his earlier electronic, experimental stuff. But, judging by new single The Ring (video above), Lidell has merged the two, rather schizophrenic sides of his personality for his new album, Compass. It's out May 18th on Warp records, and features a whole host of guest artists: Beck, Feist, Feist, Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, Daniel Rossen, and Chris Bear, Gonzales, Pat Sansome from Wilco... yeah, I know. Incredible right?

LCD Soundsystem release their third album on the same date (in the U.S. anyways - us Brits get a whole day earlier!) The as-yet-untitled L.P. is supposed to be the last from James Murphy, the DFA honcho, under the LCD Soundsystem banner, but hopefully there will be more awesomeness coming from him soon. I'm loving the new single/leak, Drunk Girls, and I have every faith that the L.P. will be as good.

{photo courtesy of babyben on flickr}