September was a breath of fresh air after a stale summer of music. Plenty of great albums are included here, none of which have cracked my Top 10 overall yet, but a few are chilling in the Top 20 for sure 😉  There were also plenty of other notable records that I didn’t even have time to get to, so if you see any glaring omissions, it’s likely because I just didn’t get to it! Or it’s just bad – your call. Things are listed in alphabetical order as always.

Alvvays – Antisocialites [Polyvinyl]
A group of teenage friends live out the last weeks of their final suburban summer break in  flawlessly attractive fashion. All of them have incredibly complicated relationships with each other, ones that are like, completely believable and real, but we just can’t get into that detail right now, okay?

Ariel Pink – Dedicated To Bobby Jameson [Mexican Summer]
An out-of-town ghoul breaks into a recording studio to make a record based off sounds they’ve heard on the retro radio transmissions coming from below the graves they sleep on top of every night.

The Caretaker – Everywhere At The End Of Time – Stage 3 [self-released]
A tube television in the middle of an abandoned, velvet-laden smoking room struggles to play the hits to no one in particular, despite having one lone, decaying participant sitting comfortably in front of it.

Chelsea Wolfe – Hiss Spun [Sargent House]
A man is lost in a never-ending, pitch-black maze, continuously being called by a female’s voice from around every corner. His search instead yields new horrors at each turn him, immersing him in the eternal macabre while the voice wails away in the darkness.

Faith Healer – Try 😉 [Mint Records]
A roller derby team’s star goes through crisis after a crippling injury, resorting to consultations with the occult to help heal themselves before the next big match.

Four Tet – New Energy [Text Records]
Only on the descent to reach 10,000 feet beneath the ocean, amongst the pulsing lights of angler fish and cuttlefish, can you find your truest, most organic peace.

Giant Claw – Soft Channel [Orange Milk Records]
The recording of a symphony written and performed in the room where the Eyewitness intro was filmed has fallen down a flight of stairs.

Hundred Waters – Communicating [OWSLA]
A group of scientists observe a collection of crystalline matter growing at the bottom of a lake that slowly breaks apart and floats into space.

Iglooghost – Neo Wax Bloom [Brainfeeder Records]
Playing every video game at once while hurtling down the side of a mountain in a wingsuit.

Nosaj Thing – Parallels [Innovative Leisure]
Every lost thought or sound unnoticed from the daytime bubbles back up and out from sewers and street lights at night, providing an ominous yet organically rhythmic soundtrack for processes after dark.

Omni – Multi-task [Trouble In Mind]
A cowboy, an Elvis impersonator, a librarian, a priest, a skeleton, a bullfighter, an astronaut, a beauty queen and a butler all walk into a bar.

Phoebe Bridgers – Stranger In The Alps [Dead Oceans]
Meeting up with a friend you haven’t seen since high school at the small town bar and hearing their tragic & dramatic stories since the two of you parted ways.

Susanne Sundfør – Music For People In Trouble [Bella Union]
The last human on Earth reflects on their past encounters of human contact and tries to engineer the next generation of living beings to inhabit a nature-reclaimed Earth.

Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet – Ladilikan [World Circuit]
A giant heart beats below the soil, shaking layers of sediment free and allowing nature to flourish amongst a rather uptight environment.

Zola Jesus – Okovi [Sacred Bones]
An immortal, emotionally-tortured vampire tries & fails to resurrect a lost friend in a series of dark magic rituals.

GR8 SONGS OF SEPTEMBER::

• Alex Cameron – “Runnin’ Outta Luck”
• Alvvays – “Dreams Tonite”
• Alvvays – “Saved By A Waif”
• Ariel Pink – “Kitchen Witch”
• Bicep – “Orca”
• Björk – “The Gate”
• Black Belt Eagle Scout – “Soft Stud”
• Burial – “Rodent”
• Chelsea Wolfe – “The Culling”
• Destroyer – “Tinseltown Swimming In Blood”
• Faith Healer – “Sterling Silver”
• Four Tet – “SW9 9SL”
• Giant Claw – “Soft Channel 007”
• Hercules & Love Affair – “Controller (ft. Faris Badwan)”
• Hundred Waters – “Wave To Anchor”
• Jessica Lea Mayfield – “Offa My Hands”
• Kaleida – “Echo Saw You”
• Kamasi Washington – “Knowledge”
• Kedr Livanskiy – “Za Oknom Vesna”
• Kelela – “Frontline”
• Knox Fortune – “Lil Thing”
• Madeline Kenney – “Uncommon”
• Midnight Sister – “Shimmy”
• Mount Kimbie – “Marilyn (ft. Micachu)”
• Myrkur – “Ulvinde”
• Nosaj Thing – “Sister”
• Omni – “Supermoon”
• Phoebe Bridgers – “Motion Sickness”
• St. Vincent – “Los Ageless”
• Superorganism – “Something For Your M.I.N.D.”
• Susanne Sundfør – “Mountaineers”
• Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet – “God Shall Wipe All Tears Away”
• Wand – “White Cat”
• Zola Jesus – “Remains”
• Zola Jesus – “Siphon”