New Reviews for November 17, 2023

New Blue Sun
Epic
The debut solo album from one of the world's greatest rappers is a pleasant, sometimes sublime collection of flute-centered ambient soundscapes.
- Fred Thomas
Random Access Memories [Drumless Edition]Editor's choice
Legacy / Sony Music
Stripping the beats from the duo's nostalgic 2013 masterpiece lets its musical and emotional nuances shine all the brighter.
- Heather Phares
Who Can See Forever
Sub Pop
The band's first live album is made up of dramatic, exploratory, and burnished versions of songs drawn from throughout their long career.
- Tim Sendra
Rockstar [2 CD]
Big Machine Records
A mammoth star-studded album designed as a celebration of Dolly Parton's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Back to Moon Beach
Verve
This album-length collection of miscellaneous tracks from the permanently relaxed indie songwriter includes unreleased originals, alternate takes, and covers of Wilco and Dylan.
- Fred Thomas
Quaranta
Warp
Rap
Detroit rapper's sixth album takes on a melancholy tone as he examines deep regrets, self-doubt, and a full spectrum of undiluted emotions.
- Fred Thomas
Songs of Silence
Mute / Mute Artists
At once hypnotic and adventurous, the first solo album by the synth pop luminary captures home-studio experiments on modular synth format Eurorack.
- Marcy Donelson
Remote Echoes
Numero Group
Collection of early demos, some previously unreleased, that show the lo-fi shoegaze band in their promising, often magical, very early days.
- Tim Sendra
Remember the Future
AllMusic Staff Pick - November 23, 2023
1973
Among Nektar fans, there are many who consider Remember the Future, released 50 years ago today, to be the band's creative peak. The album certainly creates the grounds for making that argument. Indeed, it is an ambitious work that is essentially one composition divided into two parts.
- Gary Hill