18 May 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: hear them now
" When they hit full, throat-ripping, riff-driven throttle, such as on Gebbie Street, they sound superbly riotous" The Fly
Listen on SpotifyListen on grooveshark
" Highlights include DJ Ease My Mind which is sure to become a club anthem" The Line Of Best Fit
" The finest jangle pop this side of the Rockies" The Digital Fix
" Metamorphoses commence in unison on the mighty creepiness of the album’s near-seven-minute centerpiece, Simmer. And does it ever" Pop Matters
" Simply put, it’s one of the singles of the year" music OMH
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The seventh album released by this alternative rock group, in their twentieth year of existence
6.1
Doesn't have a wasted moment on it. Print edition only
In terms of melody, Stars is an album of finely-crafted indie rock songs Read Review
The ebulliently heart-warming rush of the tunes is reason enough to forgive any clunkers Read Review
A change to the way they work, trying to capture the urgency of live performance or the first rehearsal, has reinvigorated the band Read Review
More guitar songs that chime, soar and swing, with singer/guitarist Matthew Caws sounding as naïve and blessed as a teenager Read Review
Could be the comeback for a band who deserves to be recognized as something much more than a mid-’90s punchline Read Review
Nada Surf’s rushing guitars and upbeat drums create a sense of urgency but Caws’ nostalgic longings suggest they’re happy staying rooted in the past Read Review
They have maintained their classic sound while at the same time moving forward thematically Read Review
A record that doesn’t reach the band’s usual high standard Read Review
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 Read Review
10 fairly decent Nada Surf-sounding songs in a row Read Review
They've got the chops to reinvigourate the genre if the mood strikes, but they seem content to continue business as usual, for better or worse Read Review
Their 7th album finds them in melancholy mood. Print edition only
A few clunky lyrics take the shine off. Print edition only
Sounds like a healthy stroll down 90s Alternative Alley, and is as comforting as it is overly familiar Read Review
Nada Surf are slipping into the quicksand as perilously as ever, yet somehow there’s always a vine for them to grab onto in order to make it back to the surface. Just Read Review
A catchy mid-tempo rocker can be good, but when there are 10 of them in a row the catchiness wears off and all that’s left is bland Read Review
The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy doesn’t sound nostalgic, it sounds antiquated Read Review
The songs are fine but largely feckless Read Review
It must be nice to go in the studio knowing exactly how you want the record to sound: same as the last five please Read Review
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Nada Surf: The Stars Are Indifferent To Astronomy
Squarepusher Ufabulum
In the form of his life. Print edition only Uncut
The Magnetic North Orkney: Symphony of the Magnetic North
Majestic yet frustratingly aloof. Print edition only Uncut
The windswept islands captured in music. Print edition only Mojo
No, Squarepusher doesn’t seem to give a damn, but he does want to smoosh eardrums with whacky stuff. More power to him The Arts Desk
Some of the tracks are over-arranged which gives the album, overall, a bit of an identity crisis Bowlegs
An evocative, indelible, and utterly majestic ode to Orkney AU Magazine
Ultimately Ufabulum’s jarring stylistic schism may make the album tough to digest for many people, but the quality of Jenkinson’s craftsmanship remains constant throughout The Skinny
These are timeless songs which rather than being of any genre - not even the hard-to-define 'folk' - seem to spring from the bare open horizons, low-lying islands and sea of Orkney, creating a unique bleak and windswept aesthetic The Quietus
Funky as he wants to be — EPCOT-rocking splatterjazz, rainbow-tasting ravewave, Inspector Gadget ringtone funk Spin
Each track is rich with strings and woodwind, but all with an unavoidable folky edge. It’s a formula that works, and works to the extent that sets it aside in terms of originality music OMH
A truly beguiling record Drowned In Sound
A bit cold, clinical and repetitive NME
Hugely impressive, technically, but too cold and forbidding for many tastes BBC
Public Image Ltd This Is PiL
It may not be of the calibre of Metal Box, but it finds its maker firmly in 2012, not 1979, and with plenty still to grouse about Uncut
Saint Etienne Words And Music By Saint Etienne
These songs are their sharpest in over a decade. Print edition only NME
What's finding favour with bloggers & other review sites
The Mars Volta Noctourniquet
Bruce Springsteen Wrecking Ball
Andrew Bird Break It Yourself
Following up the highly-acclaimed Teen Dream album was never going to be an easy feat but Beach House appear to have succeeded with Bloom. It has 10s from two sources and a 9.1 from Pitchfork, while FasterLouder see it as a "transportive journey"
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past three and a half 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
Burial Kindred