Five Most Anticipated Albums of 2010

Once highly underrated and slept-on, Pinback has been rightfully gaining a ton of popularity from the teen and young adult age crowd. With recent releases such as Autumn of the Seraphs and Summer in Abaddon, Pinback has picked up a loyal following that wasn't quite interested in their earlier work like Blue Screen Life or This is a Pinback CD.

Pinback has been one of my favorite indie bands since their first album release, and I have been following all of Rob Crow's (lead vocalist) side projects like Thingy and Heavy Vegetable since my discovery. Their style is very mellow, and they are known for their sentimental vocals, catchy bass lines (Penelope), and keyboards among many other things. Some people have felt the need to tag this band as emo but don't be fooled by this highly overused and misused tag.

In tradition, I think Pinback will continue their seasonal pattern and use either the word winter or spring in their upcoming 2010 release. In spring of 2009, Pinback announced they would be releasing their next album under Temporary Residence Ltd., home to such great bands as Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, and Low. ⁵

Minus The Bear

One of Seattle's best known indie rock bands Minus The Bear will be releasing a studio album expected to hit the stores early in 2010. You know those bands you can't get enough of? Yeah, the bands that don't have one song you dislike. Well, Minus The Bear is one of these bands.

Their guitarists are known to use highly technical time signatures. They are best known for their first studio album release Highly Refined Pirates which has my personal favorite title "Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!".

Be on the lookout for this album to drop in early 2010, and make sure you support them by purchasing it! ¹

Madvillain

Madvillain is the name used by legendary master of ceremonies MF DOOM and his counterpart producer Madlib. Their first album which was released in 2004 on Stoned Throw entitled Madvillainy was a huge success among the underground hip-hop fan base and has hence earned them a spot among the top underground artists of the decade.

Stones Throw has recently announced there will be a follow-up to Madvillainy expected for release in 2010. No estimated release date has been announced. I am positive this will be on part with their first album thus earning it a spot as most anticipated albums of 2010. ²

Four Tet - There Is Love in You

Four Tet is an alias used by electronic musician Kieran Hebden from London, England. He is widely recognized among the electronic and post-rock fans and has been known to collaborate with a variety of different independent musicians such as Burial, Bonobo, Bloc Party, Kings of Convenience, etc...

Four Tet is probably best known for his 2003 album Rounds, which has produced three well-known singles entitled "She Moves She", "Spirit Fingers", and "My Angel Rocks Back And Forth". There is no doubt that this upcoming album There Is Love in You will be just as successful as his last albums. ³

MGMT - Congratulations

MGMT was currently nominated for the 2010 Grammy Awards in the best new artist category for their hit single "Kids" which I'm sure almost every young avid music fan has heard by now. Oracular Spectacular has gained MGMT some recognition they highly deserve. This album was released in 2007 which amazes me because I feel it is just as, if not more, popular today than it was two years ago.

That being said, I think it's fairly obvious why this duo of multi-instrumentalists has earned a spot here on my top five most anticipated albums of 2010. ⁴

[1] http://pickrset.com/musicnews/3283/minus+the+bear+finishing+new+album+early+2010+release

[2] http://onethirtybpm.com/2009/10/26/stones-throw-records-confirms-madvillainy-sequel-in-2010/

[3] http://fourtet.net/

[4] http://whoismgmt.com/

[5] http://temporaryresidence.com/