New year! New you? Na, probably not

Amid discussion around new year I was overwhelmed by an astonishing degree of disappointment. It was my assumption that 2011 would be the start of the second decade of the millennium; no longer the nougthies, but a brand new decade full of optimism and possibility. I was mistaken.

All the optimism and general good feeling I had towards this particular new year came tumbling down like an ivory tower when I realised 2010 itself was actually the start of this decade. It's a completely transparent fact now I think about it, but one that had been previously completely overlooked. So, with sore heads, bloated stomachs and a deflated sense of self worth we lurch collectively into this year, full of inflated hubris that this year will be something extraordinary, something to justify the expanded expectations that we bestow upon it around New Year's eve. But for the majority of us, it won't be. But that doesn't mean we can't be can't just be excited to be alive, does it? So, to wipe away the January cobwebs, let's take a look at some releases that are looming just over the horizon.

The latter weeks of January have a number of state-side exports arriving on these shores. The Decemberists with be releasing The King is Dead which promises to be a furthering of the musical ground covered by 2009's The Hazards of Love. Expect contributions of REM's Peter Buck and Alt. Country royalty Gillian Welch amongst others.

Keeping with the tradition of tender countrification, Iron & Wine be releasing Kiss Each Other Clean, their first since 2007's The Shepherd's Dog. Speaking recently to SPIN Magazine, Mr Beam indicated a distancing from the bittersweet melancholy for which he is famed in favour of 70's style pop music.

Iron & Wine; despite a change in style, the beard is still very much in tact

For those whose interests lay away from the acoustic end of the spectrum, The Go! Team's forthcoming full length, Rolling Blackouts, promises to be a funk infused dance-a-thon. They will also be gracing our fair streets in support of this release on February 27th. The likelihood this will be a sell-out, so try and get those tickets in fast.

February will be a month of departure, or should I say continued departure along a musical trajectory. PJ Harvey will be putting out an album without the help of John Parish, Gruff Rhys will be continuing his psycadelic experimentation, both with the Super Furries or Tony De Gattora (the latter was to be expected) and J. Macsis will be ambling on without the Junior Dinosaurs. Keep eyes peeled and ears supple as there will be a lot floating around in 2011, of which this has been a cursory, embryonic preview.