Laurel Halo: Chance of Rain
It’s not as challenging as some critics have made it out to be, not when Halo’s grilles of beats can so easily ensnare you, body and mind, like how sheets of rain catches a child in awe.
Nils Frahm: Spaces
Both conceptual (in the incorporation of audience and ambient sounds) and not highfalutin (the longest, loudest track is titled ‘For – Peter – Toilet Brushes – More’) it’s neo-classical minimalist musique concrète that’s quite a quiet delight for the senses.
Gesaffelstein: Aleph
Yes, he may have produced Kanye West’s ‘Black Skinhead’ and ‘Send It Up’, but on his own – as the purported dark prince of techno – his debut is an intense introduction to his own take on varied genres of electronic music.
Death Grips: Government Plates
Death Grips’ seemingly unrelenting quest to provoke might just make them the most important music act in the independent scene.
Danny Brown: Old
Danny never glorifies being poor and doing crime — this man isn’t selling the Great American Gangster Story perpetuated by the likes of Jay-Z and most NYC rappers.
Chvrches: The Bones of What You Believe
JUICE was glad that our expectations were tampered before coming into the band’s debut The Bones of What You Believe – because it’s every bit as good as we originally believed.
Haim: Days Are Gone
Days Are Gone is a product by a band that grew up beholden to old school rock, ‘90s pop r’n’b, and girl power bands.
AlunaGeorge: Body Music
More indebted to glitch, UK 2-step, and the bedroom producer scene, Body Music follows the cue of their numerous singles released previously, doubles their amount – you’ve probably heard nearly half of this record before – and then puts sheer focus on what they want to accomplish.