Fall has officially hit (in the North East at least) and as we ease into a new season and the final quarter of the year (how did that happen?), new music is slowly hitting us. This week, we have a new collaborative album from Sufjan Stevens. It follows with collaboration with his step-father from last year as well as his own solo album and this year’s elaborate project Convocations. His latest is another collaboration, this time with Angelo De Augustine.
Esperanza Spalding was a major surprise a decade ago when she took home the Grammy Award for Best New Artist besting Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence and the Machine, and Mumford and Sons. Today, she’s back with a brand new album. Andy Shauf has also surprised his fans with the announcement of his new album that’s out today and follows last year’s very good Neon Skyline.
POP. 1280 continue their brazen post-punk with their latest, Museum on the Horizon, Ringo has a new EP entitled Change the World, and Japanese Breakfast follow one of the year’s best with an original soundtrack to the video game Sable.
The star-studded tribute to the Velvet Underground’s landmark debut The Velvet Underground & Nico which features Iggy Pop, Thurston More, St. Vincent, Kurt Vile, Michael Stipe, Sharon Van Etten, Angel Olsen, Courtney Barnett, Matt Berninger, Andrew Bird, and many more is out today as is Jagjaguwar’s Join the Ritual which features Angel Olsen covering Smog, Nap Eyes covering Built to Spill, Bruce Hornsby covering Dinosaur Jr, The Besnard Lakes taking on Slint, and then some.
Earlier this week, The New York Times profiled Kevin Whelan of the infamous indie rock band The Wrens who simultaneously broke the news that his old band would not in-fact release their long-awaited follow-up to 2003’s The Meadowlands, but rather his contributions to the record would be released as his own solo album under the name Aeon Station.
Much to the surprise of pretty much everyone, The Fugees announced a reunion tour in support of the 25th anniversary of The Score and kicked it off with a pop-up show on Wednesday at Pier 17.
Finally, this week’s picture is from the storefront of Superior Elevation in Brooklyn. The basement store was destroyed by Hurricane Ida and they lost about 75% of their collection. They’re currently trying to reopen in a new location before the end of the year, but need some help. Checkout their Go Fund Me for more info.
Albums:
Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine | A Beginner’s Mind
Japanese Breakfast | Sable [Video Game Soundtrack]
Andy Shauf | Wilds
Esperanza Spalding | SONGWRIGHTS APOTHECARY LAB
The Ophelia | Crocus
POP. 1280 | Museum On The Horizon
Miles Davis | The Lost Concert [Live album]
Ringo Starr | Change The World EP
Run the Jewels | RTJ4 [Deluxe Edition]
I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute Album To The Velvet Underground & Nico
Songs:
Parquet Courts | “Black Widow Spider”
Bartees Strange | “Weights”
Aeon Station | “Queens”
cupcakKe | “Marge Simpson”
Angel Olsen | “Cold Blooded Old Times” [Smog cover]
The Besnard Lakes | “Good Morning Captain” [Slint cover]
Neil Young | “See the Sky About to Rain” [Live in 1970]
Guns N’ Roses | “Hard Skool”
Brian Wilson | “God Only Knows”
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2021) here!