"ICONOCLASTS" is the hour-long cry that escapes the mouth of the believer at the moment at which her stick hits the saint's statue. It is a religious experience in its own right, this break with the old. A moment of pure ecstatic freedom, in which all fear and hurt fall away for a solitary second. Their eyes upon her: those of the family lost at the moment at which she breaks her pact with God, and those of the family she'll make for herself. It is this concoction of ... read more

[85 -> 80]

Boasting a soaring voice and an ear for soulwrenching melodies, Dove Ellis may have the most potential of this new generation of artists inspired by the likes of Isaac Wood and, more recently, Cameron Winter. Although his debut album may not be refined enough to be an instant Indie classic, it offers some of the most gorgeous and touching balladry of the year, and is sure to warm many a heart during these cold and dreadfully short Winter days.

Although "choke enough" is, for my tastes, often a little too understated to fully make an impact, Oklou's latest album eventually seeps past your eardrums and into your heart. It offers a warmer, more subtle vision for Alt-Pop. At its worst, it's pleasant. At its best, it engulfs you in its sound completely.

Some works of art transcend the boundaries of language altogether, defying description in mere mortal words.

Stick the Ethernet cable straight into my veins, pump my blood full with digital memories, and allow me to see the future of nostalgia.

A dazzling sonic landscape evolving in front of our very ears! The latest Oneohtrix Point Never album sounds like its own self-contained ecosystem, in which puzzling yet enchanting melodies are left to grow and wither with apparent autonomy. It is a melding of the futuristic and the organic; an album unlike any other I've heard this year.

Danny Brown's commitment to highlighting all of the talented voices emerging from pop's underground is impressive, even if it sometimes hurts rather than helps his latest album. As a cohesive experience, "Stardust" is somewhat lacking, switching wildly between the tender reverb-soaked production of Quadeca, the irresistibly sweet melodies of underscores, and whatever JOHNNASCUS is doing on '1999'. Even if the tracklist is a bit overcrowded, however, the bangers ... read more

In search of a higher power, ROSALÍA transcends the boundaries of genre, language, and culture to deliver one of the most ambitious and unique albums of the year. "LUX" is an unambitious triumph, not only because of its groundbreaking production, intimate songwriting, and passionate singing. It is a living embodiment of spiritual love, and all the forms it takes on this vast globe of ours.

Sonic waves drifting through space, the distance between their origin and destination unfathomly large. The true scale of that dark emptiness through which they travel is enough to dwarve our sense of self and let us surrender to alienation. I don’t know if I took from this album what Grouper put into it, but perhaps that is the point: that the distance between us all approaches infinity, but that infinity can be bridged. Perhaps sound does travel faster than light, if only one listens ... read more

Tame Impala is just one guy, and that has never been more obvious than on "Deadbeat".

If some indiehead went into "Lonerism" without any knowledge of who Kevin Parker was, I could see them genuinely surprised that this record could have been made by a one-man band. It sounds like a 1970s Psychedelic classic, full of spaced-out, free-flowing jamming. It sounds like a bunch of long-haired weirdos high on LSD just going at it without much thought, not like a planned-out piece ... read more

Gothic romanticisms blown up to dazzling proportions. On “From The Pyre”, The Last Dinner Party show themselves to be a bold and infectious voice in the contemporary Pop landscape.

Much more intimate than much of the triumphant Post-Rock we know Godspeed You! Black Emperor for, yet just as evocative, melancholic, and haunting.

A pristine, autumnal symphony of 90's Garage Rock, Post-Rock, and 2000's Indie Folk, soaked in a bittersweet coating of nostalgia for dead friendships and buried loves. "You Forgot It in People" still sounds as fresh and inspired over two decades later as it did then, and certainly deserves to be considered one of the classics of the underground.

My sister was bumping ‘I Can Do It With A Broken Heart’ 24/7 for a month last year and even she thought this was trash. Also, it’s ironic that ‘Actually Romantic’ has the same chord progression as the Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind?’, because Swift interpreting ‘Sympathy Is A Knife’ as a diss track makes me wonder where her mind went.

Confident and suave, yet simultaneously intimate. "Dummy" is the sound of losing yourself in the darkest, smokiest corners of the club, where the music barely reaches your ears. It is the sound of late-night cruising through a downtown that is little more than neon and cigarettes. It's a cry for love, for romanticism, echoing down in the depths of the 1990's.

[90 -> 95]

Never have I used a word more intently than right now, as I tell you that "Getting Killed" is above all else kinetic. Geese's third studio album is always in motion, never allowing the listener to get even a single pause as the band jumps from one strange groove to another. Yet no matter how chaotic the music gets, no matter how impossible it appears for the band to keep sight of the rhythm, they never lose it. It's a testament to the talent of each of ... read more

The brutal and heartwrenching harmonies inherent to a cry of anguish are given shape in Maruja’s debut album, which soars to new heights of rhythmic anger and transcendental bliss.

It's stunning to see what Racing Mount Pleasant's self-titled album evolves into over its 57 minute runtime, as the band put their own spin on the Windmill Scene formula. The end result is both infectious and atmospheric, the sound of a quiet Summer morning bursting with the potential of the day to come.

Sounding as inviting as ever, Big Thief's latest record is a slightly psychedelic and chaotic venture into the heart of folk.

It is a testament to the power of Fleet Foxes’ music, as well as to this era of Indie Folk in general, that it can make me even slightly nostalgic for the 2000s.