September is always a huge month for album releases and this September is particularly exciting for me - bangers left, right and centre! So let's get into it quickly...



PULLED APART BY HORSES - BLOOD
After hearing their song "Hot Squash" from this record played on the radio, I was immediately interested in them as a band. I'm going to try and pick up their older albums - Pulled Apart By Horses and Tough Love when I get this album (out on the 1st of September) as some more background research. I have a feeling that I'll actually end up really liking these guys.






INTERPOL - EL PINTOR
I only got into this band properly earlier this year but it feels like great timing because this upcoming record is set to be a corker. Each of their older albums is consistently solid and they have a few standout tracks too. All that's left to say is roll on the 8th of September.





KAREN O - CRUSH SONGS
I've heard all of the singles from this album so far and if I'm honest, none of them have really excited me in any way. However, this may be more of an album that you have to enjoy from beginning to end and it has such an ambient feel about it. I will definitely have a listen on the 9th of September but as much as I love Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I'm not sure about this one.




SLASH - WORLD ON FIRE
I haven't heard much of Slash's solo material at all. Literally the only thing I think I've listened to by him is "Paradise City (feat. Fergie & Cypress Hill)" but in fairness, I did completely overplay it when I heard it. There's bound to be a few more awesome collaborations on this new record and I'm sure that Slash's guitar wielding will be as majestic as ever. Grab a copy on the 15th of September.




ALT-J - THIS IS ALL YOURS
FINALLY! So I chose their debut album An Awesome Wave as my album of the year in 2012 here and now they have a follow up that I think will be even better in some ways. Despite the loss of their bassist, this hasn't phased them one bit. All of their singles leading up to it have been fantastic, the 22nd of September will be an awesome day.




SBTRKT - WONDER WHERE WE LAND
Another sophomore album out on the 22nd of September and again after an absolutely spectacular debut! However, this album seems to have gone in a bit of a different direction to the debut. From the singles, it sounds like it will be more House than Electronic. No complaints here though, I still think this'll be one to add to my collection.






LOWER THAN ATLANTIS - LOWER THAN ATLANTIS
YES! YES YES YES! It feels like I've been waiting for this album for ages. LTA have never let me down when it comes to releasing albums and even though this is their fifth release, I feel like it'll still be strong and end up being one that I listen to for a long time to come. As a band they are great songwriters so I'm expecting good music in all areas on this one. Look out for it in stores on the 29th of September.



MARMOZETS - THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL MARMOZETS
I'm so glad that this is their debut album and I haven't missed too much of their career because these guys as a band are a musical juggernaut. Lead singer, Becca, is crazy in all the best ways - this album is going to hit all of the right notes and I'm going to be bopping my head to their latest single "Born Young And Free" until the 29th of September.





JAMIE T - CARRY ON THE GRUDGE 
Another album that I know I've waiting for for years. After his last album Kings & Queens Jamie T literally dropped off the face of the earth. I thought he might never come back with something new. Thank God I was wrong. His latest single "Zombie" told me that he's back in full force. I'm excited to see him in November after this album drops on the 29th of September.





THE GROWLERS - CHINESE FOUNTAIN
I genuinely thought that The Growlers were a really new band and that this was about to be their debut album. I was mistaken. This is actually their third album! I've only properly listened to their song "One Million Lovers" but I liked it. Hopefully I'll like this full record on the 29th of September.





HUDSON MOHAWKE - CHIMES EP
I really got into Hudson Mohawke after "Cbat" on the Satin Panthers EP so I hope this EP offers some interesting jams like that. He's done some production work on a lot of awesome hip hop songs recently like "Blood On The Leaves", "Mercy" and "I Am A God" so I can't doubt his skills. Will be listening for influences on this new EP of his on the 29th of September.




THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE - FEEL SOMETHING 
So basically, the 29th of September is a fantastic day for album releases. Good thing too because now you know how you'll be spending your money after payday. After their last album Out Of View I am actually excited for a new one. I say "actually" because I don't think I was pulled in at all by their last album, but I'm waiting for this one to pick up where the last fell down.





GERARD WAY - HESITANT ALIEN
After hearing part of his set at Reading I just feel like this will sound like a new My Chemical Romance album. This is a either a good or a bad thing for some people. I was never really that into MCR but I never hated them. If I'm honest though, I doubt I'll get round to listening to this record beginning to end on the 30th of September.






STEVE AOKI - NEON FUTURE
If I'm honest the only song that I really know by Steve Aoki is "Boneless" and I'm sure it's one of those things where I know more than I think, I just need to hear it. Either way, after watching a bunch of his live videos of him "cake-ing" fans he seems like a pretty cool guy. Let just see if his album on the 30th of September is the same.





PRINCE - ART OFFICIAL AGE
The man who never sleeps and never seems to stop writing or collaborating or performing is dropping not one but TWO ALBUMS on the same day! What an absolute legend. I don't even know which one I'm looking forward to more! Both will be immense. The 30th of September will be a good day. Especially looking forward to his Lianne La Havas collaboration on here.





PRINCE & 3RDEYEGIRL - PLECTRUMELECTRUM
So after seeing him perform live with 3RDEYEGIRL here I know that this album will be (if anything) instrumentally fabulous. Having four ridiculously fabulous musicians come together on one record and one of them being Prince - expect it to be groovy. I am ready to be shaking my hips for the entirety of the 30th of September and probably the rest of October too.





So that isn't even everything this month! Expect albums from The Vaselines, Jeremih, Christopher Owens, The Drums, Gnarwolves, BANKS, Death From Above 1979, Goat, The Game, Meek Mill and Esben And The Witch. I'm sure there are even a few more too! Check out what albums you might have missed last month here.

Now that we've just entered the month of June, I thought that it would be appropriate to catch up on all of the music news that we may have missed in the past few days leading up to this month...

DIAMOND YOUTH RELEASE NEW EP "UK OK"
Diamond Youth, whom I wrote about as a new discovery here almost two years ago, have been wanting to cross the pond and come over to the UK for a long time now. It would seem that they finally have the chance as they are set to support Citizen on tour here in the coming months. However, they have to buy their own tickets. So they've released this EP available for a short amount of time to try and raise money towards it. Help them out and buy it for $4 here.


FOO FIGHTERS ANNOUNCE HBO SERIES "SONIC HIGHWAYS"
It's no secret that Foo Fighters are releasing their eight album this year (in November) but now we find out that they're also releasing a HBO documentary series detailing the recording process - as they recorded a song in eight different cities across America. This has never before been done as far as I know, and to have it done by one of my favourite bands ever makes me even more excited for it. Watch the trailer here.


CARIBOU NEW SINGLE "CAN'T DO WITHOUT YOU"
In fairness, I haven't heard much from Caribou since their album - Swim - and so it is very refreshing to hear this new track from them, and just in time for summer too! It's got such a nice light hearted vibe. I'm really looking forward to the new record Our Love out on the 6th of October. Until that release date, here's the latest track.


MALLORY KNOX NEW SINGLE "QODII"
I'd been hearing about Mallory Knox working on their sophomore album a little bit this year but I had no idea that they were already ready to release new singles from it, and ones as good as this at that! I was a little bit unsure about it at first but after a couple of listens, I definitely like it - am looking forward to listening to the entire album soon. Check out the single here.


WAYWARD DAUGHTER NEW MERCH LAUNCH
All you Wayward fans are definitely going to want to get your hands on the new Wayward Daughter merch. It's all pretty minimalist but stylish at the same time. I'm personally most excited about the custom plectrums, however the new "My Bones Are Like Feathers" tee is very nice too. Give it all a look, and maybe even make a purchase here.


DARLIA NEW MUSIC VIDEO "DEAR DIARY"
Since Darlia's last single "Candyman", I've been really excited to hear new stuff from them, and now I have both a song and a video to sample?! Yes. I absolutely love this song and I'm expecting exciting things from their debut album, they're a very interesting new band right now. Hopefully I'll catch them at a festival this summer but until then, here's their new video.


BIPOLAR SUNSHINE NEW VIDEO "DECKCHAIRS ON THE MOON"
After seeing Bipolar Sunshine live a couple of months ago here, I've been keeping an eye on his movements and he actually released this single a few weeks ago but he's finally put out a video for it, and thank goodness he did - it is definitely a worthy single. Such a nice summer chill vibe. This will definitely be getting a lot of play time these next few months. Treat your eardrums and eyeballs here.


FALL OUT BOY WRITING NEW MUSIC
After their last, and very disappointing, album Save Rock And Roll, I'm not entirely sure that this is a good thing. However, seeing as the last few Fall Out Boy albums were so great I feel like there is still hope for an awesome new album - I suppose we'll have to wait and see just what this new writing will bring.


CIRCA WAVES NEW SINGLE "YOUNG CHASERS"
After chatting with the boys (here) during their NME Awards Tour, I've been waiting for news about them, and here they are with their latest single. As expected it's an indie rock festival anthem - it will definitely be a hit for them at their upcoming Glastonbury appearance. Circa Waves are really trailblazing right now, I expect big things from them over the next year. Have a listen to the new one here.


LIMP BIZKIT NEW SINGLE "ENDLESS SLAUGHTER"
Limp Bizkit announced the release of a new single this week and actually stated that they'd be releasing it on cassette. After their single release around this time last year, featuring Lil' Wayne (here), who knows what this new track will sound like?! I suppose I'll have to dig out my old walkman and have a listen.


INTERPOL ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM "EL PINTOR" 
Another band that I've been keeping an ear out for since the NME Awards Tour here and how could I not?! They absolutely smashed their set that night and since doing my research on their back catalogue, I would can now call myself a fan. I'm looking forward to hearing Interpol's new record in the near future.


Find out what you might have missed last month in the music world here...

Late last month (25/03/14), I was lucky enough to get a free ticket to the NME Awards Tour at The Institute, Birmingham and even luckier to get an interview with one of the supports - Circa Waves (which will be up soon). I'd been thinking about buying tickets myself a while back but never had enough money to justify a ticket. I'm glad that I did get to go in the end because this was not something to be missed.

First up was Circa Waves, a new Indie Rock band recently signed to Transgressive Records - if you're into bands like Two Door Cinema Club and The Strokes, you should probably give them a listen. Anyway, the downside of being on first is that you have the smallest crowd. They played the kind of set that needs a few thousand people there screaming and getting riled up, it was a complete show and only a couple hundred people were there to witness it. However, by the end of the set, the crowd had grown and the cheers and claps grew louder. All in all, they did what they set out to do because I'm sure that I few people who came there that night not knowing who Circa Waves were, left that place with their name printed in their mind. Job done. 

Next up was Royal Blood! Since writing about them here as a "new discovery", I've been waiting for my chance to see them but I definitely did not think it'd be this soon, and also didn't think that it'd be this awesome!! They absolutely slayed the set. Experiencing them live really made me realise just how talented both of them are as musicians, every drum fill was perfect, accompanied by equally perfect gritty and dirty bass riffs - the crowd wasn't sure what to do with themselves. Their singles "Out Of The Black", "Come On Over" and "Little Monster" were immense! The only thing that I can fault the set on is that Michael said half way through "HOW'RE YOU DOING NOTTINGHAM?!"..... no no, this is Birmingham.

It was a huge change when neo-psychedelic Temples stepped on stage next. Having seen them already, I pretty much new what to expect but some people seemed a little taken aback by the sudden change in genre and I feel like this might have calmed down the crowd's hype a little too much. Nonetheless, they played a very together set... everything was so tidy. Perhaps everything was a little too perfect if I'm honest but there's no mistaking that it was a good set. I had a chat with the drummer, bassist and their merch guy afterwards and they are all extremely lovely guys - I wish that people had been able to get more into their set.


Finally was the night's headliners - Interpol! MY. GOODNESS. I mean, I thought that they'd be good but they were phenomenal! Better than I could have ever imagined. I only went into the gig knowing about five of their songs, but they had me dancing and headbanging throughout as if I'd heard all of their songs a billion times. The drummer was ridiculously good, it was actually silly. Everything was so technical but he executed it with near perfection; therefore I'd say I was pretty excited when I caught his drumstick at the end. The guitarist was very entertaining - a complete showman - whipping his hair and smiling at the crowd. This was the polar opposite to the bassist who stood in the back, quietly skilled, just dropping in awesome, technical riffs every now and again.Of course, Paul Banks was the ultimate frontman getting the crowd worked up, particularly some smitten middle-aged women near the front. I definitely feel obligated to acquire their entire discography after that performance! I feel like I'm missing out. Fabulous all round. Just a top quality night!

Overall Rating - 9/10


Here are some pictures from the night...