Rock and pop: the biggest albums and gigs of autumn 2014

Pharrell, Lady Gaga and Jack White are on tour, Aphex Twin is about to drop an album and Bob Dylan is excavating his Basement Tapes

September

Pharrell
The promotional blitzkrieg for Pharrell Williams’s second studio album, Girl, has included not just this global arena tour but a Williams-curated art exhibition at Paris’s Gallerie Perotin and the launch of a fragrance by Comme des Garcons; such are the spoils of being one of the defining pop figures of our times. The 10m-selling Happy will doubtless make an appearance on the setlist, but rumours insist that, controversially, so will Blurred Lines: the furore over which apparently inspired this “feminist almost-concept” album in the first place. Alexis PetridisManchester Phones4U Arena, 9 September, then touring.
Mercury nominations
The Mercury prize has lost a little of its spark over the last few years: a lack of on-the-night drama combined with strangely indie-centric shortlists has left the event struggling to seem relevant. Last year’s bash was memorable only for the fact the host mispronounced the winner James Blake’s name as James Blunt, so clearly there is room for improvement here. As for the music: expect nominations for Damon Albarn’s Everyday Robots, FKA Twigs’s LP1, Kate Tempest’s Everybody Down and whatever Elbow/Wild Beasts/Metronomy have released this year. Tim JonzeMercury nominations announced 10 September.
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by Alexis Petridis and Tim Jonze via Electronic music | The Guardian