Riffing off of Bob Ham's recent piece looking ahead to some of what's to come in 2009, I can't resist highlighting some of the upcoming releases that find me waiting with bated breath (whatever that is). To be more accurate, some of the albums don't even have release dates yet-- some aren't even releases-- but these will be what are getting me out of bed and through this Portland winter over the next two or three months...
To begin with the non-local, the venerable Willie Nelson has three (3!) releases slated for 2009, although it depends on how you look at it. There are actually two credited to the man himself, the first of which is a collaboration with western swing outfit Asleep At the Wheel that drops in February. The third, meanwhile, is actually an album recorded in the fashion of Nelson's 1975 homage, To Lefty From Willie, by Brooklyn-based act Phosphorescent. To Willie is the simple title of the all-Nelson covers album out February 3rd on Dead Oceans, and Matthew Houck (the only constant member of the band) ably pays tribute with eleven re-workings of largely lesser-known classics like "I Gotta Get Drunk," and "The Last Thing I Needed (First Thing This Morning)."
MP3: Phosphorescent- "A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise"
Closer to our old Portland home, Loch Lomond unveiled the first track from their upcoming full-length awhile back along with the positively eerie video you see below (stick around for the ending!). "Blue Lead Fences" is our introduction to the upcoming Little Me Will Start a Storm, an album that has neither a label nor a release date at this point. If this song and their recent set opening for The Decemberists at the Crystal Ballroom are any indication, we're in for very good things from Ritchie Young and co.
Also on the horizon, not a new local release, but the return of a local musical institution, Mississippi Studios is scheduled to be back in action at some point in the not too distant future. Of course, we've all been waiting patiently since its temporary close last year and subsequent construction-- and they've been keeping us updated with an interesting music and video series borne straight from the rubble at razingmississippi.com. Included in the mix is a new song from Weinland (speaking of anticipated 2009 releases), plus music turns from Laura Gibson, Chris Robley, Nick Jaina, and James Low, among others. Here's hoping one of the best live music venues in Portland makes a triumphant return soon.
Add to that new efforts from Andrew Bird, M. Ward, A.C. Newman, Neko Case, and The Decemberists-- not to mention those newly-discovered gems that always pop up along the way-- and 2009 is off to a more than promising start.
A happy new year to you and yours from us and ours! The thread's all yours...
