12 March 2014
Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 publications worldwide. It's updated daily. Albums qualify with 5 reviews, and drop out after 6 weeks into the longer timespan charts.
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Second album of folk / indie pop from the North Carolina band led by Ari Picker
7.5
Draws heavily from his [Ari Picker] classical training, yet maintains a smart, accessible core that brings to mind Sufjan Stevens at his least quirky Read Review
Lost In The Trees has constructed a beautiful memorial for the soul of Ari Picker’s mother to rest in Read Review
This may be one of the best records of the year so far Read Review
The tracks on A Church are beatifically mournful, its orchestrations minor key, and its vocals sung by an author distinctly heavy of heart Read Review
The album is stirring without wallowing; it can move even the listener who knows nothing of the backstory Read Review
Too deep in its emotion to idly listen to, and too warm in its instrumentation to wear you down, this record proves a strange, incomplete comfort -- one that embraces loss as much as it tangles with it Read Review
The tragedy that inspired and plagues this album seems to be offered as a celebration rather than an exercise in mourning Read Review
A stirring coda that embraces the aftermath of despair, ringing with a resilience that's inspired, ambitious, mesmerizing and majestic Read Review
The album is as intricate and well-crafted as a Radiohead release, with highly emotional content that was inspired by the recent suicide of frontman Ari Picker’s mother Read Review
A mother’s suicide inspires moving orchestral folk, beauty and hope found amid grief Read Review
Over the course of a dozen songs, frontman Ari Picker tries to make sense of his mother's suicide against a backdrop of rich orchestration Read Review
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Lost In The Trees: A Church That Fits Our Needs
Metronomy Love Letters
It sees Joe Mount taking time to finesse the familiar into something rich and exceptional, elevating his lyrics and off-kilter music to a rarely more affecting state Loud And Quiet
Laibach Spectre
Spectre packs a mighty punch of dirty, electronic beats and provocative and intensely political songs The Arts Desk
Laibach have nailed their colours to the mast with this album, and it is refreshing to see someone attempting to make intelligent political music these days The 405
Spectre finds Laibach in typically polemical mode as they present their take on the current state of the world music OMH
Compositionally and sonically, Spectre is intriguingly accessible The Quietus
Spectre is all new songs, and nobody listens to Laibach for songs; their selling point is attitude, the snarling demands and airbrushed electronic stomp they settled on several decades ago Pitchfork
Dean Wareham Dean Wareham
An album that sees both of its key players growing in stature as it progresses; I could take or leave the first half, but the second is a delight The Line Of Best Fit
Wareham's wobbling vocal decorates nine bruised and down tempo songs that rarely do anything more than roll along gently to an underwhelming conclusion NME
Perfectly crafted, exquisitely delivered songs that lodge in your head for days before you relisten just to check it's as good as you thought it was The List
Wareham found his unhurried style and perfected it years ago; now it’s all about fine-tuning, and Dean Wareham feels more finely tuned than ever. A.V. Club
Ultimately, this is an album of wildly swinging emotions. For every glorious uplifting moment, there’s a lyrical barb or plainly expressed doubt to counteract it music OMH
Even if 'Dean Wareham' isn't quite the sound of an artist shaking loose, its consolidation of strengths is something to admire Rolling Stone
Tensnake Glow
As Glow begins to spin, it’s clear that some finely tuned pop sensibilities and a winning fondness for irresistable hooks are also part of his make-up The Irish Times
Has the whiff of a by-the-numbers job about it NME
If you're a fan of dance music across the last thirty years, you'll enjoy this record immensely The 405
The Manchester band have another critical hit on their hands with their 6th album. DIY say they "sound revitalised", and Clash call it "rich and rewarding", while Q lavish it with a 10/10. The only discordant note comes from The Skinny, who accuse the band of "coasting"
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past four years and a half or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Anaïs Mitchell Hadestown
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Deafheaven Sunbather
PJ Harvey Let England Shake
My Bloody Valentine mbv
Ry Cooder Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down
St Vincent St Vincent
Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city
Arcade Fire The Suburbs