Ryan Adams, Andrew Bird, James Blake [week's Top Releases]

Here we are in the second week of October, absolutely flushed with some incredible and incredibly anticipated new releases. This week’s albums range from a soundtrack to an album inspired by the patterns of crystals — from soft twang to throbbing dub-step. The one thing they all have in common, of course, is that we have been waiting for them for a long, long time.

Lucky Now – Ryan Adams

By now, all of the die-hard Ryan Adams fans (read: everyone at The Wild Honey Pie) have heard Ash and Fire via NPR, and we all have the same thing to say about it — it’s really good. A long time has passed since the last Ryan Adams release, and even longer since he returned to his solo work, but the sparseness seems to suit him well. It’s vintage Adams, full of lovely words and gentle music.

Hot Math – Andrew Bird

The trend is becoming more and more common for innovative musicians to try their hands at film composition, so it was about time that Andrew Bird moved over to movies. The soundtrack to the film Norman is composed entirely by Bird and doesn’t seem to stray too far from the heavy layering and already atmospheric tendencies of his previous work.

Crystalline – Bjork

After four years, Björk’s newest album has finally been deemed by the artist as ready for release. Biophilia features items such as a Tesla coil as an instrument and has songs that follow the cycles of the moon. In other words, it’s a pretty typical Björk album and promises to be one of the most interesting things you will listen to all year.

Fall Creek Boys Choir – James Blake and Justin Vernon

There’s no mistake; this is James Blake’s year. He released a spectacular full length and, somewhere between play pretty much every major festival this summer, found time to record and release the Enough Thunder EP. The EP features the beautiful sounds of Blake’s collaboration with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, “Fall Creek Boys Choir”, as well as several new tracks necessary for a Blake completist.

The Walk – Mayer Hawthorne

There isn’t enough great neo-soul in this world, but we don’t have to worry because Mayer Hawthorne is taking care to fill the gaps. The follow up to his spectacular debut, A Strange Arrangement, How Do You Do is another one in the leagues of greatly anticipated records. Hawthorne continues to sing just like old soul singers of the 60s, with that extra urban twist to make it even more interesting.