So far, I’ve been sticking to my new year’s resolution.

I’ve bought 17 new albums this year so far, and I’ve heard all but three of them. I was underwhelmed by The Crystal Method and Damien Jurado, I enjoyed The Gaslight Anthem’s B-Sides more than I expected to, I thought the new Silver Mt. Zion album was pretty great, and I am still absorbing Warpaint’s self-titled sophomore release. Next week I’m going to review new ones from Broken Bells and Marissa Nadler, as soon as I’m done salivating over the remaster of Uncle Tupelo’s sterling debut, No Depression.

It’s only going to get more difficult from here. I have at least 20 records to buy in February, including just-announced new things by Jonatha Brooke and We Were Promised Jetpacks, as well as a triple album by the Shocking Pinks. (Want to get me interested in your band? Do something ridiculously ambitious.) But so far, I’m managing. I’m even slowly working my way through the 100 or so albums I bought and didn’t hear in 2013.

As for this week, we have a couple of winners on our hands, making for the first real recommendations of the year. (Barring the new Sharon Jones, which you all bought already anyway, right?) They couldn’t be more different, but they’re both pretty great.

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There aren’t a lot of bona fide supergroups I could name, but Transatlantic is definitely one.

Of course, there aren’t a lot of bands with so specific a remit. Transatlantic brings together four of the finest musicians in modern progressive rock, and allows them to indulge their love of the ‘70s prog sound they all grew up on. In some ways, you know what you’re going to get when you combine Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Marillion’s Pete Trewavas and Roine Stolt of the Flower Kings, and in some ways, you’re absolutely right.

But Transatlantic has always surprised me by remaining so traditional. Portnoy’s Dream Theater successfully built on the progressive metal of Iron Maiden and Metallica, the Flower Kings have long been jazz enthusiasts, and Marillion is one of the most diverse bands on the planet. But Transatlantic’s work stays firmly within the pocket of Yes, Genesis and other 1970s proggers. Of the four, Morse is the most obviously inspired by this stuff, and Transatlantic feels like his dream band.

Transatlantic songs are long and twisty – their last album, The Whirlwind, was a single 77-minute epic. But like their main influences, the four masterminds here never forget the melody. These are hummable epics, and it’s rare that this band slips into mindless soloing, like Dream Theater and the Flower Kings have been known to do. There are long instrumental passages, but they’re like little symphonies, Stolt’s guitar dancing with Morse’s keyboards. And when they lock into a big moment, it’s almost impossibly big. Drama is the name of the game, and when it comes to the climaxes, there’s no such thing as overindulgent.

It’s all a bit formulaic, as any tribute to a bygone era would be. But Transatlantic remains stunningly enjoyable anyway on their fourth album together, Kaleidoscope. The 76-minute behemoth is broken up into two long songs and three shorter ones, and it sports much more variety in its ebbs and flows than The Whirlwind. The suites bookend the record – the 25-minute “Into the Blue” kicks things off, while the 32-minute title track brings things to a close. Both of these songs are as complex and dazzling as you’d expect, which is both a feature and a drawback.

I say that because neither of the longer songs provides any surprises. Both begin with instrumental overtures, both find key melodies restated throughout, both have slower sections that build up to huge waves of sound, and both have short but splendid solo sections. (Morse’s keyboard solo in “Kaleidoscope” is a highlight.) These guys can write extended pieces like this in their sleep at this point, and while both of these suites are tremendous fun, they’re nothing new.

The three short pieces in the middle are where you’ll find the head-spinners. “Shine” is a pop song, albeit one that lasts for seven minutes and includes a long guitar solo from Stolt. (And a nifty reprise from “Into the Blue.”) “Black as the Sky” is a punchy rocker that reminds me of nothing as much as Marillion’s “Market Square Heroes,” jaunty ‘70s synths and all. And “Beyond the Sun” is the prettiest piece of music in the Transatlantic catalog, a four-minute ambient ballad with a heartbreaking melody. It’s clear that the bulk of the work on this album was focused on the longer suites, but the shorter tunes are by no means throwaways. In fact, I get more out of “Beyond the Sun” than I do the entire opening monstrosity.

There’s no doubt that Morse is the driving force of this band. He’s been turning out melodic prog-rock for nearly 20 years, first as the guiding light of Spock’s Beard, and then on his own. As always, if you want Morse’s compositional, vocal and instrumental skills, you need to accept his faith-filled lyrics. Morse’s solo career is essentially Prog for Jesus, and while he’s much less upfront about it in Transatlantic, this is an album about finding spiritual fulfillment. “Kaleidoscope,” the song, is the diary of a lost soul, until its final verse: “High as the winds of yesterday, as our fear is washed away, we’ll be walking through the fire, there on the mountain we’ll sing, as His life fills everything, we will live our true desire…”

“Beyond the Sun,” my favorite thing here, is a Neal Morse song through and through – it’s about living forever in Heaven. “And we will live forever, when all is joined together, and we will live each day beyond the sun…” If you can roll with this, it’s stunningly beautiful. If you’re an old-school prog fan used to the more vague spirituality of Yes, this may be a stumbling block. (And I definitely would steer clear of Morse’s solo catalog, awesome thought it is.)

Those potential concerns aside, Kaleidoscope is another terrific album from this most super of supergroups. Progressive music is all about the players, and whether they can pull off the mind-bendingly complicated material they’ve written. With these four, there’s never any question of what they’re able to play. As a fan of all four of them, I’m glad they have this outlet to truly stretch themselves, to create love letters to this much-maligned form of music. Yes, it hews to a formula, but that formula works for me, every time. If you’re also a fan of classic progressive rock, I can’t recommend this enough.

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On the exact other end of the musical spectrum is this week’s other quartet, Nashville’s Farewell Drifters.

I’ve seen the band a few times, and they were initially described to me as a bluegrass group that plays pop songs. That suited them just fine on their first few albums, though 2011’s Echo Boom saw them straining against the limitations of their acoustic format. But all that was prelude. The Farewell Drifters’ sparkling new one, Tomorrow Forever, sees them transition into full-on folksy pop band, with drums and electric guitars and everything. And it’s pretty damn great.

It’s the right time for a new beginning. This is the first Farewell Drifters album without founding fiddle player Christian Sedelmeyer, and their first for Compass Records. They’ve taken the opportunity to reinvent themselves, but only somewhat – the album is huge in comparison to their earlier works, with drummer Evan Hutchings joining in on every track, and strings and keyboards and percussion winding in and out, but it’s still as intimate and charming as anything they’ve done.

The Drifters have always had a knack for traditional-sounding songs that still sound fresh and new. Their penchant for harmonies certainly helps – guitarist Zach Bevill trades off lead vocals with brothers Joshua and Clayton Britt, who play mandolin and guitar respectively, but all four Drifters harmonize beautifully. That works for the high, lonesome bluegrass sound they’ve done in the past, but also for the more lush pop that fills this new record.

Tomorrow Forever is a tale of two halves for me. The first half eases you in – the songs are more traditional, and even with the orchestral bells, drum kit and strings on the sprightly opener, “Modern Age,” you can still draw a straight line back to the Farewell Drifters of Yellow Tag Mondays. “Bring ‘Em Back Around” builds up convincingly, with electric guitars and organs, but before you get too excited, they’re back to that bluegrass harmony sound on “Brother.” I’ll admit that this half of the album is less interesting to me. It’s well done, lovely stuff, particularly “Coming Home,” but it sticks to the tried and true a little much.

But with “Tennessee Girl,” this album positively takes off. The song skips ahead on a jaunty acoustic rhythm with some well-placed xylophone, and spins off into a delightful chorus, setting the tone for this more adventurous, more successful second half. “Relief” may be the finest Farewell Drifters song, sad and powerful, the haunting fiddle line caressing the gorgeous melody. “To Feel Alive” may be a close second, particularly when it dives into a Byrds-esque chiming-guitar jam near the two-minute mark. The album ends with two lovely songs, the forlorn “The Day You Left” and the defiant “Starting Over,” which journeys from despair to new hope in a quick four minutes.

The Farewell Drifters have always been good, but Tomorrow Forever, and especially its second half, is something special. It’s a strong step forward for a band that keeps growing, and hopefully it will be the one that pushes them into new realms of popularity. If you’ve never heard them, start here. You can find out more at their site.

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Next week, Broken Bells and Marissa Nadler, among other things. Leave a comment on my blog at tm3am.blogspot.com. Follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tm3am, and Twitter at www.twitter.com/tm3am.

See you in line Tuesday morning.

The new Choir album is called Shadow Weaver.

I mention this up front because it is the single most significant piece of musical information I learned over the last seven days. I’m certainly not shy about proclaiming my love for the Choir – they’re probably my favorite band, and every time they announce a new record, it’s a major event in my house.

It’s hard to explain, really – why do I get so excited about new music from a basically unknown group of old guys from Nashville, who play out only a few times a year, often to a crowd of merely dozens? Thankfully, the music speaks for itself, and most people who hear the Choir end up loving them. They play a darkly ambient form of pop music, all expansive, reverbed guitars and fascinating beats and glorious little melodies. They’ve never made an album I don’t like – even the worst ones, like Diamonds and Rain, have some classics, like “Render Love.”

Shadow Weaver comes out in March sometime. It’s being self-released by the band, like every album they’ve made for 10 years, and it was fully funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign. It’ll be their 15th, following up The Loudest Sound Ever Heard, from 2012. I gave that album a lukewarm review, but it’s steadily grown on me, to the point where I love it about as much as its two predecessors. I find it a little earthbound, still, so I’m heartened by the fact that every snippet of music I’ve heard from Shadow Weaver has been spacey and dreamy and sublime.

I’m spending so much time talking about the new Choir album because we’re still in that part of the year where the upcoming albums are more exciting than the ones hitting stores. I’m right now listening to what I consider the first major release of the year, Transatlantic’s Kaleidoscope, and even that isn’t what most would think of as an important new record. Broken Bells’ After the Disco, out next week, comes closer, but the first real event is Lost in the Trees’ Past Life on Feb. 18. The year is going to be great, but it isn’t quite yet.

So let’s keep talking about the great stuff making its way to us over the next few months. For instance, Beck just released the first full song from Morning Phase, his reportedly low-key comeback. It’s called “Blue Moon,” and it’s gorgeous. Yes, this album is overhyped. But listen to this. If it’s all this good, the hype won’t matter.

Speaking of gorgeous, one of the guys from Explosions in the Sky has teamed up with the guy from Eluvium to form a new band called Inventions. I can only imagine how absolutely gorgeous this is going to be. If you don’t know, Explosions are a “post-rock” band, making instrumental soundscapes with glorious guitar tones, and Eluvium is a one-man ambient project, mixing drifting drones with lovely piano pieces. So yeah, this album – out April 1 – is pretty high on my list of things to look forward to.

And speaking of unlikely yet perfect team-ups, Aimee Mann and Ted Leo have just announced the self-titled debut from their collaborative project, The Both. This is a pairing that I never imagined, but hearing the first tune from it, “Milwaukee,” it’s clearly one that should have happened before now. Mann is one of the best pop songwriters alive, and Leo ain’t too bad himself. Their mixture seems to capture the melodic grace of Mann’s work and the spiky, guitar-fueled energy of Leo’s. It’s kind of perfect, and I can’t wait for this. It’s out April 15.

It seems like more goodness is announced every day. For now, all we can do is wait.

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Well, that’s not completely true. I do have something worth reviewing this week, and it was an altogether pleasant surprise.

If you’ve been reading this column for a while, you know that I’m a big Bryan Scary fan. He’s one of those folks out to save real pop music. You know, the kind with big, bold melodies and inventive arrangements, the kind that comes packed with sweet surprises every few seconds. The last time Scary made an album, it was called Daffy’s Elixir, and it was amazing. (Hear for yourself.) It’s the kind of insanely great record that makes you realize that some people’s brains work at faster speeds and higher gears.

Scary’s new project is possibly his most ambitious. It’s a band of sorts called Evil Arrows, and under this umbrella, he plans to release 60 or so new songs this year. They’ll come out in monthly installments, one EP at a time. The first one is out already, and you can hear it here. It’s six short songs, mostly performed with drummer Michael LaVolpe and guitarist Graham Norwood. But Scary says some of these Evil Arrows tunes will be full band efforts while some – like two of them on this first EP – will be solo efforts. And Scary’s good enough that it takes some effort to tell which is which.

On the surface, nothing about the Evil Arrows material is surprising. It’s all quirky, catchy pop music that could sit nicely next to much of what Scary’s done before. But these songs are all easier to digest than the crazy whirlwind of Daffy’s Elixir. “Romancer” is practically a ditty, and “Silver Bird” finds Scary slipping into a bit of a Bob Dylan riff, with plunking ragtime piano over the top. “Wide Open Yonder” is a terrific little driving song, with a convincingly rock and roll chorus. These tunes are all tightly written, compact little wonders.

The only problem is, it’s over before you know it. I could have gladly listened to five more songs as enjoyable as “Jennifer Kills the Giant (Once a Week),” which appears here in a piano-and-drum-machine sketch. “Laura Lies” is an acoustic ditty that leads into old-time whistle-led piano-pounder “The Lovers” perfectly, but three minutes and one second later – after a superb “la-la-la” outro – it’s over. And I want more. It’s going to kill me to wait a month between each of these Evil Arrows projects. But I guess that’s what we’ve been talking about this whole time. Waiting and waiting.

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Next week, Kaleidoscope, which is kind of awesome. Leave a comment on my blog at tm3am.blogspot.com. Follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tm3am, and Twitter at www.twitter.com/tm3am.

See you in line Tuesday morning.

Last week I enumerated 14 different potential pop culture landmarks coming our way this year. But I forgot a big one, and I’m ashamed. Let me correct that mistake now.

This week, Quiet Company hit record for the first time on their fourth studio album, which frontman Taylor Muse says will be called Transgressor. If you’ve been reading this column for any length of time, you know of my love for Quiet Company, and Muse’s songs. Their second album, Everyone You Love Will Be Happy Soon, contained some of the best pop tunes of 2009, and their third, the absolutely astonishing We Are All Where We Belong, was my favorite record of 2011, and still awes me and scares me in equal measure.

QuietCo is a band that has not put a foot wrong yet, so I’m very much anticipating this fourth go-round. (They’ve also released a pair of terrific EPs and, last year, they reinvented their debut album Shine Honesty as A Dead Man On My Back.) You should hear everything they’ve ever done, and you can, right here. But certainly listen to We Are All Where We Belong, a searching, scathing, heartfelt breakup album with God. Once you do, you’ll understand why I’m looking forward to Transgressor.

While we’re at it, a few other things I didn’t mention last week, mainly because I didn’t know about them: Foster the People has just announced their second album, Supermodel, which will be out on March 18. The great Elbow will release their sixth, The Takeoff and Landing of Everything, one week earlier. I’m looking forward to trip-hoppers Phantogram’s second album, Voices, on Feb. 18, which will also bring us the first new album in way too long from Suzanne Vega. And there’s that self-titled St. Vincent album on Feb. 25.

Gonna be a good one, folks.

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This year, I made what to some of you is going to sound like a weird New Year’s resolution. I vowed to listen to every album I buy in 2014.

I am, right now, looking over my pile of unheard music from last year. It’s fairly extensive, and if the pile of music I heard weren’t four times its size, I would feel bad about even compiling a 2013 top 10 list. I buy a lot of music, and like everyone else, I only have 24 hours in each day. I do try, but I usually find by March or April that my purchasing has outpaced my listening. I know this seems like the epitome of a first world problem, but there you go.

So I’ve resolved to hear them all this year. Every album I buy. I’m doing pretty well with that so far. I’ve picked up four new releases, and heard three. I’m going to talk about two of them today, but the third one I heard – Until the Colours Run, the debut from Lanterns on the Lake – is pretty cool. Kind of ethereal shoegaze music with some nice textures and a sweet singer. (The fourth disc I bought is the self-titled record from De La Tierra, a Portuguese-language side project of Sepultura’s Andreas Kisser, and I’ll hear that one tomorrow.)

I’m not sure if I’ll keep listing all the records I buy here, but I hope to stick to this. With that in mind, here are my first two reviews of 2014.

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I think people are surprised when I tell them I like Switchfoot.

I’ve actually been something of a fan for more than 10 years. Their early works are convincingly spunky, their middle ones much better than their reputation, particularly Oh, Gravity. Jon Foreman has a way with a fist-pumping lyric, and when the band is on, they write some catchy yet interesting pop-rock songs. They’re not innovators by any stretch, but they do what they do very well.

Or at least, they used to. Lately, I’m not sure Switchfoot themselves know what they’re up to. I enjoyed Hello Hurricane, despite its lack of ambition, but I just can’t get behind the abrasive and tuneless Vice Verses. And now they’ve gone running in the other direction with their ninth album, Fading West. This is the glossiest, poppiest, most radio-hungry album they have ever made. Everything their blinkered detractors think they have been for the past decade is in evidence here. And it’s a shame.

I’ve been referring to Fading West as Switchfoot’s Coldplay album, and it’s not far from the mark. Most of these songs are simple things, blown far out of proportion by the production. Here are electronic drums and synthesizers underpinning most everything, huge sticky wads of backing vocals, and an excess of sonic frippery. It’s the furthest from their stripped-back beginnings they’ve traveled, and there’s a definite sense that they’ve gone too far. The record starts with a pair of fairly bland tunes – opener “Love Alone Is Worth the Fight” and single “Who We Are” – overproduced within an inch of their meager lives.

For a while after that, it sounds like Switchfoot will right the ship. “When We Come Alive” is the most soaring anthem here, even if it’s the one that sounds the most like Coldplay. It features a simply huge “whoah-oh” chorus, backed up by massive guitar chords, scaling heights the album never reaches again. “Say It Like You Mean It” is the most impressively live-sounding thing on this record, all Larry Mullen drums and Adam Clayton bass, while ballad “The World You Want” is a little overdone, but still effective. “Who you love is your religion, how you love is your religion,” Jon Foreman sings, further evolving a theme that has permeated his work.

The next two songs, the boring “Slipping Away” and the odd “BA55,” are unremarkable. But then the album plunges right off the rails, concluding with a quartet of buzzy pop songs so outside the band’s normal purview that it’s almost jaw-dropping. When I first heard the sub-Sugar Ray “Let It Out,” I nearly choked. The synth bass, the insipid melody, the effects on Foreman’s voice, everything. I get the same feeling from this that I got from Weezer’s “Beverly Hills” – it’s the sound of sellout. And it doesn’t get a lot better before the record grinds to a halt with “Back to the Beginning Again.”

I like to give credit when bands try new things, and Fading West certainly treads new ground for Switchfoot. But most of that ground is terrible, leaving only a handful of decent songs in its wake. This whole album smells of money, and that’s a stink that doesn’t come off. I prefer honest mediocrity to something this shiny and empty.

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Eight months ago, the great Sharon Jones and her band, the Dap-Kings, announced the imminent release of their sixth album, Give the People What They Want. And then tragedy struck – Jones was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She postponed the album indefinitely, and started treatment. And her fans around the world prayed that we’d get to see the stunning soul giant take the stage again.

In many ways, the release of Give the People What They Want is cause for celebration. Jones is well enough to play out again – and given the sweaty, kinetic shows she puts on, that’s well indeed. And the album itself was worth waiting for. It gives us 10 more reasons to adore the vintage-sounding funk that the Dap-Kings lay down, and even better, the band sounds re-energized after their more subdued recent platters. This is a really great Dap-Kings album, and makes the case in 33 short minutes for Jones’ place in the pantheon of soul singers.

Seriously, if you can hear the powerhouse opener, “Retreat,” and not dance, you may be dead. It’s just a superb slice of swinging soul, and Jones gives a lung-busting vocal performance. The saxophones of Neal Sugarman and Cochemea Gastelum give “Stranger to My Happiness” a real kick, playing off Binky Griptite’s guitar work. “Now I See” is just wonderful, dripping with killer horn lines and exploding into a tremendous chorus. “Making Up and Breaking Up (And Making Up And Breaking Up Over Again)” somehow spins its title into a silky hook, and the fantastic “People Don’t Get What They Deserve” just smokes, Jones harmonizing with the Dapettes on the kickass refrain.

Every cut on this album is great, like it was plucked from the heyday of funky soul with a time machine. It’s a fitting celebration, welcoming Jones back to health with a foot-stomping, trumpet-blaring party. This could easily be your first Dap-Kings record, if needed, and when it’s over, you, too, will be elated that she survived her bout with cancer, and has come out swinging. And swinging hard.

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Next week, a bunch of new stuff. Leave a comment on my blog at tm3am.blogspot.com. Follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tm3am, and Twitter at www.twitter.com/tm3am.

See you in line Tuesday morning.

Well. 2014. I promised myself I wouldn’t make the same Death Cab joke again, so I’ll just say happy new year to everyone and move on.

So. How are you? How was your holiday? I had a glorious two weeks off (and a little longer thanks to weather), and I spent it with family and friends. (And with the Doctor Who Christmas special, but we’ll get to that.) It was a marvelous opportunity to recharge, and that’s good, because looking at the year ahead, I’m going to need all the reserve energy I can get. This is the year I turn 40, and it’s getting harder and harder for this old man to keep up with the whippersnappers who keep cutting through his lawn.

But I try. This new year is shaping up to be pretty great already. Granted, 2013 threw down a fairly sizable gauntlet, but one of my new year’s resolutions is to be more hopeful. So I’ve gathered up a few reasons why I think 2014 is going to rock. There are 14 bits of potential awesome listed below, but there are way more than 14 reasons to expect a good year – the new Broken Bells album, for instance, is coming next week, and Phantogram’s second is in February. I also had Neil Finn’s new solo album, Dizzy Heights, on this list a few weeks ago, but then I heard some of it. It’s a stark reminder that potential awesome doesn’t necessarily translate to actual awesome.

Anyway, here are 14 things I’m looking forward to in the new year.

1. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Give the People What They Want. (Jan. 14)

This new release from the queen of old-time soul was delayed last year when Jones was diagnosed with bile duct cancer. Now she’s back, and so is the album, which promises another slab of vintage horn-driven excellence. It’s on this list partially because Jones is fantastic, and her band is one of the few playing this style with a real sense of history. But it’s also here to celebrate her return to better health. Here’s hoping it’s a permanent one.

2. Lost in the Trees, Past Life. (Feb. 18)

I could not be more excited about this one. Lost in the Trees made my favorite album of 2012 last time out, swooping down out of nowhere to tear my heart right open. What I’ve heard from this third album is more stripped-back, but I expect the album will be no less affecting. There’s a spot reserved for this on the top 10 list, and I hope it earns it.

3. Neneh Cherry, Blank Project. (Feb. 25)

I will always love Cherry for being among the first to combine rap, soul and rock on the extremely underrated Homebrew album from 1992. She’s been sporadically active since then, fronting a band called CirKus and releasing a collaborative record with jazz group The Thing in 2012. But this new one, produced by Four-Tet, will be the first time in 18 years that Cherry has given us a personal statement. Should be great.

4. A new Choir album. (February)

Or, Kickstarter is miraculous, part one. The Choir, one of my very favorite bands, is in the process of recording a 15th studio album, which they will chase with their fourth live album. They raised more than $54,000 on Kickstarter to accomplish this, more than twice what they asked for. Over the last two decades, the Choir has created some of the most magical music of my lifetime, and I’m overjoyed to get the chance to hear more.

5. Beck, Morning Phase. (February)

The first album in six years from this extraordinary chameleon (not counting that book of sheet music) has been described as a successor to 2002’s Sea Change, a melancholy affair that ranks as one of the man’s best. It’s a peculiar way to stage a comeback, but this is Beck we’re talking about. Even if I think I know what this is going to be, I’m sure he’ll find a way to surprise me.

6. Imogen Heap, Sparks. (March 3)

A new Imogen album is an event in my house. This one’s doubly special – she’s spent the last few years creating it in a variety of locales and circumstances, and she’s released several tracks from it as online singles. The songs I’ve heard are just as insanely detailed and wondrous as anything she’s done, but somehow more fascinating, pushing her into new realms. “You Know Where to Find Me” is already one of my favorite songs of 2014. I can’t wait for this one.

7. The Veronica Mars movie. (March 14)

Kickstarter is miraculous, part two. In one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns ever, Rob Thomas raised $5.7 million to bring his beloved creation, Veronica Mars, to the big screen. I happily gave to this effort, and in fact I’m wearing my “official Kickstarter backer” t-shirt as I type this. The fact that this movie exists is one of the most awe-inspiring stories of fan support I can think of. Plus, if the trailer’s anything to go by, this film will be pretty fantastic.

8. Tori Amos, Unrepentant Geraldines. (Spring)

I mentioned above that I’m trying to be more hopeful, right? Geraldines will be Amos’ first pop album in five years, after two dalliances with orchestral music and a stint as a theatrical composer. I like the title, which is pretty much all I know about it right now. But every time out, Amos has the potential to change my life, and even though she hasn’t since delivered anything with the power and force of her first three albums, I still look forward to each new Tori album, hoping this will be the one.

9. A new Steve Taylor album. (April)

Yes, I just typed the words “a new Steve Taylor album.” The man’s a legend, and he hasn’t released a record since Squint in 1993. But he has a new backing band called the Perfect Foil, and he raised an astonishing $121,000 on Kickstarter to make this new one. Taylor is one of the most important figures in this corner of spiritual pop music I love, and I never thought I’d hear new music from him again. Plus, I get to see Taylor and the Perfect Foil live at AudioFeed Festival this summer. Life is good.

10. Andrea Dawn’s second album. (April)

Andrea’s a friend, but even if she weren’t, I’d be excited for her new album. She’s a terrific songwriter and singer, with a dramatic edge – think Fiona Apple, but not as self-consciously arty – and her first record, Theories of How We Can Be Friends, was one of my favorite things in 2012. She raised the money for her second on Kickstarter, and is aiming for a Record Store Day release. If you haven’t heard her stuff, listen to Theories here. You’ll see why I’m anticipating this.

11. Two Bad Plus albums. (Spring/Fall)

I haven’t mentioned The Bad Plus much in this column, which is my bad. They’re one of the most inventive jazz trios you’ll hear anywhere, expanding their piano-bass-drums format to embrace all manner of song. In 2014, they’ll release two records – first, their arrangement of Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring,” which should be amazing, and second, another full album of originals. I should really review them one of these days. They’ve been great for a long time.

12. A new U2 album. (Spring)

There aren’t many bands that can inspire such anticipation and dread in me. The venerable Irish quartet has been working on their 13th album for years, recording and re-recording with several different producers. You never know with U2 – the result might be an absolute mess, like 2009’s No Line on the Horizon, or it might be a masterpiece, like 2004’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. This could go either way, but whatever they do, it will be an event.

13. A new Postal Service album.

And now we’re in the realm of the purely theoretical, of course, but the rumblings are there. A second album from Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello has been discussed, rumored and denied for ages – almost ever since the first one, Give Up, was released in 2003. It may be impossible for a sophomore record to escape the shadow of the incredibly influential debut, but I’ll be glad to hear them try.

14. Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. (September)

And finally, the thing I am perhaps most excited about. Doctor Who has been on an incredible high over the past four years, with Matt Smith playing the titular Time Lord and Steven Moffat guiding his adventures. On Christmas Day, Smith went out on a towering high note – the Christmas special capped off a trilogy of defining episodes, and spun a final fairy tale for this most magical of Doctors. In its final seconds, it also introduced us to Doctor #12, played by the amazing Peter Capaldi. It’s hard to tell how he’ll be in the role – all we know is that he doesn’t like the color of his kidneys, and can’t fly the Tardis. But Capaldi is an astoundingly good actor, and with Moffat still behind the wheel, the show is in good hands. The 34th (!) season premieres in September, and I’ll be right there watching, as I have since I was six years old.

So there we go. This is just the stuff I am most excited about, of the stuff I know about. The best moments of the year always sneak up and surprise me. That’s what makes life so exciting, so worth living. Get out there and live it. See you in a week, as we kick off Year 14 in earnest.

Thanks for reading. Always. Leave a comment on my blog at tm3am.blogspot.com. Follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tm3am, and Twitter at www.twitter.com/tm3am.

See you in line Tuesday morning.