I never know what to make of weeks like this. And when I say “weeks like this” I actually mean every week I write one of these recap posts. You never know what to expect in the music world or in life in general. I’ve said this many times before, but it bears repeating.
Think about it. In a single week a hotly anticipated album can drop, festival rumors, no matter how legit or just plain entertaining, can begin to circulate, and a larger-than-life band can announce a string of tour dates. Then there the more unfortunate events. It seems like each loss we lose someone or something that means a great deal to us.
As usual, the list below illustrates this idea better than I ever could. It speaks for itself.
It’s only January, and we’ve already got a lot to look forward to. Stay tuned.
— Cluster 1 finally made its debut. Check out the first broadcast here.
— We published our list of the “50 Most Important Albums 2011” to help you sort through the scores of new titles that will come out this year.
— The Strokes‘ fourth LP has an official release date.
— Panda Bear‘s Tomboy is slated for an April release.
— The first single from Kanye West and Jay-Z‘s fortchoming collaborative effort dropped. It’s called “H.A.M.” That’s reason enough to listen to it.
— Can’t wait for for PJ Harvey‘s new record to come out. Well, you’re in luck. Three tracks from Let England Shake surfaced this week.
— Broadcast vocalist Trish Keenan passed away.
— Aretha Franklin denied reports that she has pancreatic cancer.
— To commemorate the untimely death of Jay Reatard, the garage rocker’s Shattered Club said this week that it will offer unreleased material exclusively to its members.
— Bright Eyes announced a string of tour dates.
— Drake revealed a few collaboraters for his forthcoming record.
— Green Day will put out their interestingly titled second live LP soon.
— Remember when we told you that Daft Punk would be The Third Twin at a Spanish music festival? We were wrong.
— The Mountain Goats want to be on Law & Order: SVU, but they can’t do it without your help. Click here to find out what you can do.
— Lil Wayne did…um, okay, he did a lot of stuff. Too much to list in this post.
— Like Kanye, Snoop Dogg will offer fans tracks through a weekly online series, only his is called “Puff Puff Pass Tuesdays.”
— Eminem signed some big names to his record label.
— Basement Jaxx will score a sci-fi film.
— Vampire Weekend and The Black Keys “battled it out” for Stephen Colbert‘s Grammy vote.
— While we’re on the subject, Arcade Fire, Eminem, and Lady Gaga, among others, are set to perform at this year’s ceremony.
— Rothbury may or may not return this year. We’ll see.
— No, Coachella hasn’t revealed its lineup yet. In the meantime, get a load of these fake ones.
— Ask yourself, “At your first Bonnaroo, what was the first thing you witnessed that made you say ‘Wow, I’m actually here'”? Do it and you can win a fabulous prize in the latest CoS Giveaway!
— Be sure to help us win big at the Weblog Awards while you’re at it.
— Chris Coplan posted another thought-provoking edition of Nod Your Head.
— Cap Blackard interviewed Talking Heads/Tom Tom Club mainstay and all-around icon Chris Frantz.
— Karina Halle scored a great interview as well, with the “‘architect’ of the turntable” himself, DJ Rob Swift.
— Michael Roffman offered his take on Weezer‘s recent nostalgia-heavy Chicago performance.
— The Decemberists are back with a follow-up to 2009’s The Hazards of Love. Read our official review, courtesy of Dan Caffrey, here.
— Did we make our best-of lists too early this time? Winston Robbins thinks so. Check out his review of Ghostface Killah‘s Apollo Kids, and then decide for yourself.
