The initial premise of the September playlist was going to be “party tunes”, pure and simple (it may or may not have included a Hearsay song), but upon compiling tracks it became apparent that September isn’t just about the glorious cheese of Freshers Week: it’s about transition. The crisp promise of autumn is arriving, but the sun is happily still shining on. Be this your first or your final year at college, the indulgences of freshers week are looming ahead to herald you and friends old and new into academia once more. There have been a slew of releases getting us excited already this month: the first Aphex Twin release in thirteen years, that exquisite Flying Lotus track with Kendrick Lamar, the slinky Cashmere Cat edit of Ariana Grande, the beautiful beats of the new Jessie Ware, not to mention the fuzzy Karen O album. There’s been a lot of love for the gorgeous pop of Kindness, The Kooks came back (and it was actually pretty good), Banks finally released her debut album, and SBTRKT has kept everyone rightly in awe, this time with the hotly-tipped Raury. Tempting as it was to bulk out the rest of the list with Sean Paul, Modjo and other classic dancefloor jams, it seemed more fitting to include other favourite releases of the year so far: Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Dornik and Slow Magic all get a nod. It’s overall a polished, slow, understated sound with airy beats, via some scuzzy guitars and saccharine K-pop. This is September 2014: