This Week's Releases

BADBADNOTGOOD — IV (Pod/Inertia)

The instrumental jazz band have "opened up to modernised production styles" with their "heightened" focus on the brass section and keys that "sound closer to synthesisers". With "swaggering '70s funk" and sax salos that are both "explosive" and "pervading", we suspect "quite a few babies will probably be conceived" to this record. We gave it four-and-a-half stars and the Album Of The Week.

The Avalanches — Wildflower (Modular)

16 years since their first, Wildflower is "more sonic art piece than album" with "a feast of samples" like "vinyl pops and crackles, computer game sound effects, traffic noise and vibrant sounds of life happening". The album is what "[hearing] a kaleidoscope" would be like, but "nothing reaches [Frankie Sinatra]'s zenith". We gave it three-and-a-half stars.

The John Steel Singers — Midnight At The Plutonium (Create Control)

"Zappa-esque funk" is "unleashed in full, glorious force on this latest record, which is heavily influenced by '80s psychedelic disco and early 2000s house party tunes". Highlights include Can You Feel The Future, Midnight At The Plutonium and Weekend Lover, with the band sounding like "[they] had lots of fun making this". We gave it three-and-a-half stars.