As the year approaches its halfway point, it’s time for us to deliver what we call, with a businesslike gravity, our Second Quarter Report.

Put simply, it’s our pick of what we feel are the 20 best albums to be released in the second quarter of the year – the months of April through August. It’s a diverse and at times admittedly perverse selection – where else, we ask, would you find Nicki Minaj and Dale Cornish afforded equal praise? – but above all it’s an honest one. The following 20 full-lengths are those that FACT’s motley staff have been enjoying the most, both in and out of the office, in recent weeks. Ignore them at your peril.

ACTRESS
R.I.P.
(HONEST JON’S)

“R.I.P is a fantastical, fascinating album: as Actress intended, it feels not really of this world. That it is more focused and ultimately successful than its predecessors is symptomatic of what is obviously a very human, personal journey for its maker.” – full review

BIGG JUS
MACHINES THAT MAKE CIVILIZATION FUN
(LAITDBAK / MUSH)

“It’s far from perfect – Jus has admitted, in fact, that some of the tracks on the album are basically first drafts – but that’s not the point: if a more desolate, worn down and hopeless sounding hip-hop album emerges in 2012 I don’t think I’d want to hear it. This is uncomfortable enough.” – full review

BRACKLES
RINSE PRESENTS: BRACKLES
(RINSE)

Basically, you’re getting a big handful of guaranteed dancefloor gems showcasing some of Kemp’s finest production to date, and in a way that answers how we should approach this piece of work as ‘an album’. It shouldn’t really matter anymore if it’s for the headphones or dancefloor, what matters is that we pull our heads out of our arses and just vibe to it.” – full review

CFCF
EXERCISES
(DUMMY)

“Any track on Exercises could be developed to far greater length, but Silver’s decision to reign these in is deftly handled. The result leaves the listener with less of a sense of control and more of an experience controlled by someone who knows exactly what they are doing.” – full review

COOLY G
PLAYIN’ ME
(HYPERDUB)

“Playin’ Me is perfect or thereabouts. Of all the Cooly G albums in multi-dimensional parallel universes, this is the best one, the perfect execution of her sound.” – full review

DALE CORNISH
GLACIAL
(ENTR’ACTE)

An Entr’acte record called Glacial is unlikely to feature air horns and a Waka guest verse, but Dale Cornish’s recent LP takes austerity to relatively uncharted extremes. Each composition consists of the skeleton of a drum track, some barely discernible digital tinkering and absolutely nothing else. Something about Cornish’s balancing act – the timbre of the drums, the delicate application of reverb, the tempo – makes this exercise in spartan sonics oddly compelling (it’s worth listening to it immediately after EVOL’s barking FACT mix to get the full effect). Concision in excelsis.

DEAN BLUNT & INGA COPELAND
BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL
(HYPERDUB)

“Ultimately, this is music built through play – melodic lines wander out uncertainly, feeling their way into the unknown; structures unfold unevenly or else sputter to a halt in knots of dissonance. The result is a collection of intriguing, often beautiful miniatures – gems to be cherished and enjoyed, sonic curiosities that reward repeated listening.” – full review

GRASS WIDOW
INTERNAL LOGIC
(HLR)

Grass Widow are a more accomplished, and somehow more genuine, proposition than any of their immediate peers. Their inspiration is obvious – the shambling indie-pop that came out of early K Records and the UK’s post-C86 underground – but at least they have the tenacity, not to mention the ability, to have created an album actually comparable with, rather than merely a footnote to, those of their heroes.

GUNPLAY
BOGOTA RICH: THE PREQUEL
(MAYBACH MUSIC GROUP)

“’So much I wanna say, only got one pair of lungs,’ Gunplay raps at one point on Bogota Rich. Well, whatever you make of what he says, you’ve really got to hand it to his lungs. Another line that perhaps comes closer to the essence of Gunplay’s Tyson-esque talent: ‘I beat up the beat, never let it breathe!’. There are plenty of rappers who are nicer people than Gunplay, more edifying and politically conscious, more verbally dexterous – but us Gunplay fans all know who’s wearing the black shorts. Ear lobe in mouth, tattoo on face, opponents being given mouth-to-mouth in the opposite corner: love him or loathe him, the champ is here.” – full review

HALEEK MAUL
OXYCONTEEN
(MEROK)

Boasting production from Supreme Cuts, The-Drum and veteran-of-all-trades King Britt, Oxyconteen is an alarmingly well-realised introduction to a new voice you’re going to be hearing much more from this year. Backed by dark, operatic instrumentals, there are comparisons to be made between Haleek and Spaceghostpurrp, the current prince of hip-hop’s dark side, but really he’s his own guy, and with ideas above his station.

I:CUBE
“M” MEGAMIX
(VERSATILE)

“If you ever wanted a house or techno album as endlessly listenable, as varied, assured and as good value for money as Madvillain’s 2004 hip-hop classic Madvillainy, then your wish has been fulfilled. Fuck intros, let’s dance.” – full review

JAM CITY
CLASSICAL CURVES
(NIGHT SLUGS)

“It’s like hearing Sim City played through music: grid-based construction occurring at a robotic pace, but with subtle curves and twists of individuality that make it personal.” – full review

KTL
V
(EDITIONS MEGO)

Anyone worried that Peter Rehberg and Stephen O’Malley’s decision to work with neo-classical composer/arranger Jóhann Jóhannsson and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra has resulted in a softening of their sound can relax, at least some: KTL’s heaviness remains in intact, but the previously all-pervading doom has given way to a strange kind of ecstasy.

LE1F
DARK YORK
(GREEDHEAD)

“Dark York feels like a gauntlet thrown down to the straight hip-hop world, not an inward-looking one-off. Which straight rappers are ready to match Le1f’s fierceness? Which of them can take on his beats (you can imagine everyone from T.I. to Cam’ron jumping on ‘Wut’)? Who will dare to go head-to-head with him on record? Le1f’s made his statement,  a formidable one – and a potential blueprint for the future.” – full review

LIGHT ASYLUM
LIGHT ASYLUM
(MEXICAN SUMMER)

“Quite simply, a brilliant album from musicians who deserve immense respect.” – full review