Canadian duo's smooth blend of yacht rock, disco, Rick James funk and late-90s French house with lyrics that aim to pastiche modern R&B tropes. [Jun 2014, p.98]

Nothing here will change your life, but rest assured that there's also little in the way of filler. (Oct 2000, p.104)

While there are moments that grate, this is an assured first outing that suggests that Brad and his band are worth keeping a keen eye on. [Jul 2012, p.83]

This sad skewed pop with shades of Momus, Sakamoto, L. pierre and Bjork weaves its magic on the fluttering yet forthright Salty, vocal tapestry of Come Behind Me, So Good! and raw emoting of Meo, but palls a little before its haunting apex on spaced-out sign-off Coyote, with spectral echoes of Kazu's complicated past. [Oct 2019, p.86]

Lavish second release from Welsh synth-pop artist Rod Thomas. [Aug 2014, p.96]

Slow Focus isn't without merit but you yearn for more. [Aug 2013, p.91]

Two Of Everything is a sure-footed progression from 2009's self-titled debut, thanks to the warm co-production of Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) and the pair's willingness to push the sonic envelope into the outre zone, even embracing bagpipes. [Sept. 2011, p. 96]

A teeming sonic bricolage of absurd/disturbing found vocals, bizarre musical fragments and their own art-funk chops, it suggests kinship with Robert Ashley, Aphex Twin and Eno & Byrne. [Sep 2010, p.97]

There are moments when Craft's melodies don't punch quite so hard as his striking, road-less0trodden imagery. [Mar 2018, p.90]

A potent debut that juxtaposes pastoral lyricism with urban angst. [Mar 2016, p.96]

By turns squally and bleepy, poppy and droney, the music here is too unfocused to really hit home. Again, just like old times. [Jan 2014, p.97]

Fluorescent keyboards crowd Kiwi Jr.'s once-open spaces on Chopper, making the surface of their first "produced" LP feel more like an oil slick than the band's past terrain of jagged delights. [Sep 2022, p.93]

She's neither a soft seducer nor a lapel-grabber, but her eye for detail combined with that degree of vocal detachment quietly commands attention. [Mar 2009, p.109]

This is undeniably beautiful in its minimalist repetitions but could do with a little more dirt in the weave. [Apr 2012, p.95]

Tends to drift in one and out the other at times. [Jan 2005, p.102]

The actual tunes may not be particularly strong, but crucially, at the centre of it all Natalie croons and sighs with all the clear-eyed moonfaced sweetness of Juliette Binoche baking cakes. [Dec 2001, p.116]

His songs are hypnotic but oddly clunky vocals keep it earthbound. [Jun 2014, p.98]

Dynamic, packed with vim and hooks. [Jul 2012, p.83]

The presence of four hired songwriters dilutes the duo's offbeat DNA. [Oct 2016, p.96]

Despite the Vegas veneer, there's an underlying punk energy, like a cocktail dress with a tattoo at the neckline, a combined act of tribute and subversion. [Feb 2019, p.84]

A record that is demanding and compelling, though often beautiful. [Jun 2017, p.90]

A surfeit of wilfully sibilant '80s keyboard sounds notwithstanding, there's little to dislike. [May 2009, p.103]

The One's meditation on the price of fame is especially good value, but the Ace of Base-style of What Do They Know is hard to forgive. [Jan 2011, p.99]

Don't Look Surprised strays into Killers Territory but the doo-wop strut of Hunger and calypso jangle of Photograph more than make up for it. A life-affirming debut. [Mar 2011, p.95]

Symphonica is decidedly upmarket, but more picks in keeping with its ballsy take on the Newley & Bricusse standard Feeling Good wouldn't have hurt. [Apr 2014, p.90]

The bad times have never sounded better. [Mar 2012, p.98]

Inspired by Elena Ferrante's dense domestic dramas, wears its complexity lightly. [Nov 2021, p.94]

Those all curious about CocoRosie should begin here. [Jun 2013, p.88]

Taylor Hawkins indulges his '70s hard rock fantasy. [Jun 2014, p.98]

It's a fine - if eccentric- album, but a bit of extra tinsel wouldn't have hurt. [Jan 2012, p.98]

Their talent for maximalism is evident on the jagged, urgent Cinnamon Temple and a wonderfully trippy inversion of Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit. [Aug 2024, p.90]

Not so much the future of hip hop as a giant leap sideways. [Aug 2014, p.86]

An unfussy affair. [Jun 2005, p.108]

Return To The Noon can seem too dense a construct to penetrate. [Dec 2015, p.88]

Tempting to ask for more of this dark night of the soul. [Jan 2018, p.94]

Rebel Heart is the first Madonna album for a while that's at least as much for listeners as it is for dancers. Sometimes this shines too hard a light on what she has to say. [Apr 2015, p.88]

It's a slight concept (and a short album), which may be to the singer's benefit: in the past she could be off-puttingly clever in a very French way. OUI seems to be saying to us: "Yes, I'm simply a singer. Just Come and enjoy the music.". [Jul 2017, p.93]

Here, Scott 'Spiral Stairs' Kannberg's music feels more direct and unguarded than might have been expected given the more crafted, at time arch, music that has hallmarked his two groups. [Dec 2009, p. 90]

A 50/50 new/old split: reworkings, questing solo turns and a rare all-out rocker. [Nov 2021, p.94]

The Shrine deliver a cantering second LP full of heads-down charm. [Jun 2014, p.98]

The LP is a little crammed. [Nov 2020, p.82]

For Gahan, Angels & Ghosts is another opportunity to repeat his therapeutic cycle of guilt-shedding and redemption. [Dec 2015, p.88]

A dense, fervent, riffy drums and electric-guitar driven album. [Nov 2012, p.95]

It is the older material that comes out on top. A Euphoric, feel-good collection, nonetheless. [Apr 2020, p.87]

The absence of between-song chat makes the experience unnecessarily remote. [Mar 2020, p.106]

It's a beguiling mix for the most part, even if they have overly sacrificed melody on the altar of rhythm. [Jul 2022, p.93]

The main feeling it provokes is sincere admiration at a job well done, but a raised pulse, unfortunately, is something Spoon can't craft from scratch. [Apr 2017, p.96]

The gigantic lokombe (slit drum) and buzz drums no longer shock in the way they used to, although the synths suggest one route forward, and the guitars and harmonies look to South Africa for inspiration. [Jul 2021, p.88]

Occasionally the lyrics are wincingly obvious. ... Emerald Valley is blunt truth for dire times. [Jun 2019, p.88]

This is impressive, soul-bearing torch-pop, yet despite some bravura vocal performances, Almond's typically declamatory delivery at times, feels rather awkwardly appended to the airlessly slick soundscapes. [Apr 2015, p.91]

Armstrong's anti-establishment shtick has lost some of its impact. [Jun 2009, p.102]

It's a fine bookend for a man who defined one parochial corner of the music world. [Mar 2011, p.96]

This is not an uplifting listen. [Apr 2014, p.91]

While the guitarist's chops are impeccable and his tone as fiery as ever, the stiff, unyielding charts tend to stifle him, hindering his spontaneity and that of his fellow fine musicians. [Jun 2020, p.95]

Sung tentatively, a la Randy Newman. [Jun 2014, p.98]

Her sinuous, Lady Dayish voice sets her apart. Unfortunately, it's not to be heard in full effect until about a third of the way through Mama's Gun... [Jan 2001, p.104]

Hall explores his anger and depression through mostly downbeat but frequently beautiful ballads. [Feb 2022, p.87]

Many of these 12 songs, eight of them originals, tend towards the reflective. [Jan 2021, p.90]

As with previous Immersion material, analogue synthesizers provide the musical focus here, sporadically infused with electric guitars, often played in the oblique, angular style that Wire Fans will instantly cleave to. [Feb 2017, p.98]

Jones actually one-ups the Ventures with a frenetic version of White Christmas you can do the swim to. [Jan 2016, p.88]

It's a beautiful warm bath of a record, but a soporific one too, better suited for wallowing within, rather than getting you moving. [May 2020, p.90]

This brittle, torrid world has little light and shade. [Apr 2015, p.89]

Mostly she's clever, soulful, sexy, and only a gram of venturesomeness short of her early best. [Apr 2014, p.90]

A tad more conventional than Liz Harris's ongoing work as Grouper, despite roots in C86 shambling and early-90s shoegaze, Helen's hazy, half-grasped songs are still several left turns from any standard indie fare. [Dec 2015, p.86]

There are tidings aplenty, but little comfort and even less joy. [Feb 2017, p.97]

For the most part, this is soothing, circular psychedelia with added depth, warmth and texture. [Feb 2018, p.93]

Before long, these initially detached settings establish a magnetic, narcotic allure, filled with elliptical hooks and images. [Feb 2018, p.97]

He keeps the core of material such as The Nearness Of You and My Blue Heaven spare and the tone intimate. [Mar 2020, p.94]

'Mother May I?' and AdRock's 'Oooh Girl' are the most engaging and enetertaining of a solid selection. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Suggests a majestic, exquisitely desolate mix of Isis and My Bloody Valentine.[Aug. 2011, p. 106]

It's lots of fun, a whirlwind romp through grubby rock landmarks. [May 2012, p.84]

Guest appearances from the venerated likes of Percee P and M.E.D. and Mr Lif & Edan prove these Brothers' breakbeats more than pass muster. But it's the more adventurous instrumentals that impress most. [Mar 2010, p.92]

Barfly is pithy, punky pop and some of it really shifts. [Jan 2012, p.98]

La Havas sets herself apart from the coffee shop set with a rough-hewn edge. [Aug 2012, p.92]

Reliably familiar punk pop by enduring Japanese trio. [Sept. 2011, p. 96]

Aloe Blacc swaggers with a charming insouciance on C'est Bon, which is an accurate description of Red Lips itself. [Jan 2017, p.94]

Side two, however, veers into arch Euro-pop (I Don't Have Control Sometimes) and moody balladry (Stand By Me), and Sunflower Bean's new-found confection begins to set one's teeth on edge. [Jun 2022, p.87]

This new album is as quixotic and wilfully idiosyncratic as his previous oeuvre. [Jan 2016, p.88]

The touchstones - Julee Cruise, Kate Bush, The Blue Nile - are more classic than experimental but the heartbreaking emotions remain utterly real. [Jun 2026, p.88]

These "little" songs have the feel of home-studio genesis, thanks to pitter-pattering drum machines, the unflashy layering of instruments, and the author's intimate lyrical reflections. [Feb 2016, p.94]

The sound's good and getting better - a wig-out of surf rock, Stooges-style punk and hardcore thrash, with the occasional Bambi noise of 1960's folk peeping round a tree. [Aug. 2011, p. 106]

Cupid Deluxe is wildly eclectic and nostalgic. [Jan 2014, p.97]

Politically astute, philosophical and profound, Ty's comeback is a tad too long, but only because he cares. [Apr 2018, p.92]

Their ongoing Heavy Rocks series plays things relatively straight, however, restricting their palette to metallic tones. Even so, this third volume rewrites the rulebook. An opening brace of tunes gallop like vintage Motorhead, if they were being chased by wild banshee saxophones. [Oct 2022, p.90]

Just as you're thinking "so far, so generic," they wrong-foot you, as their debut album starts to incorporate seemingly random elements of knock-kneed white reggae, snotty hardcore punk and snatched bar conversations. [Mar 2014, p.94]

A career-builder, if not a game-changer. [Jun 2019, p.89]

Faun Fables do gothic folk with admirable vigour and this is incontrovertible force of nature. [Jan 2011, p.104]

With four tracks topping 12 miutes, it's essentially a celebration of pre-punk boffin-rock, 'The Best Of Times 'and 'The Count Of Tuscany' both prog-metal masterpieces worthy of imperial-phase Rush. [Jul 2009,p.95]

The wrong kind of sonic adventure undermines about half the songs. A drop of Waitsian, drunken, junkyard percussion might have been just the ticket, but the plethora of drony guitar and keyboard distortions proves distracting, rather than "atmospheric", and impairs the effect of some strong songs including Back To Manhattan and Stuck. [Dec 2009, p. 88]

Despite berry's background in comedy there's definitely more of an air of homage than pastiche to this deliciously chilled album. [Jun 2014, p.90]

Contrasting extremes on emotionally literate, indie rock evocations. [Mar 2022, p.90]

Jaguwar don't reinvent the wheel, but their propulsive guitar rock intricacies bring all the right deep-sonic thrills. [Feb 2018, p.99]

He also works hard to bring variety within the gargantuan two-and-a-half-hour running time with an all-star guest list. [Jan 2016, p.89]

The whole thing is deeply marketable--but there's an authenticity in Rogers that needs more space to breathe. [Feb 2019, p.92]

The current group are concentrated, powerful, more subtle than in recent times but can sound a bit tidy and foursquare. [Apr 2015, p.96]

Only a slight dearth of killer melodies ... disappoints. [Apr 2012, p.86]

There is no doubt that Ditto can command the attention, but these songs don't quite sweeten the deal enough. [Jul 2017, p.89]

Hauff gives you the feeling that there's something very wrong, and leaves you to make up your own nasty stories. [Oct 2015, p.96]