The Student Playlist

Showcasing the Best New Music, Curating the Classics

Posts by Matthew Watkin

REVIEW: Madlib – ‘Sound Ancestors’ (Madlib Invazion)

Produced in league with Four Tet, hip-hop producer extraordinaire Madlib delivers a reliably compelling album in ‘Sound Ancestors’.

REVIEW: Bicep – ‘Isles’ (Ninja Tune)

Journeying inwards and exploring different rhythms and textures, Bicep’s second album ‘Isles’ is a bit less than the sum of its parts.

REVIEW: Adrianne Lenker – ‘songs’ / ‘instrumentals’ (4AD)

An extraordinarily powerful evocation of isolation and heartbreak built with the barest of ingredients, Adrianne Lenker’s two new albums are spellbinding.

REVIEW: Working Men’s Club – ‘Working Men’s Club’ (Heavenly / P.I.A.S.)

Taking inspiration from Chicago house and the more cerebral end of punk, ‘Working Men’s Club’ is a contender for the best debut album of 2020.

REVIEW: IDLES – ‘Ultra Mono’ (Partisan Records)

IDLES’ third album ‘Ultra Mono’ lacks the off-kilter energy of their debut and the joie-de-vivre of their second, but hits just about hard enough.

REVIEW: Ghostpoet – ‘I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep’ (P.I.A.S.)

Ghostpoet’s grimy hybridisation of hip-hop and indie has never left much room for light, but fifth album ‘I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep’ is incredibly prescient.

REVIEW: Shabazz Palaces – ‘The Don Of Diamond Dreams’ (Sub Pop)

‘The Don Of Diamond Dreams’, the latest album from Ishmael Butler’s Shabazz Palaces, occasionally drifts too much, but few make hip-hop as immersive as him.