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Archy Marshall, 'A New Place 2 Drown'
"The prolific British musician best known as King Krule follows up his 6 Feet Beneath The Moon album with a soundtrack for his South London neighbourhood. Released as part of a collaborative short film, book and music project with his brother Jack, A New Place 2 Drown fuses his post-punk, hip-hop and jazz influences that were more obvious on past recordings into a more personal and oblique sound." - Kevin Ritchie
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D'Angelo, 'Voodoo'
"Twenty years after its release Voodoo remains the greatest album-length synthesis of hip-hop and R&B ever made, as well as a work saddled with one of music’s more fraught and complicated legacies. Voodoo sold 320,000 copies in its first week of release and debuted at #1, a startling feat for a dense and challenging work from an artist who’d released one previous studio LP that hadn’t cracked the top 20 and was nearly five years old. " - Jack Hamilton
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Gorillaz, 'Demon Days'
"Eschewing their previous method - style over substance - 'Demon Days' is satisfyingly complex. Working with a host of collaborators, including 'Grey Album' virtuoso Dangermouse, 'Demon Days' is as far from 'Gorillaz' as 'Modern Life Is Rubbish' was from 'Leisure'. It is an album as albums once were - with an intended flow, framed by a purposeful end and beginning." - Kimberly Diego
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Kanye West, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'
"The album is designed as Kanye the antihero's journey toward an absolution that may never be coming. He lets himself get messy against the exquisite backdrops, whether firing off his trademark clunkers, hurling accusations, settling scores, singing off-key, or depicting his own raw, unflattering actions." - Chris Deville
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Peaer, 'A Healthy Earth'
"You’ll see Peaer frequently described as a “math-rock” band, or some variation of that descriptor. That adjective carries a connotation with it, often one of clinical coldness. A Healthy Earth, however, is anything but clinical or cold. It’s gentle. It’s friendly. It’s warm. Peaer has always written music that is tender and clever, and A Healthy Earth is shows how the band’s tenderness feeds into their clever songwriting, and how their cleverness informs their tender touch." - Tom Alexander