Will Ryan

Settle is nearly impossible not to like. It nonchalantly surpasses expectations at nearly every turn. 

RAM can oftentimes feel scattered, too ambitious, or too similar to the era it’s working from, but, in the end, it’s an album held together by that palpable reverence.

There are a couple of lesser tracks on Nostalchic and it’s up for debate as to how well Howard sticks the landing on the LP format, but Lapalux is a singular talent and his debut is evidence of that even if the pieces don’t all quite click neatly into place.

It’s not an album that immediately reveals itself, but when it lets you in it’s hard to find your way out.

Anxiety matches the emotional heights and immediacy of the music Ashin was inspired by, but what arrives from his limitations–as a singer, as a DIY-ist–adds to the record a personal foundation and raw authenticity no amount of budget could erect.

With Quarter Turns Over A Living Line Raime fleshes out the promise of earlier work and delivers one 2012's most compelling and listenable experimental records.

The record has an engrossing, alternately glassy and foggy tactility, as if you’re groping blindly through a dark, thick dream logic-riddled haze only to find something smooth and cool and comforting at its center to wrap your sweaty limbs around.

UTQC is a testament to imagination and vision and the capabilities of the human soul by way of music.

The end result is a quieted, more suppressed record that steps delicately from one note to the next and shines even more of a spotlight on the twin vocal sentiments of longing and crumbled romance. 

This kind of high-emotion, omni-genre electronic music is becoming the measure of artists working without geographical or scene ties and Held is one of the best examples. 

Ware might still be feeling out her surroundings, but considering the results, getting to see that evolution take place is an exciting and exceedingly worthwhile prospect

Clams Casino continues to build his dynasty as one of the best and most uniquely defined producers working out of a number of different camps

Instinct is such a strong pop record from start to finish because the duo focuses their efforts well beyond strong pop songwriting and instead on in-the-moment intricacy

Its upper register is colored an oddly disinfected monochrome, rendering the tracks bone-cold and often emotionless.

The Italian duo have put together a timeless and beautiful dance record that slides easily to the top of 2012's best.

Ekstasis is a challenging listen, but a rewarding one. It’s fiercely experimental and aggressively unfamiliar. Yet it’s an album that doesn’t try to intimidate or hide within its unfamiliarity.

The album is vital and alive, and it culminates into these unsuspecting breathless, religious moments that reach well beyond its surface qualities.

Echoes of Silence is arguably The Weeknd’s most fully formed album-oriented statement thus far.

It shows an artist at the top of his songwriting game, but perhaps without the thick and palatable sense of cohesion definitive and prevalent on past releases.

Lyrically, the duo is layered and intricate and both still seem to be ratcheting up confidence in their delivery and in the music surrounding them.

Not as much here quite consistently matches the melodic transcendence of Balloons‘ highlights, and that Thurday manages to stand on its own at all is an achievement in itself.

Each track has a moment where it hits anthem-status and a chorus of Roberts’ voice embody it with some abstracted notion of us-ness.