With so much other new music keeping me busy I've barely touched the fall leaks to date, but now I'm starting to dive in. With only one or two listens under my belt for each of these, my opinions will undoubtedly evolve, but here's where my head's at on four of my most-anticipated albums of the fall:

Broadcast - Tender Buttons (out on 9/19). Considering the drums were my favorite part of Haha Sound, the fact that Broadcast became a drummerless duo with this album threw me for a loop. Had Trish Keenan also been one of the emigres, I might have written the band off entirely, but her vocals are still there to glue the band's sound together. Tender Buttons seems to marry the dirtier psychedelic aesthetic of Haha Sound with the stripped-down space-pop of The Noise Made By People. Though there are clearly fewer pieces in each track, the production fills the space - double-tracked vocals, noisy flourishes, etc. - and the programmed beats fit in surprisingly well. The melodies carry the day though, and this will be getting much playtime for sure.

Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom - Days Of Mars (out on 10/4). This bears the DFA logo but there are no beats to be found - instead it's sort of a kraut-synth jam session, definitely much closer to Black Dice on the label's spectrum. There are just four songs on this, the shortest clocking in at 11:15. (A remix of track 1, "Rise," appeared on DFA Compilation #2.) As you might expect, the beautiful melodies and gorgeously layered synths never stop evolving and, despite the lack of beats, there's no shortage of rhythm here. It's all quite hypnotic, and I predict this album will quickly become a late-night mainstay for me.

Deerhoof - The Runners Four (out on 10/11). This was the most disappointing first listen in this bunch - the songs just never seemed to lift off. What I love most about Deerhoof is how they're liable to explode at any moment in a song. This album seemed to have the tension and build-ups but none of the letting loose, and it came off way too straight-up and sedate for me. Perhaps it'll get better with future spins - I sense there's some stuff lurking under the surface with these songs.

The Fiery Furnaces - Rehearsing My Choir (out on 10/25). Hands down the most anticipated album on this list, and without question the weirdest as well. Folks who found Blueberry Boat too strange and uninviting should be advised that it looks like a top 40 record next to this one. That's sort of what I expected - Matt Friedberger was pretty open about this being the new Furnaces album that no one would like, the one featuring the vocals their grandmother Olga Sarantos. (The poppier Bitter Tea is almost done and comes next.) Blueberry Boat had me hooked after one listen - Rehearsing My Choir just has me intrigued. The music never really rocks out, but the songs are just as frantic (if not more so) than the craziest stuff on BB. It'll take a few more spins for me to wrap my head around this - expect more from me on it then. For now, I'll just wonder if/how they'll do this album live.