Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest
Tomorrow’s Harvest opens with dissonant arpeggios and a heap of fuzz—what John Carpenter might record if he took a job soundtracking a Michael Mann film. This theme sticks for the album’s duration, like a steady drizzle that doesn’t let up for weeks. The clouds only part sporadically, but when they do, we get some of the most unabashedly gorgeous music in Boards Of Canada’s discography. “Cold Earth” has the kind of wandering melody and head-nodding beat we’ve heard innumerable times from this group, but the space they leave in the mix brings clarity to its strange chords and rhythmic nuance. Driven by a ghostly piano and strings filtered down to little more than a high-frequency scratch, “Nothing Is Real” provides some rays of sunlight. Mostly, though, we’re left sifting through chilly ambience and tangled drum patterns, driven by the lingering sense of some greater meaning. Read the full review on Resident Advisor
Deafheaven – Sunbather
Though there are plenty of heavy riffs and betwitched screams a la early ‘90s Norway, there’s plenty on Sunbather that’s bound to piss off those wishing to tag this group as black metal. The LP’s sleeve art is a striking, gorgeous pink, far from the imperceptible black-on-white band name decals that black metal is so famous for. Soft instrumental passages like “Irresistible” recall Explosions in the Sky, whose placid guitar technique (see the blueprint established by The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place) is not privy to harsh tremolo picking. Meanwhile, on the other end, there are those who are drawn to this album for its take on shoegaze and post-rock, i.e. the avid readers of indie e-zines. For all the things they might find appealing, they probably won’t bee keen on George Clarke’s vocals, which never fall below a piercing screech. Read the full review on Pop Matters
Black Sabbath – 13
Ozzy Osbourne has stated multiple times that ’13′ could possibly be the most important album of his career. With such a fabled discography preceding ’13,’ both with Black Sabbath and his solo career, Ozzy’s claim is not one to be taken lightly, and although ’13′ may not be the greatest album to ever be attributed to Ozzy’s name, the disc is a definite success for Black Sabbath. Read the review on Loudwire