September Music Preview

Fall is upon us, bringing with it a crazy busy month. Strap in and pay attention 'cause this is gonna be lengthy:

9/4
Nothing

9/11
50 Cent/ Curtis – Yeah, you’re real hard. Performing on ABC’s opening night of college football with a washed-up Perry Ferrell and perpetual second banana Kelly Rowland. Shit, nothing says street cred like that combo. Everyone hope really hard that Kanye West outsells him the first week out so that 50 follows up on his threat to go away.

50 Cent On MySpace Music

Animal Collective/ Strawberry Jam – Freak-folk release number one for the month. Their last effort, Feels, was listenable for the most part but their previous outing, Sung Tongs, was unbearable. Hopefully for my ears’ sake this falls somewhere closer to Feels.

Animal Collective On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“Peacebone”

Film School/ Hideout – Their self-titled record was one of the quiet gems of 2006. This one has a chance to be really, really good. Jump on the bandwagon now before it fills up.

Film School On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“Two Kinds”
“Dear Me”
“Lectric”’
“Sick Hipster Nursed By Suicide Girl”

Black Francis/ Bluefinger – Early word on this one (interestingly credited to the “Black Francis” moniker instead of “Frank Black”) is that it’s his best work since the original death of the Pixies. God knows it couldn’t be worse than Honeycomb.

No MySpace Available

Hot Hot Heat/ Happiness Ltd. – 14:54… 14:55… 14:56…

Hot Hot Heat On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
Entire Album Streaming As Of This Writing

Pinback/ Autumn Of The Seraphs – Rob Crow’s a busy guy. After releasing a solo record earlier this year, he’s back now with Pinback’s latest. It’s going to be hard to top Summer In Abaddon and considering the spotty nature of the solo record, Living Well, those concerns are justified.

Pinback On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“From Nothing To Nowhere”

Johnathan Rice/ Futher North – Johnathan Rice’s debut showed some promise but he really should stop mimicking John Mayer and spend some time developing his own sound. He’s been working with Rilo Kiley, among other acts, so the potential is there, but it’s all about the execution.

Johnathan Rice On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“We’re All Stuck Out In The Desert”
“Further North”
“End Of The Affair”
“The Middle Of The Road”
“THC”

Kanye West/ Graduation – Mr. West, as he’s now being billed (cough, pretension, cough) is back with a third record that supposedly takes hip-hop to a new level. That is, if you believe West’s bluster. Of course, he’ll also tell you that he invented the Internet and can walk on water, but you gotta love his confidence. Oh… and George Bush doesn’t care about this album, either.

Kanye West On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“Good Life”
“Stronger”
“Can’t Tell Me Nothing”

9/18
James Blunt/ All The Lost Souls – If there’s another “You’re Beautiful” on this record I will hunt you down and beat the piss out of you, you British wanker.

James Blunt On MySpace Music

Kevin Drew/ Spirit If… - The de facto leader of Canadian indie collective Broken Social Scene goes out on his own for the first time with this solo record. There’s some great stuff coming out of Canada that’s been hitting the States for the past few years so hopes are high for this one.

Kevin Drew On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“Backed Out On The…”
“Tbtf”

Eve/ Here I Am – Hey, Eve – know where I am? Not at the store buying your record. Pass.

Eve On MySpace Music

LCD Soundsystem/ A Bunch Of Stuff [EP] – Hey… at least LCD Soundsystem believes in truth in advertising with this odds n’ ends collection. That said, their scraps are likely better than 64% of other bands’ regular output.

LCD Soundsystem On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
None Available

New Found Glory/ From The Screen To Your Stereo Part 2 – Oh… the bullshit. There’s really a need for a “Part 2” to a New Found Glory album? Yeah, no. Their… uh…. discerning audience has likely moved onto My Chemical Romance at this point. There are no winners here.

New Found Glory On MySpace Music

Rogue Wave/ Asleep At Heaven’s Gate – Another band with a relatively low profile but one that’s definitely worth checking out, especially when considering the absolute crap that they’re surrounded by this week.

Rogue Wave On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
Entire Album Streaming As Of This Writing

KT Tunstall/ Drastic Fantastic – See James Blunt and replace “You’re Beautiful” with “Black Horse And Cherry Tree” and “British” with “Scottish.”

KT Tunstall On MySpace Music

9/25
Devendra Banhart/ Smokey Runs Down Thunder Canyon – Freak-folk release number two for the month. Banhart’s last record, Cripple Crow, was passable but its ambition far outpaced its execution. Will that happen here as well?

Devendra Banhart On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“Bad Girl”
“Carmencita”

Foo Fighters/ Echoes, Silence, Patience, & Grace – After hearing lead single “The Pretender” and taking into consideration the lackluster In Your Honor, I’m afraid that Dave Grohl might be over.

Foo Fighters On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“The Pretender”

matt pond PA/ Last Light – Between EPs and proper releases, this is actually matt pond PA’s 347th release. Expect more of the same top-shelf chamber pop.

matt pond PA On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“Last Light”
“Sunlight”

Joni Mitchell/ Shine – What?! Some record company still has Joni Mitchell releasing records? What? Were Country Joe And The Fish busy?

Joni Mitchell On MySpace Music

Jose Gonzalez/ In Our Nature – Jose Gonzalez should be big. Real big, if there were any justice. There isn’t, but this record should still be great as Gonzalez continues his penchant for interesting covers, following up takes on The Knife’s “Heartbeats” and Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” with his version of Massive Attack’s “Teardrop.” This is not to be missed.

Jose Gonzalez On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“Down The Line”
“Killing For Love”

THE DIRTYWHIRL'S PICK FOR THE BEST OF SEPTEMBER
Iron & Wine/ The Shepherd’s Dog – This is it. Of all of the many, many records coming out this month, this is the one that deserves your attention the most. Sam Beam (otherwise known as Iron & Wine) has improved in leaps and bounds from record to record, so to imagine an improvement over 2005’s phenomenal one-two punch of Woman King and In The Reins (the latter recorded with Calexico)… this should (and probably will) be mind-blowing. Mark your calendars now.

Iron & Wine On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“Boy With A Coin”

Jill Scott/ The Real Thing – As one of the precious few R&B artists worth a damn (and as someone who has worked extensively with the world’s best hip-hop band, The Roots), Jill Scott deserves a mention for her new album.

Jill Scott On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“Hate On Me”
“My Love”
“Crown Royal”
“Whenever You’re Around”

Stars/ In Our Bedroom After The War – More stellar indie rock from our neighbors to the north as a band with ties to Broken Social Scene, Stars, are back with their latest. This one got a digital release back in July but the physical version is in stores on 9/25. First single “The Night Starts Here” is one of the best tracks of the past few months so here’s hoping that the entire album is just as good.

Stars On MySpace Music

New Tracks:
“The Night Starts Here”

Will.I.Am/ Songs About Girls – It’s bad enough that the Black Eyed Peas are popular. It’s even worse that Fergie has branched out to become a solo star. But… if I have to live in a world where more than one member of that fucking act (I refuse to call these fucktards a band) has a hit record on their own, I’m really gonna hurt someone. Badly.

Will.I.Am On MySpace Music