Cat Power, the Shins and Magnetic Fields Return, Edgefest Announces 2012 Lineup and Brian Wilson Reunites with the Beach Boys in Our News Roundup

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Dec 17, 2011

The holidays may be coming up fast, but we've been as busy as ever reporting all the daily happenings in the world of music. So if you worry that between shopping marathons, office Christmas parties and eggnog overindulgence you missed something this week, here's our news roundup to catch you up on things.

First off, we saw the return of several indie rock heavyweights this week. The Shins finally announced the release of their next album, Port of Morrow, and so too did the Magnetic Fields, who revealed Love at the Bottom of the Sea. On top of that, Cat Power came out of hiding to unveil that she will have a new charity offering set for release on Christmas Eve.

There was also a lot going on in the world of Canadian music. Toronto's Edgefest got its 2012 lineup, John K. Samson announced a Canadian tour and shared a new solo track, and Wooden Sky gave us the details on a new record and tour as well.

Then we had the Beach Boys finally reuniting with Brian Wilson for the group's 50 anniversary, Trent Reznor getting nominated for another Golden Globe and Ed Banger getting into a row with their fans over some risque Justice album art.

And, again, we've been adding to our 2011 Year in Review coverage with more year-end lists. This week there was our most disappointing albums of 2011, the year's best rap mixtapes, the top lo-fi artists who went hi-fi, highlights from the Flaming Lips' wild year and the top NSFW videos. And don't forget to take our annual readers poll, which gives you the chance to win a bevy a crazy-awesome prizes.

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