Reviews

Stephen Shiell

Sonance

Vibrating with electrical and mythic energies, Stephen Shiell's Sonance is a widescreen treat for the ears, finds Robert Barry

Sonic Youth

Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008

Three years before splitting up, Sonic Youth played Battery Park, New York. The recording originally came as a bonus disc with the first copies of their last album The Eternal. Now it receives a proper release. Brian Coney dives in

Zurkas Tepla

Occasion Smell

Time spent in the company of Russian electro-prankster Zurkas Tepla is never boring, finds Richard Foster

Bruce Springsteen

Western Stars

Western Stars offers a rewarding hour in the company of the Boss, finds CJ Thorpe-Tracey

Skepta

Ignorance Is Bliss

Skepta returns with a new album, but this one's less of a trailblazer, more of a consolidation, finds James Ball

Plaid

Polymer

IDM duo Plaid are back, with their best album in a decade, finds Bob Cluness

Harrga

Héroïques Animaux De La Misère

Harrga's uncompromising debut is harrowing liberation music, says Bernie Brooks

Franck Vigroux

Totem

Totem by Franck Vigroux is brutal, but subtly so, finds Joseph Burnett

C Joynes & The Furlong Bray

The Borametz Tree

Bringing together members of Dead Rat Orchestra with Cam Deas and Nick Jonah Davis, C Joynes and the Furlong Bray have produced an album alive with a rich sense of place, finds Tom Bolton

Tenderlonious

Hard Rain

Tenderlonious' techno tribute misses the mark, finds Jamie Chambers

Martin Bartlett

Ankle On / Anecdotal Electronics

Cult electronic music pioneer Martin Bartlett’s work is getting the exposure and retrospective it deserves, finds Nick Roseblade

Masayuki Takayanagi New Direction Unit

April Is The Cruellest Month

This unheralded monster of 1970s Japanese guitar noise has waited over four decades to see a proper vinyl release. At long last, Dustin Krcatovich takes a bath in its unrepentant squall

Fire! Orchestra

Arrival

The new album by Fire! Orchestra brings vocals to the fore, interspersed with electrical flurries of horns and keys, finds Euan Andrews

BCUC

The Healing

The third album by Soweto seven-piece BCUC sees them collaborating with Femi Kuti and Saul Williams to exhilarating effect, finds Nick Roseblade

North Sea Radio Orchestra with John Greaves & Annie Barbazza

Folly Bololey (Songs from Robery Wyatt's Rock Bottom)

With the addition of Henry Cow bassist, John Greaves, ex-Cardiac William D Drake and vocalist Annie Barbazza, the quintessentially English chamber ensemble, North Sea Radio Orchestra, are perfectly suited for a haunting reimagining of one of Robert Wyatt’s best loved solo albums, Rock Bottom

Flying Lotus

Flamagra

Flying Lotus returns after a five year break with another flawlessly executed album, but even if we are sure the album is great – is it actually any good? Nick Roseblade ponders

Richard Skelton

Border Ballads

Richard Skelton's album puts the natural world into focus, finds Luke Turner

Sarah Davachi

Pale Bloom

Sarah Davachi takes Bach down multiple pathways, purifying the listener with techno-druid oscillations that could shake both soul and glass, finds Kareem Ghezawi

Mourning [A] Blkstar

Reckoning

Reckoning by Cleveland collective Mourning [A] Blkstar is an emotionally overwhelming experience for Joseph Burnett

Membranes

What Nature Gives... Nature Takes Away

The Membranes' latest, What Natures Gives… Nature Takes Away has everything from a 21st century take on the Beats to an alternative theme tune for Match of the Day, finds Richard Foster

Injury Reserve

Injury Reserve

Arizone trio Injury Reserve blend industrial experimentation with old school rap on their self-titled debut, finds Mike Vinti

Spaceship

Outcrops

Aseethe

Throes

The tracks on Aseethe’s new LP, Throes, move slowly, but with purpose and conviction, says Bernie Brooks

Sacred Paws

Run Around the Sun

The second album by Sacred Paws, Run Around the Sun provides a finely rounded meal for Johny Lamb

slowthai

Nothing Great About Britain

The debut album by always-grinning anarchist, Slowthai, traffics in everyday pain, squelchy grime, drill bassiness and woozy hip-hop, finds Colin Gannon

Rev Magnetic

Versus Universe

The debut album by Rev Magnetic is a dynamic, ecstatic cacophony, finds Jamie Chambers

Tyler, The Creator

Igor

Tyler, the Creator's latest album remains ambiguous and uncertain, finds Aaron Skates

Earth

Full Upon Her Burning Lips

Full Upon Her Moving Lips may be Earth's busiest album to date, but it is also one of their loveliest, finds Tom Coles

The London Sound Survey / Iain Chambers / Robert Worby

Thames / The Eccentric Press / Factitious Airs

The first three releases from new label Persistence of Sound comprise a fitting manifesto, finds Antonio Poscic

Laurence Pike

Holy Spring

Whether solo, as here, or with his group Szun Waves or in his many collaborations with the likes of Liars and Bill Callahan, Laurence Pike is a percussionist of rare skill and broad range, finds Tom Bolton

Helm

Chemical Flowers

On new album Chemical Flowers, Luke Younger expands his compositional palette, finds Colin Gannon

Stereolab

Transient Random-Noise Bursts / Mars Audiac Quintet

With expanded re-issues of two of their classic 90s albums and a world tour soon to come, it's the perfect time to fall for Stereolab's charms all over again, finds Anna Rahkonen