Albums I'm Looking Forward To In 2008

Cat Power - Jukebox (1/22 on Matador)
I highly doubt that Jukebox will be able to match the magic of The Covers Record. However, I've still been waiting for 7 years to once again hear Chan Marshall belt out other people's songs.


Clutchy Hopkins - Walking Backwards (2/5 on Ubiquity)
No one would care who Clutchy Hopkins is/was if his music wasn't so dope. Is the man really some old dude making some of the best modern funk/soul/instrumental music, or is he a merely a guise for some other beat head, such as Shawn Lee or Cut Chemist. Either way, if you like the music of those men and their contemporaries, you'll love the music of Clutchy Hopkins.


Cadence Weapon - Afterparty Babies (3/04 on Anti)
Cadence Weapon finally gets around to releasing a follow up album to his 2005 debut Breaking Kayfabe. In 2005, Cadence Weapon was pretty much just a dude on the internet who had released an album. Since then, he has toured relentlessly, signed an American deal with Epitaph and a Euro deal with Big Dada, had his debut album re-released by Epitaph, shot a couple of music videos, and nominated for the Polaris Music prize (aka Canadian album of the year).
Cadence Weapon "In Search of the Youth Crew"


Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (out 3/03 on Mute, tba on Anti)
Grinderman was great, the lead single and video for this album is awesome, so it seems like Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' 14th studio album will be pretty good.


WHY? - Alopecia (out 3/11 on Anticon)
If this album simply matches Elephant Eyelash, I will be overwhelmed with joy. For their second album, WHY? (Yoni & Josiah Wolf, Doug McDiarmid) got together with Fog's Andrew Broder, and bassist Mark Erickson to record as a five piece band at Minneapolis's Third Ear studios.
WHY? "The Hollows"



Guilty Simpson - Ode To The Ghetto (3/25 on Stones Throw)
I love pretty much everything that I've heard from Guilty Simpson, so now we'll see how he can handle a full album. This album has been pushed back many times, so don't necessarily expect to see it in March.
Guilty Simpson "Getting Bitches"


Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (4/22 on Rhymesayers)
Based on the three recent Sad Clown Bad season ep's, the upcoming Atmosphere album should rank up there with the group's best releases. Also, if you've already worn out Strictly Leakage, and can't quite wait until April for some new Atmosphere, don't worry. Sad Clown Bad Spring 12 should be available soon, or according to Rhymesayers "once this snow melts."


Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (tba on Drag City)
At the end of 2007, I was excited after hearing of an April release date for the Silver Jews' latest record. However, since then Drag City has chosen to push the album back (hopefully not too far back, though). I'm still excited about a new Joos record, but without a definite goal in sight, I try not to think about it too much. As far as I'm concerned, the Silver Jews have a near perfect track record for releasing quality albums, so I have no doubts that Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea will be top notch.


Sean Price - THREE DIFFERENT ALBUMS! (tba on Duck Down)
Internet rumors have it that Sean Price will take part in three projects in 2008: Heltah Skeltah's reunion album D.I.R.T, his own solo album Mic Tyson, and a collaborative album with Guilty Simpson produced by Black Milk called Random Axe. Following the release of these albums, Sean P will supposedly retire from rapping. I highly doubt that all three of these albums will be released in 2008, especially since none of them have release dates yet. If Duck Down Records is planning on releasing all three of them, they'd be wise to spread them out throughout the year, which means that the first one would have to be out by the spring. I just don't see that happening, but I'm still hoping for the best.


Clipse - We Got It For Cheap Vol 3
Yeah, so it's not really an album, but I don't feel confident enough in Columbia or the rest of the record industry, to believe that the Clipse are going to release their follow up album to Hell Hath No Fury this year.

I'm pretty stoked for these albums too, but we probably won't hear most of these this year.
She and Him (Zooey Deschanel/M Ward) - Volume One
Silver Mt Zion - 13 Blues For 13 Ghosts
Del The Funky Homosapien - The Eleventh Hour (3/11 on Def Jux)
Lyrics Born - Everywhere At Once (3/18 on Anti)
Snoop Dogg - Ego Trippin' (3/25 on Doggystyle/Geffen)
Mos Def - The Ecstatic (February on Downtown)
DJ Signify - Of Cities (Bully Records)
Gnarls Barkley - second album
Rhymefest - El Che (spring)
Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot
Saigon - The Greatest Story Never Told
Andre 3000 solo album
Killer Mike - I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind Part II
Busta Rhymes - Back On My Bullshit
The Game - The DOC (Diary of Compton)
J-Live - Then What Happened (BBE)
The Roots - Rising Down
Royce Da 5'9 - The Revival (Babygrande)
Eminem - King Mathers
Lil Wayne - The Carter III
NERD's third album
Q-Tip - The Renaissance *
Ghostface Killah/MF Doom - Swift & Changeable *
Madvillain 2 *
MF Doom - Doomposter (?)
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II *
Dr. Dre - Detox *

* = not bloody likely