24 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
" It would be a hard heart indeed not to fall for music as lovely as this" This Is Fake DIY
Listen on SpotifyListen on grooveshark
" 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
" One of the album's obvious standouts, with beautifully harmonized vocals" Pitchfork
" A rousing, pleasing stomp, comprising this album's answer to previous 'hits'" BBC
" The title track is the undoubted highlight ... it sets the bar high" music OMH
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The Welsh singer-songwriter with a second album encompassing experimental psychedelia, alt-pop, folk and more
7.2
It’s a lot of loose rhythms and knotted nostalgia, but while her peers would spend an album weaving in and out of proverbial rabbit holes, Le Bon’s kaleidoscope is firmly focused Read Review
While each track on Cyrk brings to mind somebody else (Velvet Underground, "Genesis Hall"-era Fairport Convention, Comus, Spacemen 3), Le Bon somehow manages to make it all feel surprising natural Read Review
At its best moments, Cyrk sounds like an edgier version of The Wicker Man soundtrack; the same sense of mystery pervades Read Review
In the same way the world took to the likes of Joanna Newsom or Neko Case, there’s something here that honest and that peculiar - it really is that intriguing Read Review
Boisterously exuberant, eccentric yet completely approachable Read Review
Narcotic melodies and jangle-riff repetition Read Review
Le Bon maintains a careful balance with her scattered ideas, presenting an album rich in curious charm Read Review
Le Bon often works with a nursery-rhyme melodic scheme, recalling such past masters of the technique as Syd Barrett and Donovan Read Review
Cate Le Bon has undoubtedly made a decent record in CYRK, but it feels like her personality is diluted too often by the instrumentation and scattering of weaker songs Read Review
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Coolrunnings Dracula Is Only The Beginning
In a year that’s already turning out its fair share of quality albums, Dracula Is Only The Beginning is the best yet God Is In The TV
It sounds cool the first time round, but becomes repetitive pretty quick Bowlegs
If hipster-garbage had a calling card, it’d be Coolrunnings The Line Of Best Fit
Soko I Thought I Was An Alien
Intense, skeletal, and actually-rather-dreary The Fly
Simply imagine Kimya Dawson and Cat Power put together AU Magazine
Touching and strangely beautiful Independent on Sunday
Dumps twee cold and hard, running into pop’s warm embrace NME
Die Antwoord Ten$ion
Truly awful Tiny Mix Tapes
Blondes Blondes
Makes for a sweet listen without veering into the saccharine Tiny Mix Tapes
Perfume Genius Put Your Back N 2 It
Hadreas opens his songs up for others with nurturing lyrics, adds doo-wop piano riffs, shoegaze guitar swells, and vocal melodies that favor flare over flaccidity Consequence Of Sound
Damien Jurado Maraqopa
Throughout its many turns, Jurado loses himself in the production, but that seems to be the precise point Consequence Of Sound
Cursive I Am Gemini
Consider this their peak Consequence Of Sound
Lambchop Mr M
Manages to sound familiar while sounding entirely new, all the while making it clear that this is a sound only Lambchop could create Beats Per Minute
Azari & III Azari & III
Every song follows exactly the same blueprint of a monotonous 4/4 beat and a two bar synth line with occasional effects added, interchanged with a bass-driven breakdown The Digital Fix
Francois & The Atlas Mountains E Volo Love
Sickeningly sweet at times, this is one for the couples among you, or those wishing they were The Digital Fix
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