What are we waiting for?

Dirty Three: Toward the Low Sun (Feb)
So, are Grinderman really done? To be honest we don't mind all that much as long as Warren Ellis is tearing up his violin in his proper band. And let's be honest, it's been a while.

Phenomenal Handclap Band: Form and Control (Feb)
"Five, ten, 15, 20, 25, 30…" – they were gimmicky and had one-hit-wonder written all over them, so will the second PHB prove they should have quit while they were ahead or that we were mad to underestimate them? We'll find out very shortly.

Ladyhawke: Anxiety (March)
Ms Pip Brown was a cover star for us back around the first album and we still find ourselves spinning ‘My Delirium’ and ‘Paris is Burning’ on our playlists all this time later. The new songs she’s been playing during her recent festival appearances sound great.

Deep Sea Arcade: Outlands (March)
Their singles have been pretty universally superb, so we've got high expectations for the debut album by the local 60s-loving pop kids.

The Shins: Port of Morrow (March)
It’s been five years since the flawed Wincing the Night Away, and James Mercer has sacked just about everyone else in the band since then, as well as doing his own thing with the Broken Bells side project. Will Port of Morrow be worth the wait, or should we cling to ourcopies of Chutes too Narrow and sigh about how they used to be amazing? Guess we’ll find out…

Grimes: Visions (March)
Her chilly electropop sits in that sweet spot between Ladytron and Austra, so we’re interested to see how a full-length sounds after being seduced by the ‘Genesis’ single.

Norah Jones: Little Broken Hearts (March/April)
Jones’ albums tend to be a bit on the easy listening side, but she’s got an amazing voice on her – and, as the ROME album proved, she and Danger Mouse can be a potent combination. We’re a bit excited about him co-writing and producing this disc.

Catcall: The Warmest Place (May)
Every record that Catherine Kelleher has made has been exponentially better than the last, and her debut album's got some serious expectations to live up to as far as we're concerned. And we're quietly confident she'll exceed 'em too.

Future of the Left: TBA
We’re notoriously fond of the Welsh post-hardcore band around here, with five star reviews for their last couple of records, but having seen them unleash new material on their Dec 2011 tour we can’t freakin’ wait to have them on disc. ‘Beneath the Waves an Ocean’ is a thundering masterpiece.

Grizzly Bear: TBA
Ed Droste assured us that work on the fourth GB disc was well underway and that it would appear some time in 2012 – so we’re hoping he wasn’t pulling our legs, since we’re still in love with the gentle alt.folk layers of Veckatimest.

Dappled Cities: TBA
We know they've been recording, we know they've got new songs in their live set, and we know that we damn well want them in our homes. Go listen to 'The Price' again right now: dammit, that's a tune.