Usually August tends to be a dumping ground for labels to crap out all their minor releases before hitting the major buying season in September. At first glance, this August looks no different. But once you peel back the releases by American Idol rejects and , you'll find this August may actually have a lot to offer.
1.
Kayne West - Graduation - If his young folks cover is any indication of what we're going to expect for Senior West, this release is not only the most anticipated of the month but one of the most anticipated of the year. (21st)
2.
Pink Floyd - Pipers At The Gates of Dawn (3CD) - The Floyd gets the royal treatment on this 2CD/1 DVD package, remastered and including an entire album of B-Sides. (28th)
3.
Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklights - The first single has mixed reactions. But after the amazing reception of last year's solo album by lead singer Jenny Lewis...there's a lot at stake on this release.(21st)
4.
Cake - B-Sides and Rarieties - Cake may do covers better than they do original songs. Just listen to their cover of Barry White's
Never Gonna Give You Up. This release is 90% covers. It has to be good.(14th)
5.
The New Pornographers - Challengers - Their first release came in with a whisper. Their second release was a critical smash. Their third release was highly anticipated but failed to reach expectations. With their fourth release bring them back to stardom...or will it basically enforce that each member stick to their day jobs. (21st)
6.
Talib Kweli - Ear Drum - Hip-Hop is dying. Common's album is the first bright spot in a dormant year. With Kayne and Kweli in August, the times they are a changin'. (21st)
7.
Earlimart - Mentor Tormentor - Grandaddy's protege has outlasted its mentor. How will their Central Valley drugged out lo-fi stand-up after a 4-year hiatus? We're all excited to find out! (21st)
8.
Art in Manila - Set The Woods on Fire - Adrianne Verhoeven (of The Anniversary) teams with Azure Ray singer (Orenda Fink) for a side project of epic proportions.(7th)
9.
Junior Senior -
Hey Hey My My Yo Yo - The gayest ( and I mean that in the nicest way) dancing duo returns to prove that the campiness of their first release was no fluke.(14th)
10.
Blaqk Audio - CexCells - Davey Havoc of AFI falls in love with a synthesizer and has sex with it...records the sex, and is now releasing it for you to hear.(14th)
11.
Northern State - Can I Keep This Pen? - Their last album was flatter than Paris Hilton's....personality. But Adrock is behind the boards on this one. If anything, it has to be better than the new Beastie Boys. (28th)
Other releases of note: Okkervil River - Stage Names(7th), Architechure in Helsinki - Place Like This(21st), M.I.A. - Kala(21st), Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass(28th), Ben Harper - Lifelines(28th), The Liars - Liars(28th), VHS or Beta - Bring On The Comets(28th).
Coming up with a "best of" list for Jenny Lewis is more complicated than it seems. Jenny has had such a rich, complex musical career, it's challenging to narrow it down to one specific aspect. First you have her stint with Rilo Kiley, an amazing noughties band, which only cracked the surface for exposure. You have her solo career, which is really only one album, since Rabbit Fur Coat is more of a collaboration album with the Watson Twins and Jenny and Johnny is a duet album with Jonathan Rice. Then there are all her guest appearance for bands like Postal Service, Bright Eyes, and Elvis Costello. So where do I start? Should I do an exhaustive list of all the best songs of Rilo Kiley or just a slice of her solo section? What about her movies and TV shows? I couldn't decide...so let's just do them all.
The 11 Best Songs By Jenny Lewis:
