Reviews of tUnE-yArDs, BADBADNOTGOOD and Lykke Li Lead Our New Release Roundup

BY Rebecca M. WilliamsPublished May 6, 2014

Is your current playlist starting to feel a little stale? This week brings a fresh batch of brand new music releases, and we're serving up a handful of album reviews in today's New Release roundup. If you want to jumpstart your music collection and get some new tunes circulating through your speakers, look no further: These reviews will help you decide what new releases will provide a breath of fresh air to your listening library.

tUnE-yArDs' new record, Nikki Nack, is Merrill Garbus' attempt to record from a fresh perspective, forgetting what she's learned through previous releases. Our reviewer praises Garbus' international influences, and her daring endeavour to break free from the offbeat pop energy that listeners have come to expect. Read the review to see if you agree.

Eclectic Toronto jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD have received a lot of attention this week regarding their new release, III. The buzz is hardly surprising; our reviewer details the album's inclusion of "psychedelic textures, the virtuosity of progressive music and the pulsing 4/4 beats of Krautrock." Click above to find out more.

Up next is our shining review of Swedish pop royalty Lykke Li's I Never Learn. The album is unexpectedly introspective and vulnerable, but it's also melodious, filled with the typically atypical brand of pop Lykke Li is known to write.

From the electronic world, we've got Brian Eno and Karl Hyde's Someday World. This album is the joint effort of producer Brian Eno and Underworld's Karl Hyde, but is Someday World a work of collaborative genius or less than the sum of its parts? Read the review to find out. You'll also want to read our review for long-active rap duo Atmosphere's latest release, Southsiders, which offers listeners down-to-earth wisdom and genuine life advice in the form of catchy rhymes and funky, multi-instrumental beats.

Finally, we reviewed Luminous, the latest crunchy-riffed, synth-anchored album from the Horrors. Give it a read to decide if you'll partake of the dense, filled-to-the-brim psychedelic experience that the Horrors offer this time around.

Listen to some selections from the albums reviewed above and much, much more in our Rdio Genre Playlists:

Pop & Rock
Dance & Electronic
Hip-Hop

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