Well, summer is over, so we're all done with "summer jams." But music isn't over! Music never ends! And there are some excellent albums coming up in the next few months. Want to listen to some of them?

Unfortunately, the best song of the year, "Watagatapitusberry," has already come and gone. But here's a selection of stuff coming out between now and December—some of it really big, some of it really little, some of it sort of medium-sized. Note that some of these may not be released on their scheduled dates, and some might not see the light of day at all!

September

Body Talk Pt. 2 by Robyn
 Sept. 7 on Konichiwa
What it is: The second mini-album in 2010 from the independent Swedish pop star. You know, the kind it's "okay to like," if you care about that kind of thing.
What it sounds like: Beautiful wistful Euro dance-pop made by your best friend, who you're maybe a little bit in love with.
What it's perfect for: House parties after everyone's had a couple drinks but no one is dancing yet.

A Thousand Suns by Linkin Park
 Sept. 14 on Warner Bros.
What it is: The first album since 2007 from the rather angry California rap-rock band who made the Miami Vice trailer so delightful.
What it sounds like: Angry bits, and then very pretty bits, and then very angry bits, and then some sort of rappy bits.
What it's perfect for: Fighting with your parents and soundtracking your 9/11 truther videos.

Fields by Junip
 Sept. 14 on Mute
What it is: Swedish acoustic troubadour José González's old band reunites, makes Krautrock-ish album.
What it sounds like: Being stoned the perfect amount, but not telling anyone, and just, like, thinking about stuff, while everyone else talks.
What it's perfect for: The first Fall evening you have to wear your jacket while hanging out with your friends on the porch.

Business Casual by Chromeo
 Sept. 14 on Green Label Sound/Atlantic
 What it is: The Montreal electro-funk/boogie duo's followup to breakout Fancy Footwork, on, uh, Mountain Dew's label. The soda!
What it sounds like: Like if there were two other Troutman (of Zapp fame) brothers, and they were insufferable hipsters, and one was getting a doctorate in comparative literature. (This track, "Night by Night" is available for download at the link above.
What it's perfect for: Bringing babes back to your apartment for a little "one-on-one" (making out).

A Year Without Rain by Selena Gomez and the Scene
 Sept. 21 on Hollywood Records
What it is: Is this the chick from That's So Raven? No? She was definitely on a show on the Disney channel, and now she is being a singer. If she fails they will force her to work Disney World in a Goofy costume.
What it sounds like: The music they play in clubs that only exist in music videos.
What it's perfect for: When you need lyrics to write down on the cover of your biology textbook.

Love Remains by How to Dress Well
 Sept. 21 on Lefse Records
What it is: German grad student Tom Krell's chill-and-blues project gets its first full-length after a series of rad online-only EPs.
What it sounds like: Ghosts came to visit you! And they want to sing to you! And they seem pretty nice, but they are ghosts, and sort of sad.
What it's perfect for: Crying softly while dancing, alone, in clothing of the opposite gender.

From the Cradle to the Rave by Shit Robot
 Sept. 21 on DFA Records
What it is: A full-length album from the "godfather" of Brooklyn dance label DFA, Irishman Marcus Lambkin.
What it sounds like: You have been chosen as the first astronaut to visit Mars, in 1985. You are a chimpanzee. You will not return.
What it's perfect for: A house party after all the drinks are gone and everyone keeps going into the bathroom in groups and you can't figure out why.

Hands All Over by Maroon 5
 Sept. 21 on A&M/Octone
What it is: The blue-eyed L.A. funk band tries to rewrite "She Will Be Loved" for their third album.
What it sounds like: Phil Collins moves to L.A., learns to surf, and roadies for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
What it's perfect for: Reenacting that scene in American Psycho when you don't have Huey Lewis on hand.

The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted by Gucci Mane
 SeptemBURR 28 on Warner Bros
What it is: Rapper/jewelry owner Gucci Mane does what he's been doing for years, but on a "real" album instead of a mixtape.
What it sounds like: A drunk reptile of some kind wants to tell you what time it is, in rhyme. He is very charming.
What it's perfect for: Hotboxing your mom's car behind the 7-11.

Forget by Twin Shadow
 Sept. 28 on Terrible Records
What it is: The debut album from retro-ish Brooklyn synth-popper George Lewis Jr.
What it sounds like: How you feel when you're nervous about going out and you're trying to get your hair just right and it's not really working and you spend the whole night glancing at the mirror behind the bar.
What it's perfect for: Having a teenager-type feeling about life when you're in your 20s.

TM 103 by Jeezy
 Sept. 28 (LOL) on Def Jam
 What it is: Jeezy, née "Young Jeezy," finally drops the third part in his lecture series "Thug Motivation." The dope boys will just go crazy.
What it sounds like: Someone just invented a language made up entirely of vowels, old horror movie soundtracks, and snare drums.
What it's perfect for: When you feel you don't really know enough about the motivation of thugs.

Second Chance by El DeBarge
 Sept. 28 on Interscope
What it is: OMG OMG OMG OMG EL DEBARGE IS BACK! (You know El, right? Debarge? With the moustache, and the hair? "Who's Johnny"? "I Like It" with DJ Quik? Addicted to smack? Was in prison?)
What it sounds like: Unfortunately, not enough like "Who's Johnny," but, come on, it's El Debarge.
What it's perfect for: Bringing babes back to your apartment for a little "one-on-one" (actual sex).

October

The Other Side of Down by David Archuleta
 Oct. 5 on Jive
What it is: American Idol runner-up and not-gay Mormon 10-year-old David Archuleta singing various songs, recorded, and available to listen to on the medium of your choice.
What it sounds like: The death of my ability to ironically pretend to like something just to be contrarian.
What it's perfect for: Who the fuck knows?

Libra Scale by Ne-Yo
 Oct. 5 on Def Jam
What it is: R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo—who was, for a minute there, the best songwriter in the business—is releasing a concept album about, like, anime? Sigh.
What it sounds like: Judging by the first two singles, boring house-n-b. The third one isn't awful, though! But, yeah, sigh.
What it's perfect for: Bringing babes back to your apartment for a little "one-on-one" (but failing miserably after you take out your action figure collection).

The Naked Soul of Sweet James Jones by Pimp C
 Oct. 5 on Rap-A-Lot
 What it is: The (first) posthumous album from Houston's Pimp C, one half of the legendary UGK, and one of the great rappers of the last couple decades.
What it sounds like: The voice of God, rapping, about being fucked up. (Warning: There is a song with Drake on it! But, hopefully, it's the only bad track on the album.)
What it's perfect for: Being drunk and kind of punchy but too drunk to actually fight anyone, so you just sit in the backseat and yell at people out the window.

Marnie Stern by Marnie Stern
 Oct. 5 on Kill Rock Stars
What it is: Finger-tapping bad-ass Marnie Stern's first album since her 2008 breakthrough, which has a title that is too long for me to write.
What it sounds like: If you taught a hive of bees about Riot Grrls, and then gave them a cruddy guitar and amp and a bunch of noise records, and then came back a few millennia later, when they had evolved.
What it's perfect for: Going skinny-dipping in the quarry right before dawn.

The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens
 Oct. 12 on Asthmatic Kitty Records
What it is: Remember when this guy was going to release 50 concept albums, one for each state, starting with Michigan in 2003 and then Illinois in 2005? Looks like the U.S. won that little game, "Sufjan." Unless "The Age of Adz" is a state, which I am 90 percent sure it is not.
What it sounds like: Delicate singing about stuff that I am pretty sure is a metaphor for Jesus.
What it's perfect for: Having quietly earnest conversations about God and soundtracking your dysfunctional-family movie.

Swanlights by Antony and the Johnsons
 Oct. 12 on Secretly Canadian
What it is: Singer-songwriter Antony Hegarty returns with his second album in two years (and second release this year after an EP). Bjork is on it! There is also an "art book," of course.
What it sounds like: Well, basically what you would expect from an album that has an accompanying "art book." Needs more house music!
What it's perfect for: Smoking cigarettes and looking out the window at stuff, clouds mostly.

Come Around Sundown by Kings of Leon
 Oct. 19 on RCA
What it is: These guys are, like, the biggest rock band in the world that doesn't have a Disney channel show, right? Well, they have a new album.
What it sounds like: You know that move that people do, when they listen to some music? Where they, like, jut their heads forward, rhythmically? That is what this sounds like. That move.
What it's perfect for: Putting on in the car on the way to school and trying to convince your kids that you're into modern rock music.

Basic Instinct by Ciara
 Oct. 19 on La Face
What it is: R&B singer Ciara's new album, co-produced and co-written by The-Dream, who, if you have not heard, is the shit.
What it sounds like: Riding in a limousine made out of chinchilla fur—like, the whole limo, even the tires. And your driver is the guy from the Grey Poupon ads.
What it's perfect for: Getting ready to go out the weekend after your significant other dumped you.

Speak Now by Taylor Swift
 Oct. 26 on Big Machine Records
What it is: Taylor Swift, who is either the most important thing to happen to music, ever, or the death of feminism, forever, has a new album. It will make a shitload of money.
What it sounds like: You haven't seen your niece in a few years, and you finally get a chance, and it turns out she's already smarter and more self-assured than you, and she's into different stuff than you were at her age, and it makes you feel sort of sad and nostalgic.
What it's perfect for: Driving around town the last week you'll be able to do so with the windows down.

November

Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West
 Nov. 16 on Roc-a-Fella
What it is: A soft-spoken concept album about Jane Austen's novel Emma. Ha, ha, just kidding. This is Kanye West's new album! It is a loud bombastic concept album about Jane Austen's novel Emma. (Note: Only in a theoretical sense.)
What it sounds like: Well, it sounds more like "old" Kanye than "new" Kanye, so far. Which is a good thing! But: I miss the mullet.
What it's perfect for: Parties where you need to act more drunk than you actually are.

Nothing Like This by Rascal Flatts
 Nov. 16 on Big Machine Records
What it is: The country superstars/C.S.I. guest-stars have a new album full of songs about love, and life, and other stuff that music tends to be about.
What it sounds like: Well, fun, mostly. People having fun. And being sort of wistful about life. I don't know. "Real America" mostly likes the same emotions as "fake America," I guess.
What it's perfect for: Barbecues where you drink beer in cozies.

Pink Friday by Nicki Minaj
 Nov. 23 on Cash Money
What it is: Rapper Nicki Minaj has a new album! If you know her, it might be because she murdered Kanye, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, and Bon Iver on Kanye's song "Monster."
What it sounds like: A seven-year-old girl who loves to put on "skits" for all the adults in the room. Except that she knows how to rap.
What it's perfect for: Rapping to yourself in front of the mirror while making silly faces.

Tron: Legacy by Daft Punk
 Release Date Unknown; official website here
What it is: French house producers Daft Punk soundtracked the Tron sequel. Again: Daft Punk soundtracked the Tron sequel.
What it sounds like: Well, what we've heard so far, basically just sounds like a good movie soundtrack. But, in my mind, it will sound like the singularity, occurring on 12/21/2012.
What it's perfect for: Late nights on your computer when you want to pretend all the time you're spending organizing your pornography is actually "hacking."

Many of these records will be good, as well (some of them will not):

Interpol - Interpol (9/7)… Kaleidoscope Heart - Sara Bareilles (9/7)…Mean Old Man - Jerry Lee Lewis (9/7)… Symphony No. 4 - Arvo Part (9/7)…Robert Plant - Band Of Joy (9/14)… Songs From The Road - Leonard Cohen (9/14)… The Drums - The Drums (9/14)… Les Savy Fav - Root For Ruin (9/14)… Nellie McKay - Home Sweet Mobile Home (9/14)… Olivia Newton-John - Grace And Gratitude Renewed (9/14)... Of Montreal - False Priest (9/14)… Trey Songz - Passion, Pain And Pleasure… (9/14)… Weezer - Hurley (9/14)… Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart (9/14)… The Walkmen - Lisbon (9/14)… Black Milk - Album of the Year (9/14)… Abe Vigoda - Crush (9/21)… John Legend/The Roots - Wake Up! (9/21)… N.E.R.D. - Nothing (9/21)… Todd Rundgren - For Lack of Honest Work (9/21)… Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky (9/21)… Nico Muhly - I Drink the Air Before Me (9/21)… Maximum Balloon - Maximum Balloon (9/21)… Liza Minnelli - Confessions (9/21)… Soundgarden - Telephantasm (9/28)… Jimmy Eat World - Invented (9/28)… Ben Folds and Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue (9/28)… Mark Ronson - Record Collection (9/28)… Kenny Chesney - Hemingway's Whiskey (9/28)… Phil Collins - Going Back (9/28)… Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (9/28)… Doobie Brothers - World Gone Crazy (9/28)… Gin Blossoms - No Chocolate Cake (9/28)… Seal - 6: Commitment (9/28)… T.I. - King Uncaged (9/28)… Neil Young - Le Noise (9/28)… Signature Box - John Lennon (10/5)… Bullets In The Gun - Toby Keith (10/5)… Badly Drawn Boy - Photographing Snowflakes… Darius Rucker - Charleston, SC 1966 (10/12)… Simian Mobile Disco - Is Fixed (10/12)… The Orb & David Gilmour - Metallic Spheres (10/12)… The Black Heart Procession - Blood Bunny / Black Rabbit (10/12)... Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (10/19)… Kisses - The Heart Of The Nightlife (10/19)… Kid Cudi - Man On The Mon II: The Legend Of Mr. Rager (10/26)… Destroyer - The Archers On The Beach (11/2)… Brian Eno - Small Craft On a Milk Sea (11/2)… Matt And Kim - Sidewalks (11/2)… Kid Rock - Born Free (11/16)… Stereolab - Not Music (11/16)… Bruce Springsteen - The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story (11/16)…

So: What did we miss? What are you looking forward to? Put more recommendations in the comments!