Bonobo – The North Borders
If “slow and steady wins the race” is indeed a truism, then Bonobo’s fifth LP in nearly fifteen years The North Borders is an model illustration of it. After the hearty reception to his last LP – 2010′s Black Sands – The North Borders sees the confidence and scope of his sound blossom; tracks unfolding in ornate, colourful flourishes to reveal an attuned sensibility for orchestral grooves and delicate textures, as strands of garage, house and trip-hop are woven into ripe, expertly crafted progressions of down-tempo electronica. Read the full review on Fact

Tyler the Creator – Wolf
Wolf as a whole also sounds gorgeous, and that even goes for the bruisers. The polyrhythmic hi-hats of the madcap posse cut “Trashwang” eventually give pause to a piano bridge, and the blustery lead single “Domo 23” gets a bump from a boisterous horn section. Foreboding numbers like “Rusty” (a lush reimagining of 1990s RZA production) and the nightmarish, tribal “Cowboy” are declawed by rich textures and melodicism. “Answer” sets Tyler’s longing for his late grandmother and absentee father to a bright guitar figure and shimmering organs. Read the full review on Pitchfork

Charles Bradley – Victim of Love
Compared to the airing of grievances that was No Time for Dreaming — standout “Why Is It So Hard” seemingly let out decades of frustration over the course of its four minutes — Victim of Love is nothing but smooth sailing. But that doesn’t mean Bradley’s totally content these days. The major theme here is, of course, love, and Bradley’s walloping sob of a voice is more than capable of extricating all the feelings that come with his subject. There’s adoration in that voice when he sings lines like “My life was cold / You put the flame on it”; he sounds both desperate and lost when he asks, “Where do we go from here?” Read the full review on Consequence of Sound