The first quarter of 2016 has seen college radio return to form with some excellent releases from veterans of the medium. Animal Collective, Ty Segall, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Ra Ra Riot, Yuck, and others have stood out of the stacked crowd of albums. Looking into the near future, the college and indie music scene is gearing up for Record Store Day, and not backing down before the summer music season. Here are a few releases we are looking forward to.
March
It may be the end of the month, but some of the best albums of March may still be on the way.
Bob Mould – Patch in the Sky
The Joy Formidable – Hitch
RJD2 – Dame Fortune
The Thermals – We Disappear
White Denim – Stiff
April
Aesop Rock – The Impossible Kid
One of the most unique rappers in the underground scene returns in 2016! He has already teased the album with a series of videos featuring talking cartoon animals, and a strange storyline in which Aesop moved to the forest to focus on his writing. What else would you expect?
Andrew Bird – Are You Serious
Andrew has listeners anxious to their hands on his new album after he released the mesmerizing single “Capsized”. A few tracks have surfaced since then, showing that Are You Serious could be seriously good.
Bombino – Azel
Tuareg singer and songwriter Omara Moctar, known as Bombino, made has waves with his catchy picking and beautiful melodies. The musician’s group has played festivals worldwide and toured America with Gogol Bordello.
The Dandy Warhols – Distortland
Explosions in the Sky – The Wilderness
The Last Shadow Puppets – Everything You’ve Come to Expect
M83 – Junk
Mayer Hawthorne – Man About Town
Mogwai – Atomic
Mr. Lif – Don’t Look Down
Parquet Courts – Human Performance
Human Performance will be the group’s first full band studio recording since their 2014 release Sunbathing Animal.
Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide to Earth
Simpson made his name as a musician playing traditional country when the charts were full of pop country artists. Since being picked up by NPR, doing a set on Austin City Limits, and establishing his unique with fans of twang, something has changed. Simpson has released several new tracks which set his soulful voice to blues and rock influenced tracks. It will be interesting to see if he can continue to grow on his 2015 momentum.
We Are Scientists – Helter Seltzer
Wire – Nocturnal Koreans
Art punks not dead. Nocturnal Koreans will be the band’s 15th studio album.
Yeasayer – Amen & Goodbye
May
Bob Dylan – Fallen Angels
Islands – Should I Remain Here at Sea?/Taste
Islands will release two full length albums on the same day. The group has emphasized that these are completely separate albums, not a double album. They were both crowd funded by fans, and will not be released on a label. The group describes Taste as more electronic, and Should I Remain Here at Sea? as a natural sounding album.
Modern Baseball – Holy Ghost
So So Glos – Kamikaze
Those Pretty Wrongs – Those Pretty Wrongs
White Lung – Paradise
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