S&M2 is a success on the grandest of scales. [Sep 2020, p.84]

Delivers assurance, class and a timely, powerful study in historically ingrained racist ideology. [Sep 2020, p.89]

An unlikely triumph. [Sep 2020, p.89]

Wire's past still sounds like rock's future. [Sep 2020, p.95]

Flaming Pie sounded excellent then and it sounds excellent now. [Sep 2020, p.92]

While the album still has the overall feel of being in a flotation tank while listening to Gerry Rafferty, James experiments beyond his tendency to jaw off occasionally into psych jazz interludes, tackling dark future fink on Magic Bullet and Godspell gospel blues on Wasted. [Sep 2020, p.89]

Their world-weary shtick has more passion than depth. But. as ever, they do it with conviction, their uncomplicated love for heritage rock informing every warm, wonky, soulful note. [Sep 2020, p.88]

Carries a deliciously tight-but-loose quality that makes you feel that this album could've been thrown together by friends, who just happen to be shit-hot musicians. [Sep 2020, p.84]

It’s mood music for people who have not been taking their prescriptions (all of us, I reckon), and it’s full of bruised beauty.

Bradfield’s invention knows no bounds as he shines light on the darkest corners of history.

Unique and, indeed, endlessly fantastic, this album is the work of a man committed to his own vision, both for his music and for the troubled and broken world around him.

Biffy fan or not, there is much to enjoy on this album, such as the thundering North Of No South and the snap of Tiny Indoor Fireworks. But it’s the lingering beautiful sadness of songs like Space and Opaque that really stays with you.

Pretty fine on record, this kinetic quartet sound like they would probably be explosively exciting live. [Aug 2020, p.87]

This seven-track album has a similar stripped-down, raw feel to its acoustics and shivery, spooked vocals. [Summer 2020, p.89]

Some tracks here might surprise on first listen, but surprise quickly gives way to joy. This is superb. [Aug 2020, p.84]

Mariani's ear for melody lifts it above the ordinary. ... Terrific. [Jun 2020, p.86]

Turner, then, by a knock out. [Aug 2020, p.87]

A largely acoustic album, its haunting quality is brought out by a variety of alternative tunings and ambient drones, as well as lyrical meditations on mortality and emotional healing that are delivered with a psychedelic clarity. [Aug 2020, p.88]

A measured, but unwaveringly honest, portrait of middle age with all its elation and tribulations. [Aug 2020, p.82]

A sequel that first celebrates the blooming of a relationship, then self-flagellates for ruining it. [Aug 2020, p.87]

Utilising informed guitar sound palette and Johnny Marr ingenuity. [Aug 2020, p.89]

Cerebral and discomforting. [Aug 2020, p.89]

The results sound thin, contrived and ultimately laborious. [Aug 2020, p.89]

Foxx sounds just as vital as he ever was. [Aug 2020, p.89]

Sophisticated follow-up. [Aug 2020, p.83]

Rough And Rowdy Ways is unique, precious testimony from an elderly rock'n'roll survivor who, for all the games he plays, is a seer nonetheless. [Aug 2020, p.82]

He might be a slippery customer, but his music couldn’t be more reliable.

Their best record since the last one you liked. [Jun 2020, p.88]