BBC Reviews
Jamie Lidell - Jamie Lidell
Lidell layers on 80s pop-soul production techniques for his latest studio album.Adam Green and Binki Shapiro - Adam Green and Binki Shapiro
A sad and sweet collaboration, arranged with tender loving care.Royal Trux - Accelerator
Fourteen years on, this still sounds like the undiscovered future of rock‘n’roll.Amy Winehouse - Amy Winehouse at the BBC
Beautiful and bereft, and hard to listen to with easy joy.Jim Noir - Jimmy’s Show
Noir shouldn’t get too down on himself, for he may just be a genius.Matthew Dear - Beams
Dear’s excellent fifth album delivers a bigger, more accessible sound.Lætitia Sadier - Silencio
This second solo LP makes politics sound like the sexiest thing in the world.The Beat - I Just Can’t Stop It
The kind of politicised party album they just don’t make anymore.Patti Smith - Banga
It may sound like cliché over compliment, but this really is her best LP since Horses.The Pond - The Pond
An elegant, charming and quietly profound record. Anna Le & Phil Manzanera - Nth Entities: Anna Le Does Poetry/Phil Manzanera Does Music
Roxy Music guitarist backs some worthy poetry on this experimental collaboration.Squarepusher - Ufabulum
Hugely impressive, technically, but too cold and forbidding for many tastes.John Foxx and the Maths - The Shape of Things
Electro pioneer Foxx sounds more relevant in 2012 than he ever has.The Fall - Ersatz G.B.
A poor LP that proves that Mark E. Smith alone does not The Fall make.Luke Haines - Nine and a Half Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s and Early ‘80s
A work of art about the ordinary person’s ability to reinvent themselves.Professor Green - At Your Inconvenience
A depressingly compromised second LP from an artist yet to meet his early promise.Magazine - No Thyself
The long-overdue fourth great Magazine album finally arrives.Roots Manuva - 4everevolution
A pure, you’re-only-as-old-as-you-feel joy of a fifth album from the Brit-hopper.The Rapture - In the Grace of Your Love
A tired-sounding fourth album from a band trapped in the past.Toddla T - Watch Me Dance
Sheffield producer delivers an accomplished, relevant and unifying second LP.North Sea Radio Orchestra - I a Moon
A very beautiful third album from the orchestral ensemble.Vetiver - The Errant Charm
The ideal album to soundtrack wistful contemplation on balmy summer days.Herman Dune - Strange Moosic
Indie-folk duo releases their best album yet, with a little help from a Mad Man.Durrty Goodz - Overall
Jaw-dropping bravery mixes with brooding electronics and funky warmth.CocknBullKid - Adulthood
The Hackney popper has unwisely left behind her more oddball leanings.Love Inks - E.S.P.
Texan trio sends a short, sharp love letter straight to your heart.Alessi’s Ark - Time Travel
Folk singer’s second LP features strong songs delivered with an elegant naivety.Snoop Dogg - Doggumentary
Album proper or not, there’s no denying this is greatly entertaining stuff.Ladytron - Best of 00-10
Liverpool synth-pop four-piece unveil an attractive best-of set.Wye Oak - Civilian
Sensual whispers and twilight moans from the Baltimore duo.Paris Suit Yourself - My Main Shitstain
A ridiculous but brilliant debut.Wire - Red Barked Tree
They play alternative guitar music better than any young British band you can name.The Black Eyed Peas - The Beginning
Sixth studio album from the Los Angeles hip hop group.Robyn - Body Talk
The first genuinely exciting, no-filler, pure pop full-length album since The Fame. The Phantom Band - The Wants
Second LP makes their debut seem like the sketchbook for a gallery of masterpieces.Röyksopp - Senior
Makes a strong claim to be 2010’s best electronic album.Grinderman - Grinderman 2
Cave and co exhibit a bigger, fuller sound on their second LP.Maximum Balloon - Maximum Balloon
Interesting vocalists ensure David Sitek’s latest project is never bland.John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Lennon’s solo debut is still grossly underrated.John Lennon - Imagine
A weird, ramshackle collection of eclectic gems.Fan Death - Womb of Dreams
Electro duo confidently melds the approaches of Hercules and Love Affair and Fever Ray.Johnny Dowd - Wake Up the Snakes
A voice like a booze-addled death row inmate, a mind like an existential pulp novelist.John Grant - Queen of Denmark
One of the most deeply satisfying debut albums of recent times.Prins Thomas - Prins Thomas
A fascinating album of evocative warmth and unusual spontaneity.