Mount Kimbie: Love What Survives review – a change of pace

Since their acclaimed 2010 debut Crooks & Lovers, production duo Dominic Maker and Kai Campos, AKA Mount Kimbie, have gradually shaken off their “post-dubstep” label with tunes better suited to sticky-floored indie dives than pensive, 6am bus journeys. On this … Continue reading →

Lunice: CCCLX CD review – doesn’t quite add up

(Lucky Me)

Mount Kimbie: Love What Survives review – electric wit and wisdom from London synth duo

In recent years, London duo Mount Kimbie have shrugged off their post-dubstep past and started to create songs that shepherd synth-heavy post-punk into the present day. On their third album, the band’s instrumentals radiate wit and warmth, like mid-80s New … Continue reading →

Jessie Ware review – safe soul caught between candour and blandness

Showcasing ballads from her third album Glasshouse, the singer keeps things cool – but with a sensationally emotional closing number

LCD Soundsystem: American Dream review – sombre but satisfying

The spectre of mortality stalks LCD’s comeback album but mainman James Murphy seizes the day in style

Mary Epworth: Elytral review – electronica unbound

(Sunday Best)

Bicep: Bicep review – analogue deep house duo flex muscles on fitfully riveting debut

After months of shaky-cam YouTube uploads from fans capturing unreleased material, paired with the kind of feverish rapture that usually accompanies UFO sightings, Belfast deep house duo Bicep finally release their debut LP, and it fitfully lives up to expectations. … Continue reading →

Hercules and Love Affair: Omnion review – relapse and recovery on the dancefloor

On paper, the dance collective Hercules and Love Affair’s fourth album seems like a risky endeavour. The topic of mainstay Andy Butler’s relapse into drug addiction and his recovery hangs over Omnion. It should be a tough subject for an … Continue reading →

Gonimoblast Live with Maja S​​K Ratkje and Arve Henriksen review – electronica with improv clout

Gonimoblast are a London and Midlands five-piece electronica band, formed by bassist Chris Mapp after an inspiring trip to Norway’s Punkt festival, and including Polar Bear electronicist Leafcutter John and free-jazz drummer Mark Sanders. The group recorded two successive live … Continue reading →

LCD Soundsystem: American Dream review – virtuosic comeback full of harmonies and humblebrags

Packed with aural allusions to Bowie and Eno, LCD Soundsystem’s comeback is a virtuosic tribute to their heroes – and themselves

Hype Williams: Rainbow Edition – more hazy mystery

(Big Dada)

Hype Williams: Rainbow Edition – fractious dub collage

Following excellent solo projects, Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland return to their duo Hype Williams, whose cut-up dub songcraft has been one of the most compelling voices in the European underground this decade. Or do they? Their label’s site says … Continue reading →

Susanne Sundfør: Music for People in Trouble review – smoky, orchestral adventures that derail brilliantly

‘I’m as lucky as the moon, on a starry night in June,” sings Sundfør on her album’s acoustic opener. It’s a misleadingly cutesy start. After 2015’s disco-infused prog record Ten Love Songs, the Norwegian songwriter and producer is having her … Continue reading →

Portico Quartet: Art in the Age of Automation review – reunited foursome make dreamy, layered trance

On their last album, they slimmed down to a trio, signed to Ninja Tune Records and reinvented themselves as an ambient synthpop outfit, with help from various guest vocalists. Now they’re back on their original label and reunited with Keir … Continue reading →

UNKLE: The Road, Part 1 review – cinematic, orchestral and pensive

When James Lavelle ran hip 1990s label Mo’ Wax, his genre-busting UNKLE project called on stars from Thom Yorke to Ian Brown, before Lavelle’s career nosedived in a blizzard of cocaine. Today, the guest list – ranging from soul singer … Continue reading →