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The 9 best albums released in October 2017

Stick these in your earholes

This is the moment now. The cut off point where most real albums stop getting released for the rest of the year, instead to be replaced by deluxe editions, another Take That Best Of or big band covers album by the likes of Jason Fucking Manford.

So let’s just be grateful for October shall we? There was the obvious stuff, course, you’ve probably already made up your mind about whether the St. Vincent album was/wasn’t better than Kelela’s and had a good laugh at some of the lyrics on Liam Gallagher’s debut solo album ‘As You Were’.

We’ve done the same, but also been enjoying this lot:

Artist: Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile
Title: Lotta Sea Lice
Label:  Marathon
What is it?  Two alt-rock titans make a hellova combination – and also make some journalists feel very smug by making jokes like “no, not that Kurt ‘n’ Courtney.”
L&Q says: “Even over simple harmonies and finger-picked guitars there’s a richness to the songs, and for all the organic, candid, just-jammin’ vibes, it’s meticulously arranged.”
Read Derek Robertson’s full review

Artist: John Maus
Title: Screen Memories
Label:  Ribbon Music
What is it?  It’s been a while – six years in fact – since John Maus’ last record. In that time he completed a PhD, built a new modular synth and made this record.
L&Q says:  “‘Screen Memories’ is less claustrophobic and more open, like a great, electric, gothic symphony.”
Read Guia Cortassa’s full review

Artist: Dave Clarke
Title: The Desecration of Desire
Label:  BMG
What is it?  The theme of long absences continues… Dave Clarke’s last album came out 14 years ago. This sees him indulge his non-techno tastes in a dark LP featuring Exploded View’s Anika and Mark Lanegan.
L&Q says:  “‘The Desecration of Desire’ buzzes with unexpected elements of harsh noise, heavy industrial, and grinding EBM.”
Read Dafydd Jenkins’ full review

Artist: Baxter Dury
Title: Prince of Tears
Label:  Heavenly
What is it?  Baxter Dury got dumped in 2016. Horrible, except it’s resulted in ‘Prince of Tears’ – his brilliant fifth solo LP is all soft-hearted bravado and sarcastic humour.
L&Q says:  “[On ‘Miami’] Heartbreak can turn you into a delusional coke prick and Dury has fun with the role.”
Read Stuart Stubbs’ full review

Artist: JOHN
Title: Godspeed In the National Limit
Label:  Pets Care
What is it?  JOHN are two fellas from Crystal Palace, one’s called John, the other one is called John, their band is the punk-rock piece-piece John.
L&Q says:  “There are definitely no frills on the album – it’s just seven scorching tracks in the vein of No Age, Fucked Up or Idles.”
Read Greg Cochrane’s full review

Artist: The Plan
Title: Nervous Energy
Label:  Southend Records
What is it?  Something of an Essex supergroup – members of WetDog, Vic Godard’s Subway Sect, Private Trousers and Ghost collaborate on their debut album.
L&Q says:  “Stop/start abrasiveness, melodic intensity, cryptic lyricism and occasional experimentation result in something that sounds like a forgotten obscurity from 1982.”
Read Hayley Scott’s full review

Artist: White Wine
Title: Killer Brilliance
Label: 
What is it?  The Leipzig-based outfit is led by Joe Haege, former member of Tu Fawning and touring player with Menomena. Their sonically creepy new album suggests that we’re all killers in some way.
L&Q says:  “As a collection it feels like visiting a different room in a decaying House of Mirrors where each space contains a more unsettling reflection of humankind.”
Read Greg Cochrane’s full review

Artist: John Carpenter
Title: Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998
Label:  Sacred Bones
What is it?  The legendary horror movie director re-records versions of his most famous haunted soundtracks with his current live band which includes his son.
L&Q says:  “Removed from Carpenter’s films, his magpie-like approach to multi-generic composition is exhilarating.”
Read Luke Cartledge’s full review

Artist: IGLOOGHOST
Title: Neo Wax Bloom
Label:  Brainfeeder
What is it?  The bright, disorientating world the young producer’s created begins to take shape on his debut album. It’s also about a time-traveling worm.
L&Q says:  “The otherworldly quality is brilliant, but it’s the human element creates the tingles.”
Read Stephen Butchard’s full review