COMING SOON
20 things worth a look in September
Here are some of the best new releases in books, music, movies and more on the horizon in September. This entire list this month could have been notable albums — ’tis the season and all. Take a look at the Statesman pop culture blog Check It Out at culture.blog.austin360.com for weekly updates featuring even more albums, movies, books, comics and TV shows. As always, dates are subject to change without notice.
1. “Jerusalem” by Alan
Moore (Liveright). At 1 million words, perhaps this is one for the e-reader. But get ahold of this monster in whatever format, as one of the greatest fantasists of his generation (“Watchmen,” “From Hell” and so many other groundbreaking comics) delivers a surreal survey of his home of Northampton, England. A sprawling, post-modern epic in the let’s-write-about-everything tradition, it mixes fantasy, poetry, historical fiction and scifi. Look for passages that read like Joyce, appearances by Oliver Cromwell and Philip Doddridge, overlapping Dickensian storylines and world-building as only Moore can deliver. This one may be a very big deal for fans of Michael Moorcock, giant beards, extremely complicated comic books, James Michener, William Blake, Thomas Pynchon and guys who might worship snake gods. (Sept. 13)
2. “Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero” (Chicago Review Press). Former American-Statesman pop critic Ed Ward takes on the story of one of the greatest American rock guitarists, the man who ushered in Dylan’s electric period and so much more. (Sept. 2)
3. “Narcos” (Netflix). Round two of the acclaimed Netflix drama chronicling the story of 1980s drug kingpins such as Pablo Escobar and the efforts to stop them. (Sept. 2)
4. The Meters, “A Message from the Meters: The Complete Josie, Reprise & Warner Bros. Singles 1968-1977” (Real Gone
Music). Forty songs by one of the best (or perhaps absolutely the best) funk band in human history — every A and B-side of every single that the Meters produced for three labels. Some of the greatest American music ever made
in any genre. (Sept. 2)
5. “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race” by Margot Lee Shetterly (William
Morrow). The true story of the African-American, female mathematicians at NASA whose work helped some of America’s greatest achievements in space. You might have seen a trailer for the movie based on this story starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst and Kevin Costner. (Sept. 6)
6. “Atlanta” (FX). The new comedy from Donald Glover (“Community”) about a fellow who goes back home to Atlanta only to see his cousin’s rap career explode. (Sept. 6) 7. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “Skeleton Tree” (Bad Seed Ltd.) The band’s first studio album since 2013 and first since the tragic, accidental death of Cave’s 15-year-old son. It is entirely possible that this album will be too intense to listen to, but his fans look forward to trying. (Sept. 9)
8. M.I.A., “A.I.M.” (Interscope). Four singles are already circulating from the fifth album from this groundbreaking rapper. (Sept. 9) 9. Okkervil River, “Away” (ATO). Reeling from some personal issues, Okkervil leader (and former Austinite) Will Sheff recruits Marissa Nadler and former bandmate (and Shearwater leader) Jonathan Meiburg for some of his most profoundly personal songs. (Sept. 9) 10. Wilco, “Schmilco” (dBPm/ANTI- /Epitaph). Man, that is a perfect title. It’s at least as good a name as the last album, which was called “Star Wars.” (Sept. 9)
11. Against Me!, “Shape Shift With Me” (Total Treble). The seventh album from Laura Jane Grace and company. Expect a whole mess of anthems. (Sept. 16)
12. Willie Nelson, “For the Good Times: A Tribute to Ray Price” (Legacy Recordings). For his second album of 2016 and his 68th studio album overall, ol’ Willie delivers a tribute to the late, great singer, recorded at Ocean Way, where Price cut his final album. Vince Gill guest stars. (Sept. 16) 13. “High Maintenance” (HBO). The web series about a New York marijuana dealer makes the jump to HBO for a six-episode run. (Sept. 16) 14. “The Good Place”
(NBC). “Parks and Recreation” creator Mike Schur delivers Kristen Bell as a dead woman who finds herself in a better afterlife than she thinks she deserves. Ted Danson co-stars. (Sept. 19)
15. “Pitch” (Fox). A young pitcher (Kylie Bunbury) who has mastered the ancient art of the screwball joins the San Diego Padres as the first woman to play in the majors. The show has Major League Baseball’s endorsement, so look for actual team uniforms. With Bob Balaban, Ali Larter, Mark Consuelos and probably a lot of
fist-pumping and tears from viewers. (Sept. 22)
16. Randy Newman, “The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 3” (Nonesuch). The third volume of stripped-down, man-anda-piano versions of Newman’s own classics; this edition features “Short People,” “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and “I Love L.A.” Nonesuch will release a four LP boxset — featuring re-sequenced versions of all three volumes — at the same time. (Sept. 23)
17. Bruce Springsteen, “Born to Run” (Simon & Schuster). This memoir is pretty much the most anticipated music book of 2016, especially by a certain generation of rock fans over, say, 44 years of age. (Sept. 27) 18. Bon Iver, “22, A Million” ( Jagaguwar). It’s been five years since occasional Kanye West collaborator Justin Vernon, doing business as Bon Iver, cut an album. This one has titles such as “33 ‘GOD’” and “21
M∞N WATER,” so we’ll see how this goes. (Sept. 30) 19. Pixies, “Head Carrier” (PAIS Music). This is the first Pixies album to feature touring bassist Paz Lenchantin as a full member; her voice can be heard on “All I Think About Now,” which is a song about former Pixies bassist/Breeders leader Kim Deal, which might very well set a new standard for musical trolling. (Sept. 30) 20. “Luke Cage” (Netflix). Netflix’s third Marvel TV series (and the one with by far the best trailers) stars Mike Colter as Cage, a man with super strength and unbreakable skin. With a majority African-American cast (including Mahershala Ali, Alfre Woodard and Simone Missick) and (this is important) writing room, showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker has called the program “pretty much the blackest show in the history of TV.” (Sept. 30)