i know i bring this up every year around this time, but this year seems the be worse than ever.

we are definitely in a new release drought. january and february were just awful, and march might even be worse (after gabriel and hiatt this week).

i sure hope it picks up this spring and summer, but looking ahead on pause and play i really don't see a light at the end of the tunnel yet.

and yes i do realize that as i get older, the artists and music that i like come out less and less. but when i look at my CD collection, there are a hell of a lot of artists in there, you would think that we could get a couple of releases a month from them.

oh well......................

I agree completely. Even among new artists and indie stuff, there has been very little to get excited about so far this year. I'm hoping new MGMT, Arcade Fire et al. will quench my thirst.

I'm not too worried about a dearth of new releases when there is a slew of reissues that I need to catch up on. I think we may get new Santana and Brian Wilson releases this year.

Its been a drought for years. Other than some excellent reissues, I haven't been overly thrilled with new releases anyway.
Ever notice the stuff come.out but doesn't stick (see recent Bruce or U2 albums ). Come and go

john,

excellent point.

Depends on what you collect. After a couple of dry years, I'm finding a bunch of new and interesting stuff out there--the Stones are finally opening up the vaults, the Who are issuing some live stuff, Rhino finally put out more Monkees stuff. Last year, Dylan issued two new studio albums. Even Beatles fans have finally been silenced.

But I vividly recall perusing lists of upcoming releases in the fairly recent past and seeing absolutely nothing of interest to me, and I probably posted something about it at the time.

Somehow I always manage to find something to buy.

Stuff still comes out but it all seems once and done.

Years ago an album like Thriller or Joshua Tree or Born In The USA or Innervisions would dominate the music world for years spawning single after single. It is very rare an album has that impact anymore unless it feeds the tweener market.

One thing I notice, I don't like the vocals of many of these new groups. Take Phoenix for example. They have one of the most highly rated records of the year critic-wise. There music is used in commercials. But when I hear that guy sing it turns me off.

No drought of worthwhile new releases & reissues for me. In fact, I don't recall ever having a problem with finding more great music. It's just the opposite, there's too much new & older stuff out there I want to pick up and have to decide what to buy now & what to wait for to show up used on amazon marketplace or half.com (such as pricey imports and box sets).. I guess the only drought I've experienced is not having enough money to buy the cds/lps I want.

It all depends on what you like. There have certainly been a number of significant releases -- Ke$ha, Vampire Weekend, Lady Antebellum, Lil Wayne, Massive Attack, Sade, and Johnny Cash to name a few -- but as usual classic rock artist releases will tend to be clustered toward late spring and early summer to better synchronize with touring activity (Ringo Starr's Y Not was a notable exception).

I love Phoenix and have been singing their praises for years-especially the vocals, but I agree about U2, Springsteen, Prince, etc. The new albums fade from memory very quickly.
I have to admit that I look forward so much more to remasters, special editions than new material from almost anyone.
The newer artists like Arctic Monkeys, Phoenix, Swell Season, Dresden Dolls, The Strokes, Vampire Weekend-those I look forward to since they're all from the last year to 6 years or so.
But, even my favorite acts anymore I seem to be listening to the albums more as an obligation then for fun!
That's not in all cases, but quite a bit.

+1

Call it what you want, but the other day I was talking with someone about Operation Sail (July 4, 1976) - and I flipped open my book of Billboard charts from the 70's; the songs that happened to ENTER the Hot 100 chart that week included:

"Let 'em In" -- Wings
"Lowdown" --Boz Scaggs
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" -- Elton John & Kiki Dee
"You Should Be Dancing" -- Bee Gees
"Say You Love Me" -- Fleetwood Mac
"Shower The People" -- James Taylor
"I Never Cry" -- Alice Cooper
"Roots, Rock, Reggae" -- Bob Marley & The Wailers
"Devil Woman" -- Cliff Richard

Remember, this is not a top of the charts list - these were the songs making their debut! Flipping through the chart book, the 70's were loaded with weeks like this. It's really amazing.

To clarify my point: I find that the last two months have been abnormally bleak. Obviously I'm impatient. I found plenty of great stuff last year month after month, but only a few items of interest so far in 2010 (Mumford & Sons, Oceanship, and Frightened Rabbit). That said, there's several upcoming releases that I'm looking forward to, so 2010 will soon pick up.

To the point that recent releases seem to come and go, that's just the nature of how today's society's mindset is. We want everything quickly and when we get it we're ready to move on to the next thing. "What have you done for me lately?" is the pervasive thought of most people IMO today.

Thankfully, I still need to play catch-up when it comes to reissues, and can keep myself occupied in this pursuit for a long long time. This is fortunate, because if I had to rely on new releases, things would be pretty grim. During the rare instances that I stumble upon a contemporary artist I like, one of two things happen: They release an album, then fall off the face of the earth for 5-10 years, and by the time they resurface, I'll have forgotten about them; or they release an album, and then get promptly dropped by their label.

Definitely a drought in the US, but it's a great time for ordering UK releases (Marina and the Diamonds, Sharleen Spiteri, Amy MacDonald, Gabriella Cilmi, Pipettes). I believe the US release date for Little Boots' excellent 2009 CD, "Hands," is March 2. I'd encourage anyone/everyone to investigate that one if you haven't already done so.

Renny, i agree. A couple weeks back I went through P&P through march and there was NOTHING!

I think 2010 is off to a great start compared to the previous few

Ringo Starr's Y Not
Best of Millie Small import
Elvis Costello Live 1978
New Johnny Cash
Chuck Berry's 3rd Chess Master

on order
new (and final) Bobby Charles
Jan & Dean vault release
new Loudon Wainwright
new Dr Demento fan club CD
new vault release Jimi Hendrix

on order videos
200 Motels
Jethro Tull

scheduled to be released soon
Exile on Main Street
new Johnny Rivers

not too bad so far

The sudden "quad" mix release of CTA is a pleasant surprise.

So agree JohnG, I am ordering this ASAP!

Rick A.

Robert Meagher,

What is the Jan & Dean vault release?