A long overdue recap of recent artist launches

We’ve been so focused on building software that we’ve slacked on posting about some of the awesome music being put recently out by artist on the Topspin platform. Our sincerest apologies.

August saw a diverse set of offers from some of the best of the genres of hip-hop (Blue Scholars and Matisyahu) to acapella (Straight No Chaser) to pop (Ingrid Michaelson). Robbie and Tyler (who also collaborated on Radical Dads) from indie gods Clap Your Hands Say Yeah collaborated with Annie Hart of Au Revoire Simone and a few other friends to create Uninhabitable Mansions. Long time Topspinner Imaad Wasif put out a personal favorite: The Voidist.

September was even more release-heavy, from artists big and small.

Spoon re-released four of their early albums direct-to-fan, marking the first time these albums are available in much of the world. Many in my generation first got to know Spoon through their single “The Way We Get By” from their 2002 release, Kill The Moonlight (included in these re-releases), but they had three fantastic records before that as well. Now you can discover these albums (again, for some of the bigger fans) and pick up some era-specific merch as well (and look really cool when you send your friends postcards from 1998).

Also on the blast-from-the-past front was the fourth installment of Beastie Boys reissues, Hello Nasty. Most remember the record for for it’s mega-hit “Intergalactic,” but the album as a whole is downright sick. Oh, and this time around you get a total of 43 (!) tracks including B-sides and rarities. We all send our best wishes to Adam Yauch (MCA) in his recovery from cancer.

Weezer put out a series of live shows from their latest tour with Blink-182. These shows included a slew of old favorites (from “Say It Ain’t So” to “Island In The Sun”) and even the new single “If You’re Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)” off their forthcoming album Raditude (stay tuned for some very special custom loungewear ).

Taking a page from Fanfarlo’s playbook, Scottish rockers Flood Of Red released their debut record “Leaving Everything Behind” direct through their website for only $1 for the month leading up to retail street date. Unlike Fanfarlo, however, they’ve released some great higher-end packages at the same time — and people have been buying them up!

We’ve mentioned it previously, but star-of-the-Sundance-crowd Cory McAbee made his latest film Stingray Sam available for sale on his website, and is now touring it around the country. I was lucky enough to attend a showing in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and had a roaring good time. The film is episodic in nature, and designed so that it’s easily viewed and digested on mobile devices. Fitting, then, that you can download it in iPod-compatible formats for your train ride to work.

On the indie side of the music business, Pitchfork-faves Cymbals Eat Guitars released their debut Why There Are Mountains direct through their site. The raw and dirty sound might scare some folks off, but their songwriting really is incredibly tight and, from what I’m told, they back it up live.

Other September launches included Perez Hilton fave Har Mar Superstar, New York soul-rockers The Little Death, pop-punk kids The Summer Set (who already sold out of their super deluxe package!), electro-heads Bassnectar and Way Out West, country star Big Kenny, and even our own Peter Brambl’s project The Silver Pesos began giving away material from their forthcoming debut (and were recently featured on KCRW).

October is only halfway over, but we’ve had too many great releases already to contain our excitement.

We’ve got our first dose of bluegrass from Del McCoury Band, who have released a new record, Family Circle, in celebration of 50 years of Del McCoury. It’s an honor to have such a legend using our platform, and the music continues to be nothing short of wonderful.

You may have heard the news already, but New Order front man Bernard Sumner is back with a new band called Bad Lieutenant. Sumner is joined by a decidedly younger cast to bring a fresh sound to his timeless lyrics and guitar riffs.

Known for one of the best live shows on earth, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have put out a live album that’s been a dream of theirs for years. Not only did they release an album, they’ve also included an accompanying live DVD (available both digitally and physically) so you can get the full experience of a BRMC show. Designer Parker Todd Brooks of We Are Everywhere did a bang-up job with an alpha version of our alpha API.

Similarly, The Golden Filter used our alpha API to give away their new single “Thunderbird” (and a dub remix) for free through their website, and you’d never know it wasn’t the band’s own custom technology powering the download (as we’ve always dreamed of Topspin feeling). The band has seen great success from the mp3 giveaway, holding down top spots on HypeMachine and Elbo.ws for the week following the release, and recently receiving airtime on BBC Radio 1. Expect many more big things from this Brooklyn duo.

Continuing the theme of free giveaways, legend Tom Waits is giving away the first 8 tracks from his new record, Glitter and Doom Live, free. How can you turn that down? Also giving tracks away are rap group Get Busy Committee, who will soon be releasing their debut on uzi-shaped USB sticks (yes, seriously).

Lots more excitement is in the pipeline for the rest of the year, but you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out what the future holds