After a bit of a down year for music that you may not have noticed because you were still so happy with the great crop from 2005. The year 2007 is set to be a great year for new stuff. In the first 4 months alone there will be new albums from the following artists.

Jan
Clinic (Visitations)
Of Montreal (Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?)
The Shins (Wincing The Night Away)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Some Loud Thunder)

Feb
Apples In Stereo (New Magnetic Wonder)
Bloc Party (A Weekend In The City)
Magic Numbers (Those The Brokes)

Mar
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (Living With The Living)
Low (Drums And Guns)
Modest Mouse (We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank)
Arcade Fire (Neon Bible)

Apr
Bright Eyes (Cassadaga)
I have been listening to their single Dashboard on repeat on Modest Mouse’s site. More on the upcoming Modest Mouse album from Pitchfork

Brock doesn’t seem content to have just one star collaborator in new Modest Mouse member Johnny Marr. The Shins’ James Mercer guests on three We Were Dead tracks: “We’ve Got Everything”, “Florida”, and “Missed the Boat”. Other song titles include “Fire It Up”, “Steaming Genius”, “Parting of the Sensories”, and “Spitting Venom”.

Also the Arcade Fire is set to play some shows in New York (not all of them will be in churches either though it would be great to see them in a venue like this), if you are in the area get to the show, they are amazing live. Possibly the only band not named Radiohead that I would travel a half a day to hear. Though it appears that their reputation for live shows is really jacking up the value of their tickets. Also worth seeing in NYC: David Bowie and Daniel Johnston. [Brooklyn Vegan]