Massive Attack:

In what will be its first new release in three years, legendary trip-hop duo Massive Attack has announced plans for a four-track EP titled Splitting the Atom. Due for release on October 6th, the effort will feature a bounty of high-profile guests, including TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Horace Andy, Van Rivers & the Subliminal Kid, and Martina Topley-Bird among others. Massive Attack plans to followup the EP with the release of its fifth full-length in February of 2010.

Morphine:

10 years after the passing of frontman Mark Sandman, the jazz-rock band known as Morphine will relive the memories with Morphine: At Your Service on October 6th. Composed of unreleased live tracks, studio recordings, and alternate takes taken from the band’s 10 year existence, the set will feature 35 songs in total and will be available either digitally (for $16.99) or as a two-disk CD (for $24.98). To support the release and commemorate Sandman’s passing, the surviving members will play a memorial concert in Pacific Park in Cambridge, Massachusetts on September 27th.

Loch Lomond:

After spending the last few months touring with the likes of The Decemberists and Blitzen Trapper, Portland’s Loch Lomond will look to cap off 2009 with the release of a brand new EP. Titled Trumpets for Paper Children, the five-track effort is said to reflect a “directness and sharp pop sensibility that was only hinted at previously.” The self-produced EP, which mixed by Tucker Martine (REM, Sufjan Stephens, Laura Viers) and recorded at Mystery Machine Studios by Lee Howard, will hit stores on November 10th via Hush Records.

James Huggins/James Husband:

On October 27th, James Huggins, best known to you and me as the dude who plays all the different instruments in Of Montreal, will make his solo debut, under the name James Husband, with the release of A Parallax I via Polyvinyl. According to Pitchfork, the 12-track effort was recorded between 2003 and 2008 in Athens and Stockholm, with help from his of Montreal bandmate Dottie Alexander, Swedish pop starlet Jenny Wilson, and Andy LeMaster of Now It’s Overhead. Samples of what to expect can currently be heard on Huggins/Husband’s MySpace.

Califone:

Chicago rockers Califone will soon submit its entry for most depressingly titled album of 2009 with the release All My Friends Are Funeral Singers. Due for release on October 6th via Dead Oceans, the 14-track is described as a “dense collage of sounds, expertly formed into fully realized pop songs.” Sounds like the perfect music for film, right? Califone apparently thought so too, and penned a companion film of the same name. Both the album and the film will be featured on the band’s recently announced fall U.S. tour

Beak>:

While a new album from his main outfit is still said to be coming, Portishead producer and multi-instrumentalist Geoff Barrow will devote his attention for the foreseeable future to his brand new project, Beak>. Formed earlier this year, the band also features Billy Fuller and Matt Williams. On October 19th/20th, they’ll make their self-titled debut with an album recorded in one room, without overdubs, over the course of just 12 days — or, the complete opposite of a Portishead recording seasion. For a preview, hit Pitchfork to listen to a track called “I Know”.

Christina Aguilera:

Christina Aguilera is reportedly gearing up for the release of her fourth full-length, rumored to be titled Light & Darkness. And while few specifics are actually available, we now know (via MTV.com) that whenever the the followup to 2006′s Back to Basics hits record shelves, it will probably/most likely/hopefully feature the vocal talents of M.I.A., Santigold, and Ladytron. That’s because Aguilera apparently tapped these music heavy-hitters to help achieve the “eclectic vibe that she’s striving for on the album.” Whether the indie infusion worked will be determined come late 2009 (or early 2010) when Light & Darkness sees, well, light. Then again, this could all be conjecture.

Grooms:

Grooms are a group of three friends out of Brooklyn who play a structurally mutilated brand of noise-pop featuring blissful interplay, sonic experimentation, and song destruction. These facts apparently caught the attention of Brooklyn based label Death By Audio, which has announced plans to release Grooms debut LP, a 10-track effort titled Rejoicer, on October 13th. For a musically pleasing preview, hit Stereogum for a stream of the album’s lead track.

Cotton Jones:

To coincide with the band’s upcoming fall tour, Cotton Jones, aka the recording alias for Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw, will release a brand new EP on September 8th. Entitled Rio Ranger, the five-track collection of “sweeping AM Radio style singalongs” will be released asa a limited edition, 1000-copy, hand-made Art-Book. Rio Ranger is the third in a set of three such books dating back to the first ever Cotton Jones material, released in 2007 under the band’s original moniker The Cotton Jones Basket Ride. The EP and all other Cotton Jones related merch can be had at Quite Scientific Records.

Annie:

Pop star Annie has finally wrapped up the finishing touches on her latest album Don’t Stop. If you remember, last year the singer released the tracklist for this very album, but due to some unexpected events, like parting ways with Island Records, the followup to 2004′s Anniemal has been delayed for quite a while. Finally, after a complete revamp of the album, the Norwegian will unveil the 12-track Don’t Stop beginning November 17th via Olso’s Smalltown Supersound. The album includes collaborations with Paul Epworth, Brian Higgins, Richard X, Timo Kaukolampi, and Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapronas.

Port O’Brien:

Port O’Brien initially went into the recording of the followup to last year’s All We Could Do Was Sing thinking the result would be something “light-hearted and loose.” However, following the death of co-founder Cambria Goodwin’s younger brother, the album quickly became something of multi-emotional affair. Titled threadbare, half of the album is described as ” dark and introspective,” the product of recording at their friend Jason Quever of Papercuts’ living room studio in San Francisco in the weeks following the death. The other half is “more celebratory and rhythmic,” reflecting the “realization of the liberation that follows in the wake of making active changes in one’s life following tragedy.” threadbare hits stores on October 6th via TBD Records and will be supported by a U.S. tour.

Lissy Trullie:

Much talked about New York singer/songwriter Lissy Trullie has signed with Downtown Records and will re-release her critically acclaimed debut Self-Taught Learner with a mix of four new and previously unreleased compositions beginning October 20th. The new songs include the original compositions “Don’t To Do”, “You Bleed You”, “Hold Your Head”, and a duet cover of Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend” recorded with Adam Green. And while her cover of Hot Chip’s “Ready for the Floor” did not make the cut, it will be heard on Jennifer’s Body, the newest film from Juno creator Diablo Cody, on September 18th. What’s more, in the fall Lissy Trullie will begin work recording her full-length debut with producer Bernard Butler — scheduled for release on Downtown in early 2010.

Headlights:

On October 6th, the pride and joy of Campaign, Illinois, Headlights, will unveil what is billed as the band’s “most arresting music yet” with the release of Wildlife. The 11-track effort is the result of a few tumultuous months for the Headlines, ones which saw failed recording sessions and the departure of guitarist John Owen. “We had been so distracted by the issues that were going on internally, that we stopped thinking about what we were writing, what exactly we were doing, what we were saying, and all the questions you should be asking,” Fein explains.

The group finally figured things out and recorded an album that seeks to consolidate the its acclaimed song into something “more nuanced and confidential.” “For the first time this is a significantly personal record for us, and for very real reasons like growing up and people dying that you love,” Wraight goes on to note. As a result, expect one emotionally packed and complex album.

Thao with The Get Down Stay Down:

Hope to avoid that dreaded sophomore slump following the release of 2008′s uber successful We Brave Bee Stings and All, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down recently hit the studio with super producer Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Bill Frisell, Jim James) and guests Andrew Bird, Blitzen Trapper’s Eric Earley, Laura Veirs, Horse Feathers’ Nathan Crockett, and tUnE-YaRdS. The end result is Know Better Learn Faster, a 13-track effort that spans all genres and influences, “all the while staying faithful to their distinct style, sharp wit, and the infectious and enamoring exuberance of their renowned live shows.” Sound intriguing? Pick it up beginning October 13th via Kill Rock Stars.

Themselves:

Eight months after reuniting and seven months after releasing a free mixtape, theFREEhoudini, Oakland’s Themselves will unveil their first proper studio album in seven years. Entitled CrownsDown, the 10-track effort will hit record stores on October 20th via anticon. According to an issued press release, the album is a “return to form and a honing of what’s come before” that sees the hip-hop duo of Doseone and Jel holding nothing back, “welding brute skill to a concrete set of tracks that represents an essential ten commandments of rap.” While you’re waiting, theFREEhoudini is still available for download via anticon.com.

Sea Wolf:

After presenting us with Leaves in the River in 2007, Los Angeles indie rock outfit Sea Wolf will return on September 22 with White Water, White Bloom. River, Sea, Water … I’m sensing a trend! Produced by Monster of Folk’s Mike Mogis, the 10-track effort was penned solely by frontman Alex Brown Church, but will feature the talents of a full band, including keyboardist Lisa Fendelander, bassist Ted Liscinski, and drummer Joey Ficken.

The “raw” and “dynamic” energy that the foursome developed through extensive touring is said to be reflective throughout, resulting in an album described as this: “Set against the changing of seasons, the record unfolds like an epic poem over 10 tracks. Pulsing with evocations of nature at its most elemental, Sea Wolf’s songs are filled with vivid imagery and a cinematic sense of movement.”

El Perro Del Mar:

Sweden-based El Perro Del Mar, known informally as Sarah Assbring, will unveil her third full-length album, Love Is Not Pop, on October 20 via Control Group. Described as a, “conscious step away from what I did on my last album,” the seven-track effort is Assbring’s attempt to, “look further into ways of writing and expressing myself.” As a result, “the mindset is darker and the soundscape mysteriously groovy,” she goes on to explain. Rasmus Hägg, the other half of the acclaimed Swedish duo Studio, served as co-producer.

Music Go Music:

The Los Angeles trio known as Music Go Music will make its full-length debut on October 6 with the release of Expressions via Secretly Canadian. The band describes its music as visual and funky pop, and based on the album’s first single that’s probably what you can expect to hear throughout the nine-track effort. There’s also this little anecdote worth mentioning: “No happier thought passes through our minds than that of a bevy of middle-aged women dancing to our music,” Music Go Music proclaims. I think we can all get behind that.