Welcome to our new Believe The Hype portal. Our intention is to use this as a condensed guide to the very best new music reviewed on No Ripcord in the last 6 months or so. Rather than simply list every 8/10 album, we hope to compile a much more selective group of records. Some of these picks provide a particularly challenging listening experience, while others will appeal to the vast majority on the first listen; nevertheless, we consider them all to be essential examples of great music in 2010. We hope you find this new section useful and look forward to your feedback.

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22 FEBRUARY

JAGA JAZZIST
"One Armed Bandit"
(Ninja Tune)

"Although I realize the rather premature nature of this statement, it could very well be that with One Armed Bandit, Norway's Jaga Jazzist have produced the album of the year. While trying to restrain the unavoidable sense of hyperbole, it's hard to conceive that any other releases will contain anywhere near the same level of imaginative, dynamic and joyously enjoyable sounds. Listening to this record is like knocking back a potent distillation of the ever-evolving potential of music; by turns inspiring and bewildering, these snake-like compositions align exotic, hypnotic meters of the like usually found in the darker recesses of Jazz's underbelly with moments of such contrasting darkness and light as to be initially overwhelming." 10/10

Click here to read Jody White's review in full...

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9 FEBRUARY

FIELD MUSIC
"Field Music (Measure)"
(Memphis Industries)

"Measure reevaluates the purpose of the double album, but in doing so, changes the rules about how they should unveil as a final product. Even if a track or two could have been cut off, there’s still a sense of brevity in how immaculately edited the Brewises sequence the material and edit all their instruments, leaving a final production that shines with clarity. Field Music may still be tragically unhip for our synth-crazed times, but that doesn’t demean their value. Now, more than ever, they should distinguish themselves as leaders of the pack." 9/10

Click here to read Juan Edgardo Rodriguez's review in full...

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26 JANUARY

BEACH HOUSE
"Teen Dream"
(Sub Pop)

"If Devotion was more about monogamy, Teen Dream is the equivalent of being free. It almost exclusively deals with sensations, whether it’s longing, confusion, and the desire to reach a personal need. What’s more striking is how Legrand exposes an interpretation of a younger self. Much of the lyricism holds a dear diary approach, as if she were retelling her thoughts with a naïve gullibility that borders on immaturity. Rarely do these testaments on love reach a wider audience with such veracity." 8/10

Click here to read Juan Edgardo Rodriguez's full review...

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24 JANUARY

EELS
"End Times"
(Vagrant)

"Perhaps the saddest thing about this album is the acceptance of loss in his life and the realisation in the futility of all of ours. This album sees a man struggling to come to terms with everything around him but with a resigning acceptance of nothingness. There are snippets of optimism that are equally matched with shards of doubt. Maturity has soaked in and youthfulness and naivety can no longer be a way out, see In My Younger Days. It’s almost as though he’s given up any element of pretence and although he knows what he wants in life." 8/10

Click here to read Daniel Dylan Wray's full review...

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21 JANUARY

SPOON
"Transference"
(Merge)

"On the second listen, Andrew still preferred Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but every listen revealed more about Transference. The album twisted and turned its already discombobulated songs around and around, never letting anyone get comfortable. It showed a more cerebral Spoon than ever before. Andrew felt smart listening to it. The sonic exploration thrilled him. The breezy arrangement made the album fly by and allowed for consecutive listens of the best Spoon album since 2002’s Kill the Moonlight. It was Spoon’s most intelligent album in a catalog full of intelligent albums.." 9/10

Click here to read Andrew Baer's full review...

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18 JANUARY

AFCGT
"AFCGT (LP)"
(Sub Pop)

"What I find most attractive about this album, other than AFCGT’s reveling in the good ol’ days of indie noise terror and creative post-punk expression, is that there’s a strong likelihood that this album will be dismissed as noise: loud, irritating noise. I like this idea, mostly because I want to believe that rock music can still generate negative responses, or put people off. I like that there’s a potential for rock music to unlearn, again, and also rediscover the absurd, the abstract and the abominable. AFCGT (LP) conjures up a lot of excitement and even declares its own war on the digital era." 9/10

Click here to read Sean Caldwell's full review...

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VAMPIRE WEEKEND
"Contra"
(XL)

"Sure, Contra has its faults—the ill-advised production, the jarring styles, the traces of arena-rock. But you have to admire it nonetheless, and not only for the stellar songwriting: there’s not a single song on Contra that could be mistaken for Vampire Weekend. Vampire Weekend’s willingness to write an album of exciting new material, rearranging the very core of the sound they’ve come to be known for, will be maddening on first listen for those who loved their debut—but those who stick it out will discover that there’s a more mature, innovative band in its place." 8/10

Click here to read Michael Skinnider's review...

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