It's unlikely any of these albums will be blockbusters in their opening week on the chart, but this is possibly the most solid collection of quality pop music yet released this year. This is a great season for investigating new music by artists you've not yet heard.
1) Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
The Arctic Monkeys are truly a phenomenon at home in the UK. The album is very very good and worth a listen.
2) Teddy Thompson - Separate Ways
If you somehow missed his first album, you owe yourself to investigate this new collection of songs. Thompson is the son of folk-rock legends Richard and Linda Thompson. His music is a moody brand of folk-pop that you won't soon forget.
3) The Derek Trucks Band - Songlines
For those looking for the South to truly rise again in all of its blues-rock glory , this is the album you have been waiting for these past many years. Derek Trucks is the nephew of Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks.
4) Willie Nile - Streets of New York
25 years ago Willie Nile was one of the most promising new pop-rock musicians in the US. His career has been spotty ever since, but he has now unleashed his first true classic in this audio portrait of New York City.
5) Ray Davies - Other People's Lives
Over 40 years after the Kinks first perked up our ears with "You Really Got Me," their leader has released his very first solo album. It is much of what you would expect, and that is a good thing.
6) Soundtrack - Madea's Family Reunion
The movie is from the man that brought us the surprise hit movie Diary of a Mad Black Woman. The music is a good selection of old school and contemporary r&b from artists including Chaka Khan, Brian McKnight, and Johnny Gill.
7) The M's - Future Women
The M's are a loud, catchy indie pop-rock band from Illinois that should not get lost in the shuffle. If you like what you hear from the Killers and Franz Ferdinand, you need to hear this band.
8) Cascada - Everytime We Touch
At last it's a full-length album from the European vocalist who is singlehandedly carrying the torch for contemporary dance music in the pop top 40.
9) Janis Ian - Folk Is the New Black
Janis Ian has been in and out of the pop spotlight since she shocked the music world with her first single "Society's Child," about interracial dating, released when she was 15. She has not lost her ability to dig into controversial topics or to entertain with simple, direct lyrics and melodies.
10) The Lashes - Get It
The new sound of Seattle is an ode to edgy punk-influenced pop from the era of the Clash, Ramones, Cars, and Cheap Trick.
