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What we said: “Ebbs and flows make this both an intensely delicate, yet forceful listen. This isn’t showing off with noise like post-rock can sometimes be accused of; it is, rather, intricate knowledge of how a leaderless band uses its flexibility to craft rises and falls that consume and envelop.”
- Ruth Davies
What we said: “This album will inevitably disappoint those who had their hopes pinned on Blake producing the definitive instrumental dubstep masterpiece. For those intransigent souls, there will always those three EPs to listen to. Everyone else can feel free to luxuriate in the wintry delights of this fine record.”
- Christopher Monk
- REVIEW: James Blake – James Blake
What we said: “This is the most consistently impressive Beirut record yet, proving its creator is now able to harness his occasional excesses and directly engage with his audience without losing the invention and flair that make him such a rare talent.”
- Chris White
- REVIEW: Beirut – The Rip Tide
What we said: “Hearts is not an album of change, but one that revels in the joy of what you know. I Break Horses’ references are clear, but so is their sense of themselves: hopeful, life-affirming, desirous of more.”
- Ben Edgell
- REVIEW: I Break Horses – Hearts
Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat MP3s or CDs
Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat on Spotify
What we said: “A cohesive whole that is at once leftfield and grim; an audio Trainspotting with artistic flourishes. While such a proposition may sound the death knell for the interest pop-oriented tastes, there are moments of candid beauty born of the pairing.”
- David Welsh
What we said: “Much championed by Gilles Peterson (and signed to his Brownswood label) Ejimiwe’s debut album is a startling fusion of hip-hop, blues, grime and dubstep… There will be inevitable comparisons with Mike Skinner, another Midlands lad who moved to London, but Ejimiwe’s vocals most draw names like Gil Scott-Heron and Roots Manuva to mind.”
- John Murphy
What we said: “Four albums in, TV On The Radio show no signs of relenting in chasing the sounds in their heads. Nine Types Of Light sounds as fresh in today’s climate as Dear Science did two years ago. Really, they’re ahead of their time, and they just might always be.”
- Andrew Burgess
What we said: “Sam Beam is an artist prepared to take risks. His best work may be yet to come… his writing remains vivid and evocative… He belongs in a category as much with Cormac McCarthy as with Will Oldham.”
- Daniel Paton
What we said: “The odd mis-step aside, the death of Arctic Monkeys appears to have been greatly exaggerated. Rather, this is another intriguing evolution for one of the country’s great bands, and a shot in the arm for Britain’s rather moribund ‘indie guitar’ scene.
- John Murphy
- REVIEW: Arctic Monkeys – Arctic Monkeys
A Winged Victory For The Sullen MP3s or CDs
A Winged Victory For The Sullen on Spotify
What we said: “With this debut it is clear that Dustin OHalloran and Adam Wiltzie have prosperously joined neutralist ambient and 20th century classical music together. In so doing they’ve formed aesthetically pleasing sounds which can allure every night-time audience.”
- Fintan Walsh
- The rest of the Top 50 will be published over the remainder of the week.
