Top Five On Friday - 4/11/08

It's a beautiful day, and I'm ready for the Top Five on Friday:

Top 5 artists you wish would record a new album. (Tell us a bit about why you want them to go back into the studio too)

1) Afro Celt Sound System. I want them to record again because I can't get enough of them and I enjoy seeing them evolve and create. I don't think it's happening any time soon. They haven't yet signed to a new record label, and the members are busy with their own projects. I hope they'll record again in the future.

2) The Chieftains. Their last studio album was Further Down The Old Plank Road, and that was released some time ago. I'd like them to release another album of just Irish music, but I don't like my chances on that.

3) Aerosmith. I don't want them to sit back and get rich off their hits. I want them to prove they still have it, and the best way to do that is to write new material.

4) No Doubt. They're in the process of writing a new album, but I don't know when it will be out. I want them to record a new one because I like Gwen Stefani better with a band than without one.

5) Sarah McLachlan. Sure, she made that Christmas album a few years back. Why not make a new studio album now? Here's an idea: Sarah duets with some of the best Irish and Scottish female singers. I get shivers up my spine just thinking of a McLachlan/Maighread Ni Mhaonaigh collaboration.

Many other artists/bands I like are retired, broken up or dead. Even if I wanted them to record again, they couldn't.

Recently in the studio, but not quite out yet:

Groupa: They seem to have a new album out, called Fjalar, but it doesn't appear to be available in the United States. That's a shame.

Gavin DeGraw: His new album comes out in a month or so. His debut was released when I was still an undergraduate in college!

Coldplay: Coming this summer!

Elvis Costello: Coming later this month! (On vinyl only, unfortunately).

Everyone else I like has released something within the past few years.