forecasting the september swoon
This has hardly been a balmy summer. In New York it never is. But putting the swelter aside, August can be a dirge. It’s often a slow time for new releases – too many people at the beach, or hiding in arctic movie theaters, maybe. But then there is September. Seasonally, it’s the beginning of death, a wilting. But school begins anew, which means new possibilities. And good tunes are around the bend. This fall is a bonanza of sorts at eMusic. Jams, jams, jamzzz. Let’s have a look at what’s in store.
Vivian Girls: Everything Goes Wrong
The notoriously divisive trio are just about ready to release their sophomore set. There’s growth here, as the Girls hone their craft just a bit. Not to worry, though – it’s still washed-out vox and detached strums. Oh, the disillusion will be glorious on September 8!
Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest
Yup. At long last. September 1.
Mayer Hawthorne: A Strange Arrangement
17 dots fave and all-around swell guy Mayer Hawthorne brings the stoned-out soul September 8. Think Temptations, Smokey Robinson, The Dramatics. I can vouch for this one, one the cleanest and most lovingly produced albums of the year.
The Big Pink: A Brief History of Love
How much have you missed Britpop? This London duo make an amazingly big sound – soccer stadium big – for just two gents. If you haven’t heard “Dominos,” go and find it. My song of the summer. September 22.
Girls: Album
Speaking of songs of the summer and duos who make a huge sound, our old friends are just inches away from shooting to the moon after being a part of our eMusic Selects program last year. Now they’re all grown up. September 8, the universe changes.
Times New Viking: Born Again Revisited
Columbus, Ohio’s own jarring, uncompromising lo-fi indie rock crew return September 22. Matador’s giving away the bouncy new single, “No Times No Hope,” over at the Matablog. Go get it. Then get the album.
Arctic Monkeys: Humbug
Not that they need an introduction, but Sheffield’s own monsters of the minutiae return with their third album, a noticeable shifting of gears for the boys, on September 8. Expect a smoother, sexier Alex Turner croon, and some slow desert churn courtesy producer/Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme.
The Clean: Mister Pop
The Kiwi punk legends are back this fall, too, with a new one from Merge. You can’t believe how excited Joe is about this record. Bone up on the Anthology if you’re behind like me. September 8.
Taken By Trees: East of Eden
Former Concretes chanteuse Victoria Bergsman has a new one of September 8 which includes a soft/slow cover of Animal Collective’s “My Girls” cheekily retitled “My Boys.” Get it?
Listenlisten: Hymns From Rhodesia
A small folky band from Houston, their upcoming ‘Hymns from Rhodesia’ could be the sleeper of 09. They’re a multi-instrumental band with trumpets and tubas and strings, and they fuse aching country melodies with big, broad arrangements. Curious? Take a listen to “Safe Home, Safe in Port” on their MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/listenlisten
Oh and did we mention must-own reissues from the Feelies, throbbing South African rock from BLK JKS, moderately tuneful noise from HEALTH, and new brainsmashers from dubstep beast Zomby. That’s called a good month. What are you looking forward to?
Lots to look forward to. Will Veckatimest be available outside the US (specifically, Canada) as well?
If you don’t mind me (a) looking ahead to October, too and (b) including some stuff that may not be available on eMusic, here’s what I’m excited about:
Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs (09.08.09)
Amerie: In Love & War (09.08.09)
Jay-Z: The Blueprint 3 (09.11.09)
A Sunny Day in Glasgow: Ashes Grammar (09.15.09)
Beastie Boys: Hot Sauce Committee Part 1 (09.15.09)
Big Star: Keep an Eye on the Sky (09.15.09) (not on eMusic)
The Dodos: Time to Die (09.15.09)
Castanets: Texas Rose, The Thaw & The Beasts (09.22.09)
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: Higher Than The Stars [EP] (09.22.09)
Why?: Eskimo Snow (09.22.09)
Pearl Jam: Backspacer (09.22.09)
Richard Hawley: Truelove’s Gutter (09.22.09)
Twilight Sad: Forget the Night Ahead (09.22.09)
Mariah Carey: Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel (09.29.09)
Air: Love 2 (10.06.09)
Atlas Sound: Logos (10.20.09)
The Clientele: Bonfires on the Heath (10.06.09)
A Place to Bury Strangers: Exploding Head (10.06.09)
The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come (10.06.09)
The Raveonettes: In and Out of Control (10.06.09)
No Age: Losing Feeling [EP] (10.06.09)
The F–k Buttons: Tarot Sport (10.12.09)
Annie: Don’t Stop (10.19.09)
Any information you have about which of the above titles will be on eMusic (and when) would be greatly appreciated. It’s going to be a dynamite fall and winter 2009.
Maybe Pitchfork should have waited to release their best-of-the-decade features?
Uhhhh . . . wait, sorry. I am NOT excited about the new Pearl Jam record. I don’t hate the idea of it, but I’m not seeking it out.
Hey Daniel -
I’m looking forward to a bunch of those, too — the Richard Hawley, it pains me to say, is a big disappointment, but I love the latest Jay-Z single, and am really looking forward to that record. The Amerie should be good, too — did you ever hear the record that only came out in the UK? They didn’t release it over here because the label felt it ‘wasn’t commercial enough,’ but the lead single was awesome. Also very curious about the Mariah – I thought the last one was underrated.
Of the above that I’ve been lucky enough to hear — the Yo La Tengo is lovely. We will be getting it, just not on street. The Mountain Goats record is really stirring — I’ve been listening to it a lot this week — and the Raveonettes skews really, really pop (in a good way); at times it reminds me of that last Magnetic Fields record. We should be getting most of the non-major-label stuff above on street (Yo La excepted) — I’ll let you know if that ends up changing.
I am also the only one who likes the Pearl Jam single, apparently!
“the Richard Hawley, it pains me to say, is a big disappointment”
This would pain me, too. I can’t tell you how strongly I connected with Cole’s Corner. And I’m not fond of the music from the era it remembers (the Rat Pack), but it’s so well-crafted and tuneful that it’s impossible to resist. And I love that sad, baroque sound.
If the world were just, Cole’s Corner would appear on some best-of-the-decade lists.
Also: Annie! I’ve heard bad things about the new disc, frankly, but I so want to hear it! And I’m always interested in new stuff by The Mountain Goats.
I loved Cole’s Corner, too! This one just slips a little bit further into muzak, unfortunately…
Also, Alex just spotted this Alton Ellis record today. If you don’t have this — this is all the Alton you need right here. Some of the greatest reggae ever recorded. I flipped out a little when I saw it.
Oh, one more record I want to shout out — it’s out this Tuesday: David Bazan, Curse Your Branches. I’ve never been a huge Bazan/Pedro the Lion fan, but I have been listening to this record all day. I relate to the lyrics — the whole record is about loss of faith — but to me these are the best and hookiest songs he’s ever written. If you’ve got some August downloads left, I’d recommend saving ‘em for this!
I’m anxiously awaiting The Big Pink. Not only Dominos (which is free on their website right now for signing up with their mailing list), but Velvet is fantastic.
In fact, I think I like Velvet more.
Apart from that I’m awaiting several on Daniel’s list (particularly Yo La Tengo, TPOBPAH, and The Mountain Goats), and also looking forward to the Dirty Projector’s EP that is supposed to be out in the fall.
Regarding Daniel’s list, though, didn’t The Beastie Boys new album get pushed back due to Adam Yauch’s throat cancer? Maybe that was just the tour, though.
Craig
Craig’s right. I didn’t realize it. Link below.
http://www.idiomag.com/peek/92849/beastie_boys#/92849/1/
Also, obviously, the new Dodos is already here. I grabbed some of my list from the rolling thread I maintain over on the message boards, “Anticiated 2009.” I should have edited it more carefully before pasting the September — October 2009 section here.
Apparently, I’m the only person disappointed with the new Jay-Z single. But maybe it sounds better in context of the rest of the album?
Anyway,
New Dizzee Rascal Sep 7 and Built To Spill Oct 6. None of which will probably make it on the site, unfortunately.
But you just made my day with the Treasure Isle stuff. I remember searching for the label on eMusic almost a year ago and it wasn’t on yet. I hadn’t checked since, and I’m obviously regretting it. Aside from the Alton Ellis, which I whole-heartedly agree is some of the best reggae there is, John Holt and The Paragons’ On The Beach is some of the most effectively atmospheric (by me!) music that I’ve come across thus far.
Good stuff.
I’m excited for the new Pearl Jam. Eat a dick if they aren’t indie enough for you.
They are indie enough for me, but they wouldn’t have to be. I like non-indie Beyonce, Hall & Oates, Justin TImberlake, Journey, and so forth. I just don’t like Pearl Jam.
To be fair, Ten was a solid disc. After that, they got very tedious for me.
@ilya You’re not alone on Jay-Z.
Man, Jay-Z cleaned up on Pitchfork’s best-of-decade song list. I’m woefully ignorant of his music, tho I have the debut from eMusic. Must investigate further, I suppose.
I’m all over that listenlisten!
There’s a new Grand Archives coming soon…but it’s on Subpop, dammit.
@Daniel, hist best album, IMO, is actually the DJ Danger Mouse Gray album, which mashed Jay-Z’s Black Album with the Beatle’s White Album. You’ll have to search the web to find it. I’m not sure of it’s legality.
http://www.illegal-art.org/audio/grey.html
just out of curiosity: is the ‘veckatimest’ drop going to be accompanied by another little taste of the Warp back catalog by some chance?
Volcano Chior – Unmap – Sept 22
@Daniel – Reasonable Doubt is a great place to start. Definitely. It’s especially nice if you’re one of those that’s not too into the celebrity-saturated hip-hop supernova that Jay-Z is now.
To be honest though, I can very often put Blueprint or The Black Album aside and listen to American Gangster instead.
@jrn – Yeah, it’s about time we got more Warp on the site. More AFX please.
Now that I think about it, I {i}do{/i} have the American Gangster OST. I haven’t listened to it in forever, tho.
@jrn We’ll be getting Maximo Park’s ‘Quicken The Heart,’ that week, too.
Jay-Z’s American Gangster was not affiliated with the movie. So the official OST would not have any Jay-Z on it. I assume Hov’s album was just inspired by the movie, or so I hear.
It feels weird to be discussing so much Jay-Z on eMusic.
I’m almost positive the disc I have is a Jay-Z disc. Ohhhh, I see. I have [url=http://www.amazon.com/American-Gangster-Jay-Z/dp/B000WCDI6O]this one[/url], which is, according to Amazon.com, an “unofficial musical companion to the film of the same name.”
That tag didn’t work well.
It’s HTML code. So use ’s. For example.
Jay-Z – American Gangster
What I used there was this, “Jay-Z – American Gangster”
FYI.
Wild Beasts on 9/8. I really enjoyed this band’s first album. It’s on Domino, so hopefully we’ll get it on street date…
I second Daniel’s excitement for Why? – Eskimo Snow.
Why?’s compositions don’t really move me, but he’s a fascinating lyricist.
Awesome news about Veckatimest. But is it U.S. only (or will it be available to Australian subscribers?)
listenlisten “safe home in port” song fantastic. when is this out?
Nice new releases today:
Sally Shapiro’s My Guilty Pleasure (http://www.emusic.com/album/Sally-Shapiro-My-Guilty-Pleasure-MP3-Download/11571874.html)
Tinariwen’s Imidiwan: Companions (http://www.emusic.com/album/Tinariwen-Imidiwan-Companions-MP3-Download/11584977.html) (I love this band)
What’s the likelihood of getting an advance copy of Mayer Hawthorne so I can play it at my wife’s 40th (yeah yeah you young pups) birthday party on the 5th? P-P-P-lllleeeeaaaassseee? It’s going to be a funk, soul night.
@jones – Listenlisten is out 9/22!
@Daniel, Esq.: everything I’ve heard from the new Annie album is great — including the outtakes.
Excellent! So hoping it shows up on eMusic. Anniemal hit the sweet spot between mainstream pop and indie aesthetics. But this new one has had a strange journey to its final release.
Any clues as to what zomby will be dropping? He’s just released on Ramp so if that means this label is coming I’d be pretty happy
Look ahead to October 6 for two more: Grant Hart’s Hot Wax (Label: Con D’or/MVD Audio) and Califone’s All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (Label: Dead Oceans).
ANY CHANCE WE’LL GET THESE? Man, October is looking even better than September.