24 June 2018
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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Debut LP from the Kinshasa, Congo group fusing traditional Congolese rhythms with post punk and electronics
8.6
A gripping mix of excitement, apprehension and sensory overload Read Review
Furiously distorted bricolage of Afro-retro-futurism, soukous and Afrobeat Read Review
With their debut Mbongwana Star have made a really classic record for the ages, and what’s more, one that could shape a whole lot of music to come Read Review
Its superb combination of muscular groove playing with tenderness and longing is winning, and an encapsulation of the flexibility and versatility that makes Mbongwana Star such an exciting project Read Review
At its very best (see the dirty groove of ‘Kala’) this joyous carnival of sound is underpinned with a throbbing electronic heartbeat Read Review
Two forward-looking cosmopolitans (plus friends) craft new directions in urban sound Read Review
Utterly futuristic and profoundly in tune with the space age whilst also giving the distinct impression that it's been built out of rusty materials Read Review
This new incarnation of Ngambali and Nzonza's muse confidently steps outside the sometimes rather cozy confines of 'world' music and into the 21st Century Read Review
There is a menacing attraction here, and Mbongwana Star cleverly balance the sunshine vibes of soukous with the gritty reality of life in a Kinshasa slum Read Review
Fat throbbing beats and clattering Afropop rhythms with an electro-hip-hop vibe. Print edition only
Back to the future, Congolese style Read Review
Stunning collision of West African street funk and European studio craft, exhilarating! Print edition only
Fashioned from the crucible of Kinshasa’s recycle-reuse culture, this is a triumphant piece of alchemy Read Review
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Mbongwana Star: From Kinshasa
Kamasi Washington Heaven & Earth
As bold and maximalist, as rhythmic and righteous, as one might expect from the reedsman who helped kickstart the global jazz renaissance. A must-have Evening Standard
Nine Inch Nails Bad Witch
He’s headed back to the dark seam he tapped for still horrifying 1990s albums like The Downward Spiral and The Fragile Evening Standard
Gang Gang Dance Kazuashita
Kazuashita is impeccably made, but it could stand a little more chaos A.V. Club
Earth is loaded with mentally and emotionally draining songs A.V. Club
It establishes Washington as a composer and arranger of dizzying potential and still underscores his twin rep as a soloist and jazz conceptualist All Music
ARP Zebra
As unconventional as it is relaxing, Zebra is perhaps Arp's most inviting sound-world yet All Music
Protomartyr Consolation E.P.
This dose of bruising revolt results in a strong antidote to our collective liberal disgust Punk News
Engaging and magical throughout DIY
Johnny Marr Call the Comet
Thirty-five years on from breaking into the industry, Marr’s still got plenty of tricks up his sleeve and certainly proves it on his best and most interesting solo album yet Gig Soup
Kids See Ghosts Kids See Ghosts
No one may be more responsible for introducing a dark mood to mainstream hip-hop than Kanye West and Kid Cudi Spectrum Culture
It's easy to get overawed by the sheer magnitude of such a work, but it lives up to the audacious premise grandly Under The Radar
The Carters Everything Is Love
Beyoncé and Jay-Z collaborative album Everything Is Love stands as a monumental testament to keeping it real Slant Magazine
Acclaimed saxophonist Kamasi Washington drops another ambitious, multi-disc album that swings, grooves, and inspires PopMatters
Trent Reznor’s third EP-length NIN release in the last two years is the best of the lot, with a raw and rough sound that feels both unfinished and alive Pitchfork
Gruff Rhys Babelsberg
The Super Furry Animals frontman has always been political, but he’s never sounded as spiteful as he does on this satirical portrait of the United States in 2018 Pitchfork
Since we've been around, that is. So, the highest-rated albums from the past eight years or so. Rankings are calculated to two decimal places.
Kendrick Lamar To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar Damn.
D'Angelo And The Vanguard Black Messiah
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Frank Ocean Channel Orange
Anaïs Mitchell Hadestown
Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Leonard Cohen You Want It Darker
Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell
Mount Eerie A Crow Looked at Me