Each month, tons of new music from many taste-spanning genres is released into a fast-consuming, unforgiving market; it can be tough to get a handle on what’s new before it’s on to the next. In an attempt to highlight the standout releases, at the end of each month, AUX staff re-cap the month in Punk, Metal, Indie/Pop/Rock, Hip Hop, Electronic, and Pop with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Indie/Rock/Pop Releases:
October

 

Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man

I’ve always loved the battling dynamics in Bat for Lashes’ work; emotion and coldfronts, vulnerability and strength, experimenter and expert. It’s a lot to mull, and on Natasha Khan’s third album as BFL there’s maybe more of it than ever even as she achieves more balance than ever. Her quest for bold artistic statements are tempered with sparser and simpler arrangements, anchored as always by her—yes, I know, sorry—Kate Bush voice. There are still hints of some broader sound experimentation (“Horses of the Sun”), but for now, Khan has settled into her strange skin a bit, and it suits her. (Parlophone)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!

After leaving this charred world of music for sometime, GY!BE reformed for a tour in 2010 that, perhaps inevitably, led to a more permanent reformation and a new album. With a title like Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!, you know what you’re getting from the outset—a charged, anthemic, hopeful and challenging set of tunes, done in the typical long-form instrumental way they do. They believe and they make you believe. In whatever it is you want to ascribe to their sounds—without lyrics it’s both easier and harder to do. It still sounds grim and political (?); it still sounds cathartic and beautiful. After such a long wait, you might have expected a big leap forward for the group, or, you might have expected exactly what this is—a perfect summation of why GY!BE’s unfettered attention span is still so special in an increasingly soundbitten world. (Constellation)

U.S. Girls – GEM

It’s always encouraging to see U.S. Girls, the misleadingly inaccurate name for the solo project from Meghan Remy, get more attention with every release, and with her latest, it’s as justified as ever. Here she’s finally laying her keen pop sensibility as bare as possible for a lo-fi home-recording stalwart who still prefers to keep things murky and fuzzy. There’s a great vintage radio feel here, and even though that might be done almost to death (again?), U.S. Girls keep things weird. (Fat Cat)

Julie Doiron – So Many Days
	I will always be a sucker for the sweet bleakness of Julie Doiron. (Aporia)

Aidan Knight – Small Reveal

Just as Aidan Knight’s sound got bigger (he’s no longer the lone singer-songwriter but backed by a band), he seemed to get gloomier. This juxtaposition makes the most immediate impact on Small Reveal; isolation and inclusiveness, with Knight’s thoughtful, self-examining lyrics buoyed by collaborative, well-oiled parts that fit so well together. Knight’s elaborate stories take their time to unravel in the equally patient arrangements, which themselves are sometimes devastating (The Wooden Sky like “Margaret Downe”), and others, warm and beachy (the Bahamas-sounding “A Mirror”). (Outside)