20 December 2011
Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 publications. It's updated daily. Albums qualify with 5 reviews, and drop out after 6 weeks into the longer timespan charts.
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Tracks the critics are loving: read then listen
" Waveforms flows with typical electro flourishes and polyrhythmic beats before climaxing with a stunning multi-harmony coda" music OMH
Listen on SpotifyListen on grooveshark
" Church is still arguably the best thing they’ve done ... it would thaw the edges of even the coldest of hearts" music OMH
" The memorable point of Something is standout track Ghost Tonight. Polachek's vocal abilities are really something to marvel at" BPM
" Standout track Logos is a deeply nostalgic elegy in which Gabriela’s percussive wizardry really shines through" AU Magazine
" The emotional centerpiece of the record is Backwords, a gorgeous, melancholy number. It’s a stunning, poignant track" The Line Of Best Fit
" The Lights cannot fail to put a smile on your face" Fake DIY
" The Lion's Roar is an epic tune ... an inspiring blend of marching drums, swirling woodwinds and heavy-handed piano chords, all reined in by the sisters’ gorgeous harmonies" Paste
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The ADM rating is a weighted average from our survey of more than 50 sources, taking into account the number of reviews
8.8
The Vermont folk singer-songwriter and guitarist with a "folk opera" album reworking the story of Orpheus and Eurydice
Added: 25/04/2010
Fifth album of hip hop from one of the biggest egos in contemporary rap
Added: 15/11/2010
8.7
The veteran alt.rock songstress enhances the folk rock roots she laid down on 2009's White Chalk with bigger arrangements
Added: 03/02/2011
8.6
Solo album number fifteen from the prolific roots guitarist and eclectic music collaborator
Added: 01/09/2011
8.5
Third album from the Canadian indie rock multi-instrumentalists
Added: 26/07/2010
The 17th album from the gravel-voiced singer-songwriter turns up the urgency
Added: 19/10/2011
Debut album of pop / soul / R&B / futuristic funk from the Kansas singer-songwriter
Added: 08/06/2010
8.4
Third album of new folk - and a triple at that - from the harp-playing Californian bard
Added: 22/02/2010
Fifth album and first for eight years from the Bluegrass singer-songwriter and her partner Dave Rawlings
Added: 24/06/2011
8.3
More diverse sounds, odd experiments and avant-garde ideas from the The New York based loose collective led by Avey Tare and Panda Bear
Added: 08/01/2009
Final posthumous release of the acclaimed guitarist teamed with his fellow Malian kora player
Added: 27/01/2010
New York ambient art rockers with the follow up to 2007's acclaimed Cryptograms
Added: 28/10/2008
Follow-up to the acclaimed For Emma, Forever Ago from the American indie/folk band fronted by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon
Added: 25/05/2011
8.2
Second album of experimental hip hop, jazzy electronica and trip hop collages from LA-based producer and musician FlyLo
Added: 26/04/2010
Acoustic experimental indie rock Brooklyn outfit with their third full-lenth album
Added: 18/05/2009
Second album, and first on 4ad, from Oakland experimental lo-fi artist Merrill Garbus
Added: 03/04/2011
Sixth studio album from the Seattle-based doom drone band led by guitarist Dylan Carlson
Added: 21/02/2011
Album number five of passionate indie rock from the Brooklyn band
Added: 28/04/2010
Techno, drone, shoegaze and much else besides on the second album from the UK experimental duo that made an enormous impact in 2009
Added: 04/10/2009
Third album and follow up to the acclaimed Two Dancers from the Lake District indie rock quartet
Added: 28/04/2011
The celebrated Malian ngoni player and singer, with his quartet, on an album of African blues / rock
Added: 27/09/2009
Seventh album from the American drone metal merchants
Added: 01/06/2009
8.1
The elusive pop singer-songwriter's 2nd album of new material since 1993, a collection of songs about winter
Added: 14/11/2011
Experimental indie-rap with African and jazz influences on the first release from the collective led by Palaceer Lazaro (aka Ishmael Butler,once of NY hip hop outfit Digable Planets)
Synth-heavy dance-rock on the third album from the NY act
Added: 15/03/2009
Second album of emotional, melodic black metal and shoe-gaze from Frenchman Neige
Added: 20/04/2010
Third album from the Southend quintet, displaying yet another shift in sound, this time to the epic dark pop of the eighties
Added: 30/06/2011
Debut album of noise pop from the hotly-tipped New York duo
Added: 25/05/2010
Second of the legendary singer-songwriter's anthology of piano reworkings of his own songs
Added: 09/05/2011
Debut album of noise-pop / indie rock from the Ontario duo
Added: 16/04/2011
Sleigh Bells Reign Of Terror
Compromised by sanitised production. But these Bells still rock. Print edition only Uncut
Over-exposure might result in feelings of disorientation and a headache, but that's likely just the way Miller and Krauss want it. Print edition only Mojo
Shearwater Animal Joy
A set of Anglophile songs, bookish and gently melancholic. Print edition only Mojo
The sound of Americana meshing its cogs with the machinery of the world outside its grimed window. Print edition only Uncut
Meiburg’s voice is a thing of rare range and beauty, but it seems the band have yet to settle on the best way to maximise its formidable gifts music OMH
The Ting Tings Sounds From Nowheresville
One-hit wonders no more, White and de Martino now sound prepared for a big pop future. Print edition only Uncut
An insipid assault of dribbly, sub-Billie Piper pop sludge The Fly
Lambchop Mr M
It delivers softly and simply his often complex lyrics. Print edition only Mojo
Death is all around - but this is Lambchop, so the rough stuff comes wrapped in cinnamon. Print edition only Uncut
While Mr. M never comes close to a hoedown, it contains some of the most direct songs to have flown the Lambchop banner The Skinny
Speech Debelle Freedom Of Speech
The odd gauche moments remain, but her plaudits are not undeserved. Print edition only Uncut
From the get-go Freedom Of Speech takes on prisoners. Print edition only Mojo
Absorbing, epic, heartfelt and delicately nuanced – a marvellous album The Skinny
Anyone who wasn’t convinced by her debut is going to find far more to take issue with on Freedom of Speech BBC
Lana Del Rey Born to Die
Overall, this is a beautifully crafted, if limited, album AU Magazine
What's finding favour with bloggers & other review sites
The Roots undun
Drake Take Care
First Aid Kit The Lion's Roar
The Black Keys El Camino
Guided By Voices Let's Go Eat The Factory
Los Campesinos! Hello Sadness
Howler America Give Up
Craig Finn Clear Heart Full Eyes
The much anticipated debut from the NY singer-songwriter has divided the critics, with ratings ranging from a 10 from the Independent on Sunday to a 0 from Tiny Mix Tapes
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past three years or so
Anais Mitchell Hadestown
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
PJ Harvey Let England Shake
Ry Cooder Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
Arcade Fire The Suburbs
Tom Waits Bad As Me
Janelle Monáe The ArchAndroid
Joanna Newsom Have One On Me
Gillian Welch The Harrow & The Harvest
Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion