I would place this album among the strongest work coming out in both the realms of indie and pop music these days
There’s No Leaving Now makes use of much the same map work laid out by Matsson on 2010’s fantastic breakout The Wild Hunt.
Shrines holds skyward a handful of some of the finest offerings Planet Pop can muster in 2012, yet as an “album experience” it ultimately fails to merit a new religion.
Allo Darlin’ and Europe indeed do have what it takes to be a band and album that mean so much to the particular people to whom they mean so much to.
If you focus solely on the music, you won’t find much that distinguishes Clockwork Angels from Rush’s greatest feats.
As objectively as possible, then, let it be said that between Gossamer and its much-beloved predecessor, Manners, Gossamer is the better record.
This is a superb, must-have album that places Ty Segall firmly at the centre of the garage scene and continues his extraordinary evolution as a multi-faceted, multi-talented musician.
That infectious, childlike zeal was so integral to the first part of their career that A Sleep is jarringly unfamiliar at first.
It risks feeling frustrated and frustrating, but Alt-J’s bizarre pop is ultimately rooted solidly in pathos, in a sort of blighted redemption.
It’s revealing that the album’s best moments are those in which the Gaslight Anthem incorporate their influences rather than emulate them.
Researching the Blues shows a band making some minor adjustments to their sound, without losing the impact that their music conjures up.
While Reign of Terror may not yield results that are as instantly and consistently compelling as Treats did, the latest album has the potential to grow on you
By cleaning up and clearing up everything that’s going on in his head, Longstreth is getting better and better at expressing the music in his heart through the songs in his mind.
Message aside and from a purely musical standpoint, the new album is Springsteen’s most enjoyable and freshest-sounding in ages.
Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables is not really a “mess” in the pejorative sense, but it certainly is messy.
Weller has made an extremely worthy case for remaining the master of his craft.
It's been 16 years since her last album of original material, and Sing the Delta is her weightiest album yet in that regard.
There is a lot of sadness on the album. At their core these are songs of isolation, desperation and the distance between people.
There’s just a great flow that makes Tomorrowland feel like one of those albums you’ll listen to in the car on countless road trips.
The reward that her music offers is substantial, as Ekstasis is one of the most unusual and unprecedented indie pop albums to come along in quite awhile.
This is the kind of record that Bob Mould could have made in his sleep.
A truly special album, one that will reach out and grab you by the lapels and shake the life out of, or into, you.
Undeniably one of my favorite albums of the year, METZ shines brightly, like a Molotov cocktail at the moment of impact.
The more you listen to Until the Quiet Comes, the more you get the sense that you’re only scratching the surface of how much is really going on with it.
At the end of the day, the Men aren’t quite all they’re cracked up to be, but even a bitter cynic like me has to admit, this album is worth a listen.
Although you wouldn’t expect anything less from artists of this high a caliber, it still comes as a pleasant surprise how cohesive, complete, and thought through Love This Giant is for a one-off all-star collab.
It may not blindly take the artistic risks of Channel Orange, but it’s a more consistently enjoyable album than Frank Ocean’s magnum opus.
The Haunted Man is all about Khan letting her guard down, which you can hear in the yearning pitch of her voice and the bleeding-heart themes of her songs.
In Our Heads is proof that Hot Chip are succeeding on their consistently impressive musical journey, and as far as I can see there’s still much to be learned from these songwriters.
The inherent darkness of Stott’s carious and degraded mixes, souped up in reverberating drone and pointillized by granular detail, is here juxtaposed against the often sweet, sometimes harrowing voice of his one-time mentor.
Ultimately, it’ll be hard to find a more awe-inspiring album this year than Fear Fun. This is a record that deserves a spot in just about any contemporary music collection.
Ultimately it is nice to hear a living legend treated like the still-vibrant artist that he is.