19 December 2024
Here's how it works: The Recent Releases chart brings together critical reaction to new albums from more than 50 sources 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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Album number seven from the London-born IDM producer and DJ Kieran Hebden
7.4
Harks back to early-90s rave culture, but without forfeiting his up-to-date sensibilities or typically broad range of references Read Review
The rough tones don’t register as forcefully as the hooks on previous works. That said, it’s a rewarding listen, one that eventually embeds itself once given full attention Read Review
The sound of an artist looking to cut loose, and its playful spirit proves catching Read Review
While the album does seem rather patched together with a lack of focus - it plays out like a pair of distinct EPs and a couple transitional orphans on shuffle - there's an irrefutable charm to the restlessness. Read Review
Strikes a refreshingly non-nostalgic note, due largely to his treatment of his source material Read Review
A standout in both the Four Tet oeuvre and a growing collection of dance albums that pay homage to the past Read Review
The album is visceral and unrefined, two qualities not often associated with Hebden Read Review
An album both in tune with and in thrall to the dancefloor as Heben navigates his way up and down the dial Read Review
A wholly uncompromising record that remains compulsive from start to finish. Print edition only
An effortless listen, but when it wanders it feels like a bauble, one from an artist from whom we are accustomed to receiving richer gifts Read Review
Much of his early work was heavily influenced by UK garage, and in this sense, Beautiful Rewind feels like Four Tet coming full circle Read Review
Regresses into an intensive study of hypnotic incantations and obtuse rhythms Read Review
Mixes club-ready rhythms with touches of brain-melt psychedelia Read Review
It's still recognizably Four Tet, still a cut above most EDM. It just feels a little frustrating Read Review
Beautiful Rewind is always keeping us at arm’s length, coldly allowing us to admire the craft without letting us in on the secret. It can make for a lonely listen Read Review
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Four Tet: Beautiful Rewind
Cindy Lee Diamond Jubilee
Overall, Diamond Jubilee is a compelling diamond in a year of classics that, while hurt by some issues, strives to a level of uniqueness and brilliance that makes it one of the most needed albums to listen to this year Spill Magazine
The record – just like the medium of music – is doomed (or blessed) to exist in this in-between state of ghost-like liminality. Some things exist only through their non-existence, in a brief flash of time, defined through the myths we attribute to them, the outlines we long to perceive within, to imagine another, to feel ourselves Beats Per Minute
An out-of-the-blue magnum opus from the Canadian indie drag artist. Print edition only Uncut
The sprawling and spectacular Cindy Lee album is an essential trove of music. Each song is like a foggy transmission from a rock’n’roll netherworld with its own ghostly canon of beloved hits Pitchfork
“Diamond Jubilee” is more than just an album—it’s an experience, a journey into the unknown that challenges our preconceived notions of what music can be Northern Transmissions
Patrick Flegel’s new double-album, available only on YouTube and GeoCities, sounds like it’s coming from the other room, if not another gauzy galaxy Paste Magazine
Saint Etienne The Night
It is thematic and specific and at the same time one of the most coherent efforts the trio has come up with so far Spill Magazine
Linkin Park From Zero
For long-time fans, From Zero offers a mix of nostalgia and renewal. For newcomers, it’s an invitation to explore the band’s rich discography. Either way, it’s clear that Linkin Park is not just surviving but thriving in this new chapter of their career Vinyl Chapters
The Night is a meditative journey through sound, seamlessly blending moments of quiet introspection with richly textured ambiance. The hyponic ambience that they’ve crafted must be experienced Northern Transmissions
It’s a lullaby for the modern age—best savoured before sleep, one delicate note at a time XS Noize
Snoop Dogg Missionary
As a follow-up to the history-making ‘Doggystyle’, ‘Missionary’ swaps out its predecessor’s hedonistic charm for some more mature nuggets of wisdom NME
Their first full-length collaboration since Doggystyle is a celebration of strengths, displaying Snoop's growth while underlining his congenial gangsta appeal Rolling Stone
Aligning with Dre across the full breadth of the record, ‘Missionary’ is one of rap’s most iconic voices doing what he does best Clash
While it doesn't really come close to capturing the lightning-in-a-bottle power of Doggystyle, there's enough of that original spirit mixed with a modernized production sound to make Missionary one of Snoop's more enjoyable full-album listening experiences in several years All Music
Snoop Dogg has a spring in his step on his relentlessly interesting Dr Dre collaboration The Independent
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past twelve years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly
Fiona Apple Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Ghosteen
Self Esteem Prioritise Pleasure
Bob Dylan Rough and Rowdy Ways
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Dave We’re All Alone In This Together