What's Next in 2011?

2010 was a wonderful year for music, but 2011 has the potential to be even better! Here are some notable artists that should be releasing albums in the coming year (and by notable I mean stuff I am personally looking forward to :p)

Radiohead - "No Title" - The mega-influential English quintet has been recording for the past half-year or so, and rumor has it that they are done with a new set of songs and are currently in the process of figuring out what to do with them.

Expected release date: February/March

The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck - Prolific singer-songwriter John Darnielle's primary group will be releasing their newest record this year.

Expected release date: March 29

Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean - Folk singer-songwriter Sam Beam's newest record promises to be a stunning change of style from previous releases based on early singles.

Expected release date: January 25

The Decemberists - The King Is Dead - This influential modern indie rock band continues their run of genre-defying releases with a countryish new record.

Expected release date: January 18

Deltron 3030 - Deltron Event II - A record which I consider to be the "Duke Nukem Forever" of hip-hop albums, this decade-in-the-making sequel to Del, Automator, and Koala's futuristic debut record looks like it might finally come out this year, based on reports from Del that all recording is in fact finished.

Expected release date: Sometime?

Coldplay - "LP5" - Chris Martin has promised that Coldplay's fifth (and final?) record will be even more ambitious than the excellent Viva la Vida. Based on what I've heard, my expectations have been tempered a bit, but we'll see.

Expected release date: Spring/Summer 2011

The Shins - "No Title" - Rumors abound about a new Shins album finally being released this year, but with a new lineup (with Modest Mouse's drummer!) and frontman James Mercer's involvement in other projects, this one will probably show up late this year if ever.

Expected release date: Late 2011

Explosions in the Sky - "No Title" - The bombastic post-rock outfit from Texas promised fans a tour as well as a new record in 2011.

Expected release date: Spring/Summer 2011

Modest Mouse - "No Title" - This is mega-hopeful on my part, but Isaac Brock said in June that Modest Mouse spent the first half of the year writing and recording "random shit" so please please please get that shit together!

Expected release date: Late 2011 if at all

Those are the ones I'm super excited about but there are a bevy of other groups also planning releases for 2011, including:

Kanye West/Jay-Z

Mogwai

Red Hot Chili Peppers

R.E.M.

CAKE

Fleet Foxes

Lupe Fiasco

The Avalanches (?)

I'm sure there will be more surprises too!