"Documentaries can only be as fascinating as their subjects. That's why this bio/doc will have legs, because even in the afterlife Rick James gives his fans something to talk about" - Dwight Brown Ink give a verdict on the new docu. New York Times deems it "fascinating and troubling viewing". Consequence says "the smartest move 'Bitchin' makes is to just lay all of James' cards out on the table and let the audience figure it out for themselves".

"It’s Simz’s most personal album yet but also her most removed, in the sense that it’s cinematic and surreal and overwhelming... 'Introvert' is heady and dense and restless — a masterwork" - Stereogum gives a verdict to London rapper's new releases (it's also Stereogum's Album of the Week). Guardian likes the leftfieldness of it - "Voraciously creative, clever and cool...  It is notably non-synthetic and twitchily alive, with Simz’s vocal presence so intense and distinctive it is able to withstand all manner of genre-fickleness". Gigwise insists Simz is at the "highest echelons of British rap".

After much delay, Kanye West has released his 10th album 'Donda' with 27 songs spanning an hour and 48 minutes. The length of it is an issue with the critics. "Nobody needs all 27 of these tracks" - NME insists, adding, "but dig deep into its contents and you’ll find enough gems to make his 10th album worth your time". The Times hears a "sprawling and sometimes brilliant album". Pitchfork says the album is "barely finished and with a lot of baggage. Its 27 tracks include euphoric highs that lack connective tissue, a data dump of songs searching for a higher calling".

Exploring British youth culture of the time, 'Scorcha!: Skins, Suedes and Style From The Streets 1967 -1973' is "a hefty book by Paul Anderson and Mark Baxter. Covering the rise of first the suedeheads and then the skinheads on British streets, it is a fascinating, lovingly compiled piece tracking in detail the fade from the musicality of the modish, ska-loving suedeheads – who were bravely swimming against the prevailing hippy tide in 1967 – into the more brutish skinheads. The attention to interview detail and mountains of picture research is monumental" - The New Cue recommends a new book.

"On his debut album, 'The Long and Short of It', [Graham] Jonson, now 21, reconciles his approach to beat music with a form of bedroom pop, using two genres known for their modular simplicity to create complex psychedelic music with vast emotional horizons" - Pitchfork reviews quickly, quickly (grade it 8.1, don't call it emo-rap). Magnetic describes it as quickly, quickly's "most complex and interesting project to date".

Richard Dawson and his Hen Ogledd bandmate Sally Pilkington have released sixty-three albums (!) during the thick of the pandemic with their Bulbils project. They are now releasing a compilation of that great mass of music, which they have condensed into a compilation of - threes songs. The Quietus is impressed by both their last year's feat, as well as this year's collection: "I have learned something quite valuable from this release. Or at least, it’s made me think enough to realise it. None of us knows how to act at the moment. We’re free, sort of, but we’re either trying to not loudly perform that freedom, or we’re being belligerent and aggressive about it. We can go to pubs, gigs, theatres, but we don’t know what it is to be in them again yet, or its consequence. Fear of nature’s chaos has made conspiracy rife. But here in the gesture of these two people we find that yes, things are unusual and scary, but doing things together, small, human things, like making music or anything creative and shared, is the answer".

"A vibrant, soulful memoir that binds her own belated coming-of-age with her mother’s untimely death, and serves up food, music and, yes, tears alongside insights into identity, grief and the primal intensity of the mother-daughter bond" - Guardian reviews 'Crying in H Mart', a memoir by singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner, the frontwoman of the band Japanese Breakfast.

'Dreams Still Inspire' by the Chicago underground rap duo Abstract Mindstate is the first album fully produced by Kanye West that was not his own since Common’s 'Be' in 2005. It is also the first release under West's new YZY SND imprint. Coming out nearly 20 years after the release of their first and only album, 2001’s 'We Paid Let Us In!', and "with lyrics and production that perfectly complement each other, Abstract Mindstate's reunion album is a masterclass in Hip-Hop fundamentals", Hot New Hip-Hop points out.

"Grit and earthiness grounds this album in its spacious atmospheres and crushingly sludgy riffs" - Metal Injection reviews new album 'Celestial Blues', a "kaleidoscopic take on doom gaze and ritualistic folk" by King Woman. Pitchfork gives the album 7.5, describing it as an "exploration of spiritual healing and survival that’s been shellacked in a veneer of grungy malaise, heavy post-rock, and blissed-out darkness". The band is fronted by the Iranian-born Kris Esfandiari who "presents herself as one of the chief proponents of metal informed by spiritual inquiry, yearning for emancipation from the habituated self, and the complex desire that exceeds convention. She’s a modern-day gnostic", Beats Per Minute argues.

"'Thirstier' packs in monster hook after monster hook, with dense layers of crashing drums and whirring synths and bells-and-whistles that push each song to the next level" - Stereogum argues in favor of their latest choice for the Album of the week. Pitchfork gives the album 7.8, because it's "anthemic and euphoric, loaded with hooks and joyous reflections on love and self-discovery".

Mega Bog "exists in a universe both familiar but foreign. I do not always understand what her songs are about but I am drawn to them all the same and find myself quoting lines" - Brooklyn Vegan writes about the latest album by the experimental pop artist. "Musically, 'Life, and Another' is the most inviting Mega Bog album yet, with jazzy chording, dreamlike synths, and impressive playing all around... It's loaded with instantly likeable songs".

"Woodstock ’99 was the hedonistic, capital-drive fantasy of a fratty rape culture, one with all the privilege in the world but a surfeit of anger for which there was no outlet" - producers of the 'Woodstock '99: Peace, love, and rage' argue in their documentary. Consequence doesn't disagree completely, calling it "a case study for the confluence of white millennial entitlement and Boomer nostalgia, it’s certainly gripping, a disaster movie in documentary form". Rolling Stone counts down 19 worst things about the fest, including late-July timing of a fest situated on tarmac and concrete, overcrowding, lack of available water etc.

"The marvel of Billy, of course, is that in an era when being trans was apt to get one killed, he chose to 'hide in plain sight', concealing that he was assigned female at birth while embracing a profession that made him the constant center of attention" - the Daily Beast writes about the doc 'No Ordinary Man' which examines the life of Billy Tipton, a talented jazz artist in the 1940s and 1950s who, upon his death, was revealed to have been assigned female at birth. "That trailblazing courage is clearly an inspiration for everyone featured in Chin-Yee and Joynt’s film, who speak about his plight—and the bravery he exhibited in being himself, no matter the obstacles—with palpable reverence".

You have not lived until you have seen this 57-year-old actress-director shrink herself down to Hobbit size to play a pre-teen. This is beyond PEN15, beyond Martin Short in CLIFFORD, this is… cinema” - The New York Times critic wrote about 'Aline', the unofficial biopic of Celine Dion that has critics in awe of its “kooky”, “truly weird” and “magnificent camp” approach. 'Aline' stars and is directed by Valérie Lemercier, and critics reported the bizarre moment in which Lemercier, at age 57, for one scene portrays Dion, er, Aline, at age 12, the Wrap reports.

"Produced entirely by Kenny Beats, the album’s reserved musical approach magnifies the blunt scene-setting Vince has used to build his name over the last decade" - Pitchfork reviews the latest Vince Staples' album. Guardian deems it "much more personal and accessible than anything he’s put out before". "A record that evolves in real-time, ‘USEE4YOURSELF’ finds IDK speaking his truth. An amalgamation of styles that recalls the frenetic creativity of 00s Kanye, the record finds strength in personal revelation, with IDK often at his most individual when surrounded by his peers" - Clash Music reviews the latest album by IDK. NME points out how "talking about how following his dreams has led him to a happier life gives the record an optimistic ending".

The West African quintet with one foot in art-folk and other in psychedelic soul, The Narcotix have released their debut EP 'Mommy Issues'. The Brooklyn-based band cites African wedding music, choral symphonies, and Afrobeat as major influences on their style, while Pitchfork points out that "early in their career, the Narcotix have a knack for subverting expectations. Their songs are bright and bursting with detail, fueled by an affection for the music they’ve inherited and the myths they’ve built from it".

"A song is a static thing, one that will outlast a memory even after it’s fully disintegrated. On 'Home Video', Dacus sounds intent on recapturing a moment that’s already gone" - Stereogum reviews the new album by the indie singer-songwriter. Pitchfork hears her suggesting - "write your own moral code... write your own worldly music". "Her wise brand of rock music blooms into something even more palpable, relatable and beautifully messy" - Paste Magazine insists.

The director Beth B "is not interested in showing Lunch’s abrasive attitudes in a flattering light, and her take-her-as-she-comes approach extends to the doc’s account of musical metamorphosis" - Hollywood Reporter reviewed 'The War Is Never Over' the first career-spanning documentary of the 1970s No Wave icon Lydia Lunch. "B. leaves no stone unturned when it comes to Lydia Lunch ephemera. There’s great live footage from all of her music projects and spoken-word events. It’s a treasure trove that long-time fans will love" - Film Threat writes enthusiastically.

"A dense, kaleidoscopic album that might take a lot of time to fully unpick" - Alexis Petridis reviews 'Call Me If You Get Lost' by the California rapper (gave if 5 of 5 stars). Vulture likes "gorgeous sonics, well-placed samples, and entertaining sparring with guests rappers and singers", whereas Stereogum says Tyler, Creator has "given the genre one of its most vital adoring tributes in recent memory". Consequence says simply 'Call Me...' "might be the best hip-hop album of 2021".

"Instead of enduring pain, it’s best to excise those demons entirely — through her music, Backxwash confronts the darkest parts of herself and depicts how impossible it can be to leave those parts behind" - Stereogum reviews the latest album by Canadian alternative rapper. "In expressing her pain so directly and viscerally, Backxwash’s music offers a sense of genuine catharsis and connection. It is, in its own haunting way, strangely comforting" - The Quietus adds. Collaborators on the album - clipping., Speedy Ortiz, Code Orange, Code Orange, Black Dresses - speak plenty of the sonic side of this record.

"A gorgeous, hazy batch of songs that are somehow both haunted and buoyant in equal measure. It’s also a perfect escape into a masterfully created world" - New Noise reviews new album by the psychedelic garage guitarist Night Beats. The Quietus hears hope on the record: "Created during global pandemic and in the midst of Californian wildfires, Outlaw R&B' is an album reflective of a staggering turbulence of pain and suffering. Written, produced, and compiled amongst a ruckus of complete chaos, the album looks ahead to the light on the other side".

"'Rememberings' is a tremendous catalogue of female misbehaviour" - Guardian reviews new Sinéad O’Connor autobiography, describing the writing as "spare and conversational, and reveals O’Connor as self-deprecating, pragmatic and a sharp observer. She is funny, too".

"Jubilant, unapologetically massive, and bursting with a cozy, melancholic sense of communal belonging" - RogerEbert.com's writer reviews musical drama 'In the Heights' about a shop in Washington Heights, New York City, where each member of the community pursues their dream of a better life. MovieFreak.com sees "a joyously rhapsodic spectacle", whereas Wall Street Journal asks "How much pleasure can you take? How much joy can you stand without flinching?".

"Listening to 'Blue Weekend', you’re struck by an appealing sense of everything clicking into place" - Alexis Petridis writes reviewing the third album by the London indie-rock quartet Wolf Alice (gave if 5 of 5 stars). Brooklyn Vegan writer Erin Christie says "the trance I surrendered to is directly emblematic of the power of a band like Wolf Alice: they completely take your brain hostage as you enter their world". NME hears a "stone-cold masterpiece that further cements their place at the very peak of British music", whereas Sputnik Music calls it "one of those albums that qualifies as an event". 

"An inspiring, provocative vision of the many ways popular music matters- how caring writers have addressed its meanings, pleasures, mysteries, racism, sexism, populism, democratic vistas, conflicts of interest, angles of entry, leaps of faith, tricks of fate, joking around, stormy Mondays, mother fuyers, weary blues from waiting, reasons to be cheerful, simple twists of fate, sexy bits, and did I mention racism?" - Robert Christgau writes about new book 'Songbooks: The Literature of American Popular Music' by (one of his best friends) Eric Weisbard. There are two narrative lines in the book - "the shifting dialectic of vernacular and sentimental and the flowering and wilting of music journalism as a profession".

Pakistan instrumental quartet Jaubi have released their debut album 'Nafs at Peace' where they "explore eastern mysticism and the spiritual Self". The modern traditional record "starts in the Indian classical tradition and extends its tenets outwards to subtly incorporate atypical instrumentation such as the guitar, synths and drum kit", the Guardian reviews. "Across seven tracks, Jaubi effectively convey this journey of the self via shifts in musical character – from a hip-hop swing to classical ragas and ferocious jazz improvisations – and a subtle increase in pace and intensity".

California multi-instrumentalist and producer Georgia Anne Muldrow released her 21st album in 15 years, the largely instrumental electro/hip-hop/funky LP that she wrote and produced herself. PopMatters describes it as a "17-track clinic on creating rhythmic framework that wow you with their complexity and propel you into movement", whereas New Yorker hears it as "fidgety and animated, as if the music is longing to move out of confinement, to vibrate toward something". All Music argues "Muldrow's aim here is to provide listeners with superhero themes that facilitate emboldened movement out of doors".

"You can't pin this album down from just one song or even three; there's all kinds of different stuff all over the record, and for all the discordant, amelodic stuff, there's also some genuinely beautiful stuff on there" - Brooklyn Vegan writes, somewhat confused, about the new album by the London prog-rock band. Guardian appreciates exactly this "freakish, feverish parade of our inconceivable world and all its extremities, half-measures be damned". Pitchfork describes it as "glorious", because "the chord changes are more elaborate, the rhythms more twisted, the pretty parts prettier, the heavy parts heavier".

"He can rap absurdly well, and he could have a career on that alone, but he doesn’t seem to want it. Instead, he seems to want to exist in a lane that did not exist before him. He’s pulling it off" - Stereogum reviews Mach-Hommy's 'Pray for Haiti', declaring it one of the best rap albums of 2021. Pitchfork appreciates "his razor-sharp bars and an exceptional eye for detail" (tagged it Best new music, grade 8.8).

"The band offers us a contrasted 'Skeleton Lake' between darkness and softness, oppression and deliverance, but also heaviness and soaring sonorities that only strengthen their seizing basis made of an ageless duality" - Acta Infernalis reviews the new album by the Finnish melodic death metal/doom metal/goth band Hanging Garden. Metal Trenches argues "the beautiful and somber atmosphere is at its highest level", whereas Metal Temple hears the whole band collaborating "so finely to enrich the music of the band, from black screams to death growls to hyper clean vocals, even to whispers, a fair amount of each".