18 June 2013
Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 publications worldwide. It's updated daily. Albums qualify with 5 reviews, and drop out after 6 weeks into the longer timespan charts.
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King Tuff: King Tuff
Kanye West Yeezus
Don't let the beats fool you with their infectious denseness: Behind the curtain, a very rich and talented man is grasping hard for something new to say Slant Magazine
Yeezus will be remembered as a lot of things — as the Kanye West album with all the screaming; as the apex of rap’s unlikely fascination with Marilyn Manson; as the biggest record of 2013 with no singles — but perhaps most significantly, it’s West’s first willfully imperfect album, the one where he let the stitches show A.V. Club
It all feels intended, which gives further lie to the notion that its maker is either dumb or nuts. Perhaps he just understands better than most of his peers that musical stars are meant to be extraordinary, provocative, divisive, controversial figures The Guardian
One of the most brilliant and vulgar albums of recent times, as its ten tracks perfectly sum up the baffling dualities of the man The Line Of Best Fit
Thundercat Apocalypse
Largely continues in the same euphoric spaced-out jazz funk vein as his debut album, but in its best moments, finds a new focus that proves thrillingly powerful when it all comes together The Fly
When it comes to jazzy soul that sounds like the future more than the past, Thundercat and co-producer Flying Lotus have it nailed Independent on Sunday
An album that brings its catchiest tendencies to the forefront and lets the virtuosic stuff in through side channels Pitchfork
Each listen not only dives deeper into some of the most advanced instrumentalism heard this year, but also dissects each nerve ending of Thundercat’s heart Consequence Of Sound
this album is the full realisation of his talent as a bass player, musician and, most importantly, a songwriter. Apocalypse is, in short, a supreme triumph music OMH
Its melodies sink in deep, its fret-dancing motifs engaging and its vocals slipping between passages of deep-grooved future-funk with beautiful poise and purpose Clash
The Fall Re-Mit
Some of the strange humour and twisted narratives, sorely lacking from their last release Ersatz G.B., are back Sputnik Music (staff)
Camera Obscura Desire Lines
You can’t help but feel that the songwriting here doesn’t manage to justify the underwhelming safety of an LP that’s well within itself Loud And Quiet
Sigur Rós Kveikur
The debt to second-album Ride and – less happily – what Coldplay owe to Sigur Rós has never been more apparent The Arts Desk
No, West isn’t the Second Coming of Steve Jobs or Walt Disney. But he may be the most exciting and unpredictable music maker working in America today Pretty Much Amazing
Surfer Blood Pythons
The main issue with this album is that it is not terrible and it is not brilliant. It is simply there. It’s hard to feel anything other than nonchalance towards ‘Pythons’ This Is Fake DIY
The critics are divided on the change of direction from the Icelandic band following the departure of keyboard player Kjartan Sveinsson. The 405 say it's their loudest, darkest and "best record in a long, long time", and NME say it is "a violent but welcome surprise", but a few reviewers are not 100% convinced
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past four years or so
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Deafheaven Sunbather
Anaïs Mitchell Hadestown
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
PJ Harvey Let England Shake
My Bloody Valentine mbv
Ry Cooder Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city
Arcade Fire The Suburbs
Patty Griffin American Kid