Ten Fall Albums Worth Checking Out

List of the Day

New-music releases always slow a bit in the fourth quarter, but that doesn’t mean there are no good albums coming soon. The first nine months of the year have given us at least 90 albums worth checking out, and the fall is only slowing up a little. Below are merely 10 records worthy of your investigation as the holidays grow near.

Artist: Bryan Ferry
Album: Olympia
Release Date: Oct. 25
Buzz: The former Roxy Music frontman recruited Flea, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, Kate Moss, former bandmate Brian Eno and more for the album. “Met Bryan Ferry last night,” LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy tweeted in early September. “Know what’s cooler than meeting Bryan Ferry? Being Bryan Ferry.”

Watch the video for “You Can Dance” below:

Artist: Kylesa
Album: Spiral Shadow
Release Date: Oct. 25
Buzz: These psychedelic metalheads’ very first show was opening for Mastodon. In support of the follow-up to their breakthrough album, 2009’s ferocious Static Tensions, the band is currently on the road with High on Fire and Torche. Needless to say, they keep good company for a reason.

Watch the video for “Tired Climb” below:

Artist: Johnny Flynn
Album: Been Listening
Release Date: Oct. 25
Buzz: This young, songwriting Londoner and former Best of What’s Nexter is primed for big things.

Get a free download of “Kentucky Pill” at Johnny-Flynn.com.

Artist: Elvis Costello
Album: National Ransom
Release Date: Nov. 2
Buzz: T Bone Burnett, Vince Gil, Buddy Miller, Leon Russell and many more contribute to the new record. Costello says National Ransom is a bluegrass record “in the way that Sly and The Family Stone are a bluegrass band.” Totally.

Download “The Spell You Cast” here.

Artist: Matt & Kim
Album: Sidewalks
Release Date: Nov. 2
Buzz: The duo’s third proper album was recorded in Atlanta with producer Ben H. Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, Deerhunter).

Listen to “Cameras” here.

Artist: The Concretes
Album: WYWH
Release Date: Nov. 9
Buzz: There isn’t a lot, frankly, but the songs sound about like what we’ve come to expect from this talented Swedish crew: poppy and wonderful.

Stream the album in full here.

Artist: Cee-Lo Green
Album: The Lady Killer
Release Date: Nov. 9
Buzz: His ridiculously catchy “Fuck You,” which we deemed “a gloriously upbeat kiss-off song…with several laugh-out-loud lyrics” in an Awesome of the Day post in late August, is one of the finest pop songs of the year.

Watch the “Fuck You” video:

Artist: Nicki Minaj
Album: Pink Friday
Release Date: Nov. 23
Buzz: From our Best of What’s Next piece: “The album follows a year full of scene-stealing guest verses for hip-hop’s current A-listers, a killer mixtape of her own and an unending calendar of shows and interviews. It’s all fueled by Minaj’s way-beyond-outré aesthetic and hyperactive social media presence (1 million Twitter followers and counting), not to mention a designer handbag full of quotable rhymes.”

Watch the “Your Love” video:

Artist: Kanye West
Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Release Date: Nov. 23
Buzz: An out of control Twitter presence, a self-penned XXL feature, a new single out every week via his G.O.O.D. Friday series, an insane performance on Saturday Night Live, the list goes on.

Download all of West’s G.O.O.D. Friday singles here.

Artist: Daft Punk
Album: Tron: Legacy soundtrack
Release Date: Dec. 7
Buzz: It’s the soundtrack for the new Tron movie. By Daft Punk. As if that wasn’t enough, everyone’s favorite French dance-music-making robots will also be making a cameo in the movie.