By Phil Dzikiy



If you haven’t noticed already, we’re in the last year of this decade — the ’00s, the aughts, whatever you want to call it. There are less than 12 months left for musicians to make their marks on this decade.

Looking forward to the spring and the rest of 2009, plenty of established acts will return in all genres. And of course, some notable new musicians should emerge, as MGMT, Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend did last year. This is the last chance to leave a great lasting work of song before 2010 (The Year We Make Contact). As always, all release dates are subject to change.



January

The new year kicks off with a number of indie favorites releasing new albums. Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion” — to be released next week — is already getting a lot of positive buzz.

Antony and the Johnsons’ new album, “The Crying Light,” featuring the trembling, haunting voice of Antony Hegarty drops the week after, along with the second solo release from New Pornographers leader A.C. Newman, “Get Guilty.”

Big names round out the month, including Bruce Springsteen, returning with the E Street Band on “Working on a Dream.” Springsteen has been quite prolific during the latter part of this decade — this will be his fourth album since 2005.

Franz Ferdinand also returns in January with “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand,” which may be a make-or-break album for their long-term commercial success in America. Though the group’s second album, “You Could Have It So Much Better,” may have been better than their debut, it saw the band fall out of the limelight.

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes’ first posthumous album in the United States, “Eye Legacy,” is also slated for release in January. The album will feature guests like 2Pac (who knew a few things about posthumous releases), Bone Crusher, Chamillionaire, Missy Elliott and her former TLC partners, Chilli and T-Boz.



February

The shortest month starts with new releases from Bow Wow (“New Jack City, Part 2”), Chris Cornell (“Scream”), Ben Kweller (“Changing Horses”) and the Von Bondies (“Love, Hate, and Then There’s You”).

It appears that two controversial female musicians — Lily Allen and Courtney Love — could release albums on the same day, Feb. 10, with Allen’s “It’s Not Me, It’s You” and Love’s “Nobody’s Daughter.”

February should also be a big month for hip-hop releases, with new albums from Mos Def (“The Ecstatic”), Missy Elliott (“Block Party”), Busta Rhymes (B.O.M.B.) and even Warren G (“The G-Files”).

Other notable releases in February include new albums from ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (“The Century of Self”) and Morrissey (“Years of Refusal”), who will perform at the UB Center of the Arts in March.



March

The list of firm releases gets smaller as we get deeper into the year, but two guaranteed blockbusters will hit stores in March. U2’s “No Line on the Horizon” will be the group’s first album in five years, but it should still see plenty of success. Kelly Clarkson’s “Masquerade” should also be a commercial dynamo.

Other March albums will almost certainly have artistic qualities that exceed mere sales figures. Neko Case follows up her acclaimed 2006 album “Fox Confessor Brings the Flood” with “Middle Cyclone.” And the Decemberists return with their second major-label album, “The Hazards of Love.”



April

April’s list of confirmed new releases is slim so far, but it appears the month will bring new releases from the Dave Matthews Band and Depeche Mode, both untitled at this point.



Later on

Music release dates are more fluid than ever. The fear of illegal downloads hurting album sales cause some artists to move release dates up unexpectedly or even more surprising, announce there’s a new album a week before it comes out.

As for releases getting pushed back or fading away, well, that’s a trend that won’t end anytime soon.

Following is a list of musicians who may release new albums this year: 50 Cent, Aerosmith, Tori Amos, Black Eyed Peas, Blur, Michelle Branch, Joe Budden, D’Angelo, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Flo Rida, Peter Gabriel, Noel Gallagher, Gang of Four, Garbage, Goo Goo Dolls, Whitney Houston, Jay-Z, Matchbox Twenty, New Pornographers, OK Go, Pearl Jam, The Postal Service, Rakim, Stars, Third Eye Blind, Wilco, Amy Winehouse and Wrens.



Contact editor Phil Dzikiy

at dzikiyp@gnnewspaper.com.