While some songs are utterly slow paced, they are obscured by the strength of the aforementioned tracks as well as “The Fall” and “Last Dance.”

With a reflective outlook worthy of Bragg’s now venerable stature, this weathered perspective serves him well.

It’s intense and contradictory, a bundle of bravado and doubt and vulnerability and longing that stays with you for a long time after the last chorus fades.

Though the songs can come off as occasionally sterile (“On A Day” quickly comes to mind), it’s still a pretty impressive collection of songs from a band that’s only been around for a few years.

The pair keeps the door unlocked for the curious, but doesn’t put out tea and cakes in welcome, either.

He came out the other side with a hard-won wisdom, emotion and sense of craft that, like soul music, never goes out of style.

As the set progresses, Simon seems to shore up his resolve.

It makes for a varied bunch if ever there was one, a set of songs that proves both deft and divine.

Newcomers may be a bit overwhelmed by all the frenzied drive of their delivery, but the combination of irony and assurance guarantees populist appeal.

The set eschews songs in any traditional sense, opting instead for murky soundscapes characterized by minimal piano and acoustic guitar, suspended strings and a dense overlay of synths and drums.

An album full of fresh twists and turns, musically and lyrically, and a song cycle full of melody and surprise.

It is chock-a-block with everything you have ever loved about the Boards over the last 15-some-odd years.

After the third track “Christine” floats past like a lost Julee Cruise track on soulful blues guitar and vintage 50s’ keys, the LP takes a surprising but effective turn into heavy, murky territory.

Ivan & Alyosha offer an emphatic combination of allure and affirmation that all but assures instant appreciation.

Mollestad gives us a generous and welcome taste of that classic sound, which her own twist on it that would hopefully make McLaughlin himself proud.

Those who loved the Del-Lords in the 1980s will be delighted, as should anybody who missed them but thinks passion, skill, and commitment are a pretty good combination in music.

Time Off takes its time getting where it’s going, but deftly reaches its destination.

More Than Just a Dream is a perfectly ok record that can even boast one or two above-average songs, but ultimately the result is pretty underwhelming.

Ultimately American Ride resounds like a victory cry--urgent, enduring and unfailingly affecting.

Those that deem this effort too weird or erratic are best advised to consider the deluxe edition with its live bonus disc recorded with the Metropole Orchestra at the Paradiso in Amsterdam.

On its fifth album Fandango, Wellington, NZ combo the Phoenix Foundation doesn’t so much eschew the eclecticism of previous efforts as employ greater continuity

It’s always good to know there’s someone out there still doing straight-up guitar pop without irony or pretense.

A wonderful album, in which everyone comes together without losing what is special about each.

He sounds like an old master these days, crafting material that would sound equally affecting if they came from the pen of Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Steve Earle, Alejandro Escovedo or any of several weathered and revered troubadours who blazed the path before him.

Throughout, Holmes maintains a steady hand on the controls, never letting the stylistic shifts overwhelm the overriding ambiance, which is to revel in sensuality of synapse-stroking while riding the pure physicality of a full-on dance/rock record.

Fossils remains uniformly subdued throughout. Yet, it’s hardly as dry as the album title might imply.

The final outcome is the most intriguing and innovative Matmos LP since A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure.

Listening to this stunning album will provide you with your own moment of clarity. Don’t let it slip away.