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
" One of the album's obvious standouts, with beautifully harmonized vocals" Pitchfork
Listen on SpotifyListen on grooveshark
" Night in the Ocean is the fulcrum upon which the set rests, a great four minutes" BBC
" A rousing, pleasing stomp, comprising this album's answer to previous 'hits'" BBC
" Standout track Blaze Up A Fire is an intense but understated response to the riots that rocked the UK " The Skinny
" Somebody I Used To Know is an infinitely relistenable ode" music OMH
" 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
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Skewed electronica and experimental pop on the 4th album from the producer and DJ, here collaborating with Berlin DJ Mt Sims
6.4
A surprisingly revelatory record that captures the highs and lows of human experience and existence Read Review
Matt Sims turns out to be the perfect complement to Leila's post-Moroder production pyrotechnics. Print edition only
It's the intoxicating instrumentals that remind you of her capricious talent. Print edition only
Disturbing and brilliant Read Review
If you want to hear the work of a production genius who doesn’t give a fuck about trendiness, U&I delivers in spades Read Review
Whilst it might not always be a pleasurable listen, there’s something visceral and exciting about this music Read Review
New, distorted shapes that at times recall the dark textures of Prurient’s ‘Bermuda Drain’ or Fever Ray’s debut Read Review
Batty, compelling, smart and unusual Read Review
As out of place as the occasional vocals are, the production surrounding them is impressive enough to at least disregard the problems for the short-term Read Review
With judicious editing U & I could have made a truly killer EP. As an album, however, it’s hindered by a proliferation of ponderous filler Read Review
the most straightforward music Leila has produced to date Read Review
Despite the focussed collaborative process, U&I is a frustratingly uneven album, but it’s worth digging out the highlights Read Review
A febrile, vital rush of looped monotone vocals, buzzing electronics and fractured beats. Print edition only
A whirlwind of dark, intense, industrial, often stern soundscapes that accentuate the more alien side of Sims’s cool, icy, strangely soulful vocals Read Review
The album tends to switch between moments of industrial clatter and ambient iciness and this results in a disjointed listening experience Read Review
Will only impress if you’re already part of Warp’s main target audience Read Review
Challenges are often rewarding, but there isn't much reward for submitting to this particular test Read Review
An often prosaic return Read Review
Roll over video for more options
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