23 February 2012
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
" A rousing, pleasing stomp, comprising this album's answer to previous 'hits'" BBC
Listen on SpotifyListen on grooveshark
" One of the album's obvious standouts, with beautifully harmonized vocals" Pitchfork
" It would be a hard heart indeed not to fall for music as lovely as this" This Is Fake DIY
" The title track is the undoubted highlight ... it sets the bar high" music OMH
" Night in the Ocean is the fulcrum upon which the set rests, a great four minutes" BBC
" Somebody I Used To Know is an infinitely relistenable ode" music OMH
" Standout track Blaze Up A Fire is an intense but understated response to the riots that rocked the UK " The Skinny
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The Oscar-winning duo return with a score for the US version of the Stieg Larsson novel
7.1
This is a very intricate and fantastic musical work that’s incredibly deserving of anyone’s attention Read Review
Bookended with grinding covers of Immigrant Song by Karen O and Is Your Love Strong Enough by How to Destroy Angels , its atmosphere is further darkened by producer Alan Moulder’s gritty mixing Read Review
An exercise in the kind of deep, dark storytelling both Fincher and Reznor have embraced over the past 20 years Read Review
Ross and Reznor craft almost unrelenting tension and paranoia with dark electronic drones that are only slightly mitigated by piano, guitar, and percussion but still leave a feeling of deep unease Read Review
The soundtrack takes what was so exceptional about The Social Network, and expands it beyond imagination Read Review
He is clearly onto something with this soundtrack malarkey and if he could perhaps leave his roots behind him he might really surprise himself, and us Read Review
Suggests many of those Nine Inch Nails tricks hold good. Print edition only
It succeeds where it counts: making it difficult to picture Fincher’s film without Reznor and Ross’ exceptional score Read Review
Even without the context of the film, the soundtrack makes you feel like a clandestine individual on a mission involving the darkest of secrets Read Review
A suffocating soundtrack, but one that suits its movie’s air of oppression Read Review
Even if it doesn't quite work as a standalone experience, the real takeaway here is that Reznor and Ross may be ushering in an exciting new realm of possibility for mainstream film scoring Read Review
It's the sense of space that grips one's attention, sometimes just flecks of sound, like snowflakes in darkness, create a sense of brooding unease Read Review
Reznor and Ross have learned that a fractional change in frequency can change the mood altogether Read Review
Reznor and collaborator Atticus Ross roll out three hours of often weirdly engrossing metal-machine music Read Review
It works as a standalone piece of music in the same way as Hans Zimmer’s Black Hawk Down or Vangelis’s Bladerunner, albeit in a colder more fractured fashion Read Review
It’s an enjoyable enough outing all told, but hardly essential Read Review
You can see why they've got another Golden Globe nomination for this. Print edition only
It is unlikely that many new fans will be won over by this daunting collection but its glitchy, fragile nature coupled with a brooding sense of dread will delight fans of soundtracks Read Review
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Trent Reznor And Atticus Ross: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Windy and Carl We Will Always Be
Let the sparse waves wash over and the true soul of the music will slowly emerge The Digital Fix
Despite the familiarity of the sonic landscape explored here, however, Windy and Carl are evidently still excavating valuable finds The Skinny
Windy and Carl are the ambient music world's version of old bluesmen who have been masters of their craft for decades and refined it to a point of utmost precision Prefix
This is as impressive as any of their releases The 405
Executed with openness and sincerity, making it feel as if the usual barriers between audience and performer simply aren't there Pitchfork
There is a beauty to experiencing love that overwhelms the heart. Windy & Carl seem to aim to replicate that overwhelming sensation through their music Beats Per Minute
If you take an interest in ambient music, drone rock or related quasi-genres, it behoves you to own some of Windy and Carl’s catalogue; this is as useful and high quality a starting point as just about anything they’ve recorded Drowned In Sound
Seekae Dome
A semi-regulated torrent of live loops and samples. Print edition only NME
Skrillex Bangarang
Skrillex lacks anything beyond the bleeding obvious. Print edition only NME
Memoryhouse The Slideshow Effect
Mostly glowers in a dismally cloying, precious nostalgia. Print edition only NME
School of Seven Bells Ghostory
None of it even scratches the arse of 'euphoric' - once their forte. Print edition only NME
Fanfarlo Rooms Filled with Light
Large Hadron pop that'll frazzle yer neurons. Print edition only NME
Lambchop Mr M
If this really is to be Lambchop's final album, it's an undeniably lovely one. Print edition only NME
The Ting Tings Sounds From Nowheresville
It sounds a little bereft of ideas, and way too short. Print edition only NME
Nada Surf The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy
If you keep your expectations more fluid and enjoy it for what it is, rather than what you think it should be, then you may find enough to appreciate This Is Fake DIY
What's finding favour with bloggers & other review sites
The Twilight Sad No One Can Ever Know
Field Music Plumb
The Black Keys El Camino
First Aid Kit The Lion's Roar
Django Django Django Django
An impressive 7.6 rating for the 5th album of electronica-influenced pop from the Norwegian singer-songwriter. All but one review is an 8/10 rating, with The Fly calling it "a masterclass in sinister soundscapes"
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past three years or so
Anaïs 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