The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - falling apart so slow, 2017

"the glimmering "Falling Apart So Slow" charts a seasonal year wherein intimacy unravels in his absence"

The Flaming Lips - oczy mlody, 2017

"he found the album title and some of the song titles and lyrics in a second-hand book, a Polish translation of Erskine Caldwell's Close to Home, titled Blisko domu. He and the band liked the words primarily due to their sound, rather than their meaning, "which he interpreted as 'Oxy Melody,' a futuristic drug."

Ulver - nemoralia, 2017

"opening track “Nemoralia” is every inch the crowning jewel its location implies it should be. Musically, it’s one of the most quintessential tracks on the album; the groovy bass line, the rich synths, the atmospheric vocals which move between sweet allure and chilling mystery. Everything about it is 100% what makes this album work, and work well. Conceptually, the track is chock full of references and clever juxtapositions that lead us around and around its main theme. Is that theme the historical events described, their cultural referents or something all together alien to both? The trick is not to try and answer that question but rather let it soak into you as you listen again and again. First, “Nemoralia” itself is a Roman ritual to the goddess Diana. It wouldn’t surprise you to learn that, on top of being the goddess of the moon, she’s also the goddess of the hunt and the wolf, fitting in beautifully with Ulver’s history and namesake. The festival itself was also called “The Festival of Torches”, explaining the opening lines but did not take place on “the 18th to 19th of July”, as the track’s chorus says. Instead, those are the dates of the “Great Fire of Rome”, when the infamous Nero burned down the everlasting city in the fires of his madness. Torches and fire mingle together as the moon rises above, blending celebration, ecstasy, divinity, and destruction into one heady mix of meaning and imagery."

Fazerdaze - shoulders, 2017

"‘Shoulders’ features a casio-like keyboard sound, that reminds this listener of the casio work of Chris Knox and Tall Dwarfs, and Amelia's layered mournful vocals. Another standout is ‘Friends’ with an intro of single bass notes leading to a vocal, then simple drum beats and finally a contrasting loud guitar. We were ready for a blast of colder air and this blows and mingles some of the traces of unease that have accumulated and now reside faintly beneath the surface of this album."

Neil Young - human highway hitchhiker, 2017

"Recorded over the course of one lazy, stoned day in Malibu in 1976, Hitchhiker was never bootlegged, unlike Homegrown and Chrome Dreams, its unreleased cousins from the mid-'70s. Neil Young first let its existence be known in 2014, when he mentioned a 1976 solo acoustic session recorded with longtime producer David Briggs that was "a complete piece."

Neil Young - powderfinger hitchhicker version, 2017

"Back then when we played this record for business folks, the reaction was that it was not a real record, but a collection of demos. I was advised to record the songs with a band, but the Hitchhicker versions are the true originals, recorded earlier than any versions you may have ever heard, and I always knew the original album would find its place and surface. That time is now."

The New Pornographers - avalanche alley, 2017

"the album is perfect for the long top-down drives that we all dream of at the start of summer. Though not shockingly different from The New Pornographers’ past works, the album does seem to capture an amount of gained perspective and perfectionism"

The New Pornographers - clockwise, 2017

"Calling the New Pornographers' music smart pop almost underestimates the group; there's smart, and then there's these folks, whose cleverness suggests their tunes got their undergrad degree at Yale and did their master's at Harvard. But A.C. Newman and his crew also have a keen understanding of the mind/body conundrum -- they want their music to be as intelligent as they are, but they also want it to feel good."

The New Pornographers - high ticket attractions, 2017

"It's filled with hooks linked in the most straightforward way possible. The drum beat just drives through with minimal transitions, the vocals are fast and dance around harmonies. Just enough guitar, just enough synths."

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - the garret, 2017

"The Echo of Pleasure, the fourth LP by New York’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, is an exquisite—if also occasionally too familiar—entry into the modern landscape of retro synth pop. Led by the “big-hearted, idealistic” songwriting of frontman Kip Berman—and fleshed out by a variety of players and singers, plus producer Andy Savours—the album bursts with breezy and tight arrangements, meditative melodies, and beautifully poignant lyricism, making it a simultaneously boyish and mature exploration of love, longing and everything in-between."

Neil Young - hitchhiker acoustic, 2017

"This 2017 release, while being a brand-new album, was also a very old one in that this acoustic solo album was recorded in a single session in Malibu, CA at Indigo Studio in 1976. Chronologically this sits between the Crazy Horse albums ‘Zuma’ and ‘American Stars ‘n’ Bars’, yet here we do not have that powerful trio but instead the pure form of just a singer picking his guitar. In many ways this is my favourite style of Young’s, although Crazy Horse does come a close second, as his voice and passion really shines through when there is nothing else getting in the way. The only people in the studio at the time of the session was long-time studio collaborator David Briggs and actor Dean Stockwell, so Young is incredibly relaxed, just sitting and singing songs which at the time were all unreleased, and only a few of which have made it out since then. An example of this is the title cut which didn’t appear on an album until some 30 + years later, almost unrecognisable in its electric blast from the acoustic version we have here."

The New Pornographers - whiteout conditions, 2017

"Clearly this one came through a period of being depressed and dealing with the double-edged sword that is modern medicine, which can pull you back from the brink, but the dosage is often a bit of a crapshoot, rendering an otherwise talented and motivated person a total zombie barely capable of driving themselves to work in the morning."

Jome - branches, 2017

"Branches" is the closing track on Jome's debut album Tunnels, released on November 3, 2017. Jome is an indie pop duo from Los Angeles, consisting of Jesse Marc and Christoph Andersson, known for their ethereal, introspective sound blending electronic elements with organic instrumentation."

Elbow - magnificent she says, 2017

"If it weren’t for Peter Gabriel and the prog era Genesis, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy artists like Elbow today along my personal journey. Gabriel and Genesis have touched so many creative lives over the years and cultivated a nourishing landscape for new prog artists to grow."

Jome - cinnamon, 2017

“Set to the backdrop of melodic guitar and piano that effortlessly lap across you, soft claps, and ethereal synths, “Cinnamon” slowly builds into a well-crafted, lush, and cinematic soundscape. Accompanying that backdrop is the hero of the track, which is, of course, JOME’s positively spellbinding voice.”

Jome - concrete, 2017

"Concrete" is a track by the Los Angeles-based indie pop duo JOME (consisting of Jesse Marc and Christoph Andersson). It appears as the eighth song on their debut album Tunnels, released on November 3, 2017. The album blends woodland pop, dream pop, and experimental elements, with themes of introspection, emotional distance, and subtle melancholy."

Fleet Foxes - third of may odaigahara, 2017

“Third of May/Ōdaigahara” is an ambitious composition with string orchestration, multiple voices rising in unison and marked shifts from loud to quiet. At several points during the nearly nine-minute song, the pounding piano falls to leave a lone singer, who sounds fragile and isolated. The band roars back to full volume, but in the final minutes of the song are voiceless and beat-less – just a soothing wash of strings."

Plastic Flowers - how can i, 2017

"Plastic Flowers is the solo project of George Samaras, a Greek-born producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dream pop artist based in London, UK. His music blends shoegaze, vaporwave, and lo-fi aesthetics, often drawing influences from 90s indie pop and contemporary dream pop acts like Deerhunter or My Bloody Valentine. The band/project started as a bedroom pop endeavor during his college years, evolving into full-length albums praised for their analog warmth and emotional depth."How Can I" is a track from Plastic Flowers' third full-length album, Absent Forever, released on November 10, 2017, via The Native Sound label. The album was recorded onto tape between April and July 2017 in London, amid Samaras' PhD workload, and features collaborations with a string quartet, his former bandmate Angelos Paschalidis on bass for one track, and drummer Nikos Panaroudis. It captures a shift toward richer, tape-recorded soundscapes, with themes of absence, longing, and introspection."

Saint Etienne - sweet arcadia, 2017

"The following song, Sweet Arcadia, is the masterpiece. It starts in familiar territory, Sarah narrating a train journey, just as she has on Saint Etienne songs in the past. But this one turns from idyllic catalogue to Wicker Man style threat, the sweet arcadia no longer sounding like the cosy nooks and havens of the lyrics, but instead falling into a spiralling hell of proggy, intoxicated keyboards. Sarah's voice is threatening, the music is anxious and seductive all at the same time. Like a 1970s made for TV ghost story, or Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World come to marvel at the self build homes of Essex and Lewisham. Angel of Woodhatch, the final melody, is a folksy, chiming lament, an arts and crafts folly that would fit nicey into John Betjeman's Metroland."

Ride - cali, 2017

"My favourite song is Cali. I love the optimistic, summer like feel of the track, with the little guitar flourishes and loose beat. There is also an insanely wonderful bit towards the end where there is a double tap on the snare that leads into the joyous second half of the song, where the band let rip and fly, playing with the melody of the song and taking it to new levels."