It's a pretty light release week leading into the new year, but a few notable releases are hitting stores, including Solange Knowles' much-anticipated True EP as well as some big soundtrack releases.

Broadcast – Berberian Sound Studio

CD $13.98

LP $19.98

This posthumous Broadcast album is the soundtrack to an upcoming independent film about a sound engineer who loses his mind while soundtracking an Italian giallo film — think Suspiria. True to its background, the soundtrack is full of ominous organ tones, whispered Italian and the terrifying sounds of screaming into madness. This may not sound like the recipe for a Broadcast album, which typically are more subtly haunting works of droning electonic pop, featuring the ethereal vocals of the late Trish Keenan. It is instead more in line with the “in betweens” in Broadcast’s work — the interstitial instrumental tracks, their instrumental collaboration with The Focus Group — which serves to show just how much depth there was (and is) to Broadcast’s work. Though Keenan’s trademark voice only appears occasionally, mostly as wordless breathing over the proceedings, their ghostlike quality further the foreboding tone of the album. Barberian Sound Studio’s dissonant tones and frightening utterances aren’t for anyone, but Broadcast fans (and fans of giallo films and Italian soundtrack kings like Goblin) won’t be let down by the vampiresque sound world created in Berberian Sound Studio.

It’s still December 2012, but there’s plenty to get excited about heading into the new year, music- and movie-wise. Check out the preorders we have available below. 

In addition, new records hitting shelves early in the year include new records by Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Spring), the late, great Broadcast (The Berberian Sound Studio [Soundtrack], Jan. 8), Frightened Rabbit (Pedestrian Verse, Feb. 5), Unknown Mortal Orchestra (II, Feb. 5), Azealia Banks (Broke With Expensive Taste, Feb. 12), Veronica Falls (Waiting for Something to Happen, Feb. 12), Beach Fossils (Clash the Truth, Feb. 19), Iceage (You’re Nothing, Feb. 19), Girls Names (The New Life, Feb. 29), Johnny Marr (The Messenger, Feb. 26), The Mary Onettes (Hit the Waves, March 12), Low (The Invisible Way, March 19), Wavves (Title TBA, March 26), The Knife (Shaking the Habitual, April 9) and, of course, Guided by Voices (English Little League, April 30). My Bloody Valentine are supposedly releasing their long-awaited follow-up to 1991’s classic Loveless, the favorite album of many a music nerd, as they’ve just announced via their Facebook page that they finished mastering their new album. Any MBV fan knows that recording, let alone mixing, let alone mastering a new album by the shoegaze titans is a painfully long and arduous process at best, so this is very exciting news! Though supposedly the record will come out on their website first, we’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything about a new, physical My Bloody Valentine LP.