Modern Jester is one of the most accomplished noise albums of the last several years. Excellent are the chances that it will go down as one of his very finest works.

On Natural Brown Prom Queen, she proves she belongs to no mood, genre or period of time. Over a placeless mix of sounds and endlessly dynamic beats she comes of age, shaping Black histories into exciting futures, all while making it clear that her idea of home is wherever she decides it is at any given moment.

With its intrepid nonconformity, masterfully undercooked programming and swagger, it's hard not to view Transsektoral as anything other than a resounding success.

Reform Club is full of conventional beauty; protracted strings and pads which soar, pulse, float or shimmer on a dub-tinged substrate.

The language of contrasts she creates only immerses us further in Laini Tani's transcendent, nearly purgatorial atmosphere as it builds. But beyond its conscious atemporality, Laini Tani's beauty is what makes it so entrancing.

It is difficult to pick any more jewels off this dance floor diadem, making the most as it does of the long player context.

A mind-expanding debut compilation. More than just a primer, A Dancefloor in Ndola is a captivating exercise in crate-diggery. .... Kampire is doing more than putting together a compilation—she is helping form African pop history.

Their first record done entirely as a duo, and their most mature piece of music yet.

Where 2009's By The Throat was ruthless but exacting, this one feels genuinely unhinged--and that unpredictability makes it far more thrilling than any engineered suspense could have been.

There's an intimacy here that compliments Broadcast's already close, cosy sound. Even the shorter songs bear fruit. .... It's hard not to imagine what these songs could have been: would Broadcast have kept them as-is and dove more into psychedelic folk, or would they have embellished more, and added more synths and electronics? Either way, it's a fascinating glimmer of what they might have done next.

Rema remains steadfast on his path to brilliance. HEIS is a capstone of an artist who's left an indelible mark on Afrobeats, but also Rema's realisation of his own singularity—not just in the great Benin Kingdom before him but the world.

Vibrant, dynamic displays that veer towards transcendence. Rife with the yearning for more prevalent love, Lovegaze is a bewitching offering of psychedelia and astral folk that goes beyond the mind, and peers into the soul of a distinct talent as she exalts beauty in its rawest forms.

Where Moderat sounded at times tentative and disjointed, II is in every regard a better and more well-rounded record. If there were no third Moderat album, this would stand as a definitive statement.

Tunes 2011 To 2019 frames the artistic development of someone whose older music sounds more inspired but is still capable of greatness. ... 12 years since his last album, we at least get a large chunk of his often incredible catalogue in one place.

The 13-track record is anti-corporate music at its finest—this was not created for mere enjoyment, but as an outlet for the global psychic mood. Each track feels like 2020. ... The entire album is captivating, but the middle section is exceptional. ... In Ayewa's hands the heady concept [Afrofuturism] gets new life.

It's bold, maybe even avant-garde, but from beginning to end it's raucous, barnstorming, chair-dancing fun.

In some ways it's arguably dubstep's first concept album, an expansive and visionary "what if," a dreamscape of a post-globalization, collapsed multicultural society where cultures collide uncontrollably.

The music on µ20 is equally a view into that mind and its peculiar tastes. Though he rarely gets the level of recognition and respect as his good friend and one-time collaborator Aphex Twin, Paradinas is a visionary, an incredibly talented producer and a savvy curator.

It is poignant and ragged with suffering, but it doesn't dwell there. It is also bright, optimistic and euphoric.

Immunity is a journey to be savoured, revisited regularly in the knowledge that some new landmark will emerge each and every time.

In bold terms, this is quite possibly the commercial mix of the year.

Whatever you want and could ever require from the progressive soul textbook is up in here. Darts, slaps, bops and most definitely thumpers. ... Renders a greater reward than we could ever envision. Voice Notes gives us just that.

Sakamoto has made a workaday logbook into something transcendent, partly because of its intimacy. Whether it's one of his major works is a question for future historians, but coming amidst an ongoing struggle with cancer, its bravery is defiant and splendid, the sound of an artist's soul laid bare.

Without a doubt an early contender for electronic album of the year.

It's almost certainly the producer's most ambitious and most vital work since Untrue.

In anchoring her songwriting in the canon of '90s dance music, twigs shines with a quality we haven't really seen before. Eusexua is remarkably slippery, allowing songs to go anywhere and do anything, but propelled by the prowess of a songwriter in peak form.

If it was difficult to fathom what could surpass Forever, Ya Girl's genius, there are no signs of sophomore slump on hooke's law. Building on the modern R&B template of her debut, her second album accomplishes a Herculean task: being conceptual and moving as well as fun.

Where Devotion was light and feathery, Colourgrade is haunting and visceral. She sounds wiser, more assured, laser-focused on what matters most.