2012 has already thrown up some terrific albums in its first half, but we suspect the best is yet to come.
The next five months promise a wealth of important full-lengths – and not only from major artists like Snoop Dogg (pictured), Throbbing Gristle and Scott Walker. Over the following four pages we highlight 22 albums that we’re particularly looking forward to arriving this year, including projected and confirmed offerings from long-dormant icons, hardy perennials and hitherto underground producers preparing to take on the world.
ATOMS FOR PEACE
TITLE TBC
(LABEL TBC)
Atoms For Peace – the supergroup of sorts centered around Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Flea and producer Nigel Godrich – reportedly have a debut LP on the way, having been active in the live arena for nearly three years now. They’ve just announced a 12″ release for 50 Weapons XTR, a new imprint from Modeselektor, but details of the album, including what label it will arrive on, remain closely guarded at this time. – expected Autumn
BLU & EXILE
GIVE ME FLOWERS WHILE I CAN STILL SMELL THEM
(DIRTY SCIENCE / FAT BEATS)
Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them originally leaked online at the tail end of last year, but vanished from view without much fanfare. The album, originally recorded in 2009, is now set to get an official release in September, augmented by new material, and freshly mixed and mastered. Expect lush, swoonsome and bright-eyed hip-hop ideal for late Summer’s slow bleed into early Autumn. – September 4
DAPHNI
JIAOLONG
(JIAOLONG)
Dan Snaith has made classic albums before as Caribou, but his first full-length under Daphni, his dancefloor alias, looks like it could end up his very best yet. – October 8
DARKSTAR
TITLE TBC
(WARP RECORDS)
Darkstar’s bleak, song-based debut album, North, came as something of a shock to those expecting lithe, vocoderised dubstep in the vein of ‘Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer’. But in alienating the dance underground that nurtured them to begin with, the group have afforded themselves a longevity and a creative freedom that they might otherwise have been denied. The sky’s the limit for the Warp-signed follow-up, provided they deliver the goods. – expected Winter
THE-DREAM
THE LOVE IV MMXII
(DEF JAM)
It must be great being an R&B superstar of the magnitude of Terius Nash; you can call your new album The Love IV MMXII and your record company daren’t say shit about it. The low-slung ‘Dope Bitch’ has got us quietly excited about this one, though God knows if he’ll stick to the deadline – it was originally expected last year. – August 14
DYLAN CARLSON
FALLING WITH A THOUSAND STARS AND OTHER WONDERS FROM THE HOUSE OF ALBION
(SELF-RELEASED)
Not just any old rocker could convince fans to cough up and crowd-fund an elaborate audio-visual solo project yolking together his obsessions with occultism, folk music and the British visionary tradition; Dylan Carlson, having been the driving force behind Earth for nigh on 20 years, has earned the right to be indulged. – expected Winter
FLYING LOTUS
UNTIL THE QUIET COMES
(WARP)
The man who can do no wrong, at least in the eyes of his thousands of ardent fans, delivers his third album for Warp. Guest appearances from Erykah Badu, Thundercat, Niki Randa and longtime vocal collaborator Laura Darlington point towards an album true to the FlyLo sound, but with a pinch more crossover potential. – October 2
FOUR TET
PINK
(TEXT)
It’s really only a collection of tracks previously released on 12″ singles for his Text Records label, but Pink still feels like a significant Four Tet album – one which documents Kieran Hebden’s newfound ability, or perhaps willingness, to apply the melodic nous and textural invention that has long been his hallmark to direct, deadly club music structures. – August 20
HOW TO DRESS WELL
TOTAL LOSS
(WEIRD WORLD)
Tom Krell has flown the Tri Angle roost and signed to Domino’s Weird World imprint for the release of his second album, the revealingly titled Total Loss – this is a considerably bleaker, more soul-baring record than his miasmic R&B debut, Love Remains. – September 17
MALA
MALA IN CUBA
(BROWNSWOOD)
Dubstep’s all-time soundsystem champion goes on holiday to Cuba, and – with guidance from BBC 6’s Gilles Peterson – returns with his second album, following the colossal Return II Space.
MARIA MINERVA
WILL HAPPINESS FIND ME?
(NOT NOT FUN)
Last year’s Tallinn At Dawn and Cabaret Cixous made quite a name for Maria Minerva, but her next LP, Will Happiness Find Me? will be the one that determines whether she’s in it for the long-haul. – September 4
MICHAEL MAYER
MANTASY
(KOMPAKT)
Is Kompakt still the dynamic force in electronic music that it was a decade ago? Michael Mayer’s Mantasy, his first solo since 2004’s Touch, album will look to rubbish concerns that it’s not. – October 22
PHOTEK
TITLE TBC
(LABEL TBC)
Rupert Parkes is currently in LA mixing his first album since 2007’s Form & Function Vol.2. He tells FACT that it has a lot in common with Modus Operandi, his drum ‘n bass noir classic of 1997, but also that it’s more open, “has fewer hang-ups”. Let’s just hope that the baby doesn’t get thrown out with the bath water… – expected Winter
RAIME
TITLE TBC
(BLACKEST EVER BLACK)
London duo Raime aren’t the most prolific – in two years they’ve released just one EP and two 12″ singles exploring the interzone between jungle, techno, industrial and gothic post-punk – but the richness of detail in their productions to date suggests that the wait for their debut album will have been worth it. [full disclosure: Blackest Ever Black is a label independently operated by FACT staff member Kiran Sande] – expected Autumn
RICARDO VILLALOBOS
DEPENDENT AND HAPPY
(PERLON)
A sprawling (naturally) 5×12″ and CD album of original solo material from the Chilean producer, it’s hard to imagine Dependent And Happy blowing minds to the extent that his masterpiece for the same label, 2004’s The Au Harem D’Archimede, did. Still, if Dependent And Happy turns to be more engaging than 2008’s scrappy Vasco and even anything approaching the equal of his recent collaborations with Max Loderbauer, we’ll be satisfied. – expected Autumn
SCOTT WALKER
TITLE TBC
(4AD)
The reliably intriguing Noel Scott Engel is currently working on the follow-up to 2006’s mesmerising The Drift; all being well, it should surface before 2012 is out. – expected Winter
SILENT SERVANT
TITLE TBC
(HOSPITAL PRODUCTIONS)
Following the dissolution of the Sandwell District label, Juan Mendez has decamped to Dominick Fernow’s Hospital Productions for the release of his debut album, potentially the most interesting full-length to come out of techno this year. – expected Autumn
SNOOP LION
REINCARNATED
(VICE)
The Snoop Dogg reggae album. It sounds like a myth, a legend, something that almost got made but didn’t, or which did get made but which will never see release, at least not until its maker pop his clogs. But get this: the Snoop Dogg reggae album is real, and it’s coming out – hell, one of its tracks (‘La La La’) has already been all over the internet. To tell you the truth though, we’re not sure what we’re more excited about: the record or the Jamaica-set documentary, Snoop Dogg: Reincarnated, that’s due to accompany it. – expected Autumn
SWANS
THE SEER
(YOUNG GOD)
Has Michael Gira found inner peace? A world away from the sado-masochistic pummel that most of still associate with Swans, new album The Seer sounds meditative, even celebratory. – August 27
THROBBING GRISTLE
DESERTSHORE
(INDUSTRIAL RECORDS)
This album, a reinterpretation of Nico’s album of the same title, had become a real labour of love for TG co-founder Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson; following his untimely death and the self-imposed exile of Genesis P-Orridge, it’s now to be the band’s final album – painstakingly completed by Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti. The two recent live performances of material from Desertshore suggest it’s going to be a fitting epitaph for Sleazy, and for TG. – expected Winter
VESSEL
ORDER OF NOISE
(TRI ANGLE)
Following impressive, low-key single releases on Left Blank and Astro:Dynamics, Young Echo collective member Seb Gainsborough is set to take a decisive step into the limelight with the release of his debut album on Tri Angle. It’ll be interesting to see how, if at all, he develops his sinuous, darkling techno sound to fit label and format. – September 23
THE XX
COEXIST
(XL)
If lead single ‘Angels’ is anything to go by, Coexist finds Romy, Jamie and Oliver picking up exactly where xx left off, with perhaps just a touch more stadium-pop shimmer. – September 10
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