And just like that, our so-called months of Summer are gone. Whether you spent it inside, abroad or within the muddy confinements of a festival field no one can deny that August wasnt a memorable one. This summer has been all about big releases and in this months round up we have some tasty editions that many of you have been waiting patiently for. Without giving too much away there's a healthy dose of Electronic to stand alongside the usual dose of Urban goodness we like to preach about, so here's our picks from last month:

Four Tet – Pink 

An album with no marketing sees Kieran Hebden (AKA Four Tet) embracing Dance music.

It can’t be denied; here at ATB we love the ethereal music-making machine that is Four Tet and his 2010 release ‘There is Love in You’ made our top ten albums of the year. Laid back peaceful melodies, which hypnotize and entice the listener, what’s not to love?

So how does ‘Pink’ stand up?

As an album it is effectively a collection singles that have been released throughout the year on his own label, Text Records. As a listener ABTB had heard all but ‘Lion’ & ‘Peace on Earth’ through Tet’s soundcloud page. 

‘Locked’ and ‘Peace for Earth’ out of the 8 tracks on the record are the more familiar Four Tet sounding tracks. Whereas the rest have a much stronger dance element, ‘Pyramids’ being a favorite and a strong house track to boot. 

Hardcore fans fear not, despite this change in sound everything is quintessentially Four Tet, 'Pinnacles’ is another highlight, showing off Hebden’s love of instrumentation.

Yes we had heard most of the tracks before and yes it is a short album but ‘Pink’ is another fantastic addition to the Four Tet back catalogue. 

Bring on Brixton Academy and the b2b with Caribou this November.

Jessie Ware - Devotion

There is something equally smooth and elegant to this debut, which has been hugely commended since South Londoner Jessie Ware released this long awaited album on August 20th. A former guest vocalist for the superstars of yesteryear such as SBTRKT and Joker, if you've ever visited this site before, you'll know we've been supporting Miss Ware since the times of 'Nervous' way back in the early stages of 2011. She's the type of talent thats capable of blasting the windows out with such a powerful voice, yet being such a fan of diva's from the Sade and Whitney era she regularly holds back, well-aware that she has the ability to vary her range to sound as powerful or as moving as she wants.

Devotion manages to exude a combination of modern street style and masterful soulfulness intertwined with beautiful melodies which form a great showcase for Ware's naturally sultry vocals, a great facet which has only been heightened through the principal production from three men; Dave Okumu of UK band 'The Invisible', Bristol's electronic don Julio Bashmore, and singer-songwriter Kid Harpoon, who's co-written songs for Florence and the Machine.

Quitely working its magic in a somewhat surprising way, it must be said we were expecting at least one or two more club worthy additions to the album, particularly with her prroven track record, but nevertheless this is a genuinely brilliant and unsurprisingly credible debut from a UK singer who now has the world at her feet. Without doubt one of 2012's finest albums.

 

The Dream – Dope Bitch Feat. Pusha-T

So The Dream's much anticipated, long awaited ‘The Love IV MMXII’ album was set to drop on August 14^th. Up until that point we were yet to receive a tracklist, an album cover, or any information pertaining to the album. Def Jam's website and The-Dream's website were officially staying hush hush on the matter. Did they forget about it? Because we didn’t, in fact we've been waiting two whole years for this!

There’s a lot of things you may not know about Terius Nash, first off he’s the man behind Rihanna and Justin Bieber’s biggest hits to date 'Umbrella’ and ‘Baby’. Not forgetting he was married to former R&B ‘it’ girl Christina Milian, of ‘Dip It Low’ fame (in that bathing suit, how could we forget?) but one thing we love about the Grammy Winner is his inability to be afraid to do music exactly how he wants to, which is exemplified by what he’s done with his latest music video.

Featuring legendary rapper Pusha T, the visuals for feelgood summer anthem ‘Dope Bitch’ dropped last week and does not disappoint. Riding with a variety of ‘bad bitches’ in a classic car whilst also standing aloft a mound of cocaine alongside Senior Pusha, there’s guns, girls and enough money to make sure this glossy video stays explicit enough to stay off the music channels for as long as the Singer Songwriter wants. Seriously dope shit.

The Dream’s Fourth Album Dream’s The Love IV MMXII finally drops September 20th.

Honourable Mentions (by Charlie)

JJ DOOM – Guv’Nor

A truly inspired video for the mask clad alternative rapper. He has yet again been at the front of some bad press with ImposterDOOM appearing at his shows, but he argues anyone can be behind the mask and he is not just a rapper but also a musical director. Hmm, not convinced but no doubt this video is tight and his lyrics are unstoppably different and inspired.

EJECA – Around U Baby

A delightfully upbeat house track which is also up for free on EJECA’s soundcloud. Sure to be doing the rounds in the Shoreditch area. 

Calyx & Teebee – Elevate This Sound

A tasty slice of DnB for ya, realeased on Ram Records so you know it’s the shit. The Youtube community is deep in argument about the vocals; some claiming that it’s purposely radio friendly and commercial, the others telling the doubters to suck a fat one. Either way its been on the ATB speakers and the deep bass line and high end production have been a delight to our ears. 

Last but not least the official, Vice-backed Noisey produced video for Bondax’s – 'Baby I Got That' is out and its schaweet. Sexy imagery for that sexy track produced by those two loveable sexy youngsters. 

Honourable mentions (by Nicole)

Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools, No matter where this is played at a House Party or Rave, you gotta 'Pour (Drank) Headshot (Drank) Shit Down (Drank) Stand up (Drank) '

Karma Kid - Lust, love - Filled with layers of sultry vocals over a grooving baseline, aged 18, karma kid provides  us with this club ready hit in this ever expanding UK- Bass scene.

Jhene Aiko - 3:16AM, The visuals, the song and her voice master an airy ,dark & captivating insight into her wildest thoughts. A truly beautiful song.

(Mikey, Charlies & Nicole)