Sun-scorched Californian jams. [Dec 2023, p.87]

Variously evoking a gnarlier early R.E.M., The Hold Steady, and, yes, Springsteen, other songs here occasionally suffer from over-telegraphed choruses, but Fallon's fervour and gift for an apposite metaphor - "I'm a weatherman watching the skies, trying to read you" - are evident. [Nov 2023, p.86]

A masterclass in sound design, Bolted creeps up slowly then engulfs you. [Dec 2023, p.91]

Ozarker is both sentimental and hard-nosed, nostalgic about a past without ignoring the modern world's gritty reality. [Dec 2023, p.93]

Although only nine tracks, it's a sprawling affair revisiting just about every road he's previously travelled, but somehow tying them all together for the first time. [Dec 2023, p.92]

Lahai is less introspective and far from lonely, its persuasive positivity carried by a contained riot of euphoric synths, swelling violins, Chic guitars and skittering percussion. [Dec 2023, p.90]

Pearlies has more the feel of a wistful autumnal folk record than any kind of'90s throwback. [Dec 2023, p.92]

Although partially undone by some same filler, Crosses' opaque longing peaks on Girls Float + Boys Cry. [Dec 2023, p.88]

Skinner's grown-up musings are more twisty and cryptic than his rascally early work, but no less incisive or well-wrought. Inimitable, humane, flawed, it's good to have him back. [Dec 2023, p.86]

Hackney Diamonds feels like a self-aware, historically mindful party, Jagger’s remarkable vocal thrust utterly unimpaired.

There's almost too much to bask in. [Nov 2023, p.91]

Wood's most accessible set to date is also her most ambitious, for its Byzantine approach to its concept, but also for her honesty and openness. [Nov 2023, p.88]

Via radio hiss and cut-glass samples of the long dead, worlds beyond are accessed. [Oct 2023, p.89]

Ultimately, Afternoon X finds its strength in contrast: while the mostly languid pace suggests meditation, the lyrics reveal a theme of carpe diem. [Nov 2023, p.92]

Occasionally they get lost in their own jams - the meandering Tripping In The Graveyard definitely overstays its welcome. By contrast, Impermanence And Death captures the at their best. [Nov 2023, p.90]

Hyper-melancholic, ultra-vivid, CrazyMad, For Me showcases Thompson's off-beam pop skills, a distinctive voice in every way. [Nov 2023, p.86]

Traces lines to both Bill Callahan's downbeat philosophising and Jonathan Richman's crafted wit and primal rock'n'roll chug. [Nov 2023, p.94]

A wonderfully upbeat, Sherwood-produced comeback. [Nov 2023, p.89]

They're all done pretty straight, but then of course eh throws in his trademark "more is More" soloing, all Bluesbreakers-to-Cream-era Eric Clapton-style muscle and intensity. [Nov 2023, p.93]

The new focus on these songs' lyrics proves deeply powerful, a different and profound kind of high. Consequently, The Dark Side OF The Moon Redux is wholly valid, the unnerving, stirring adjunct Waters was aiming for. [Nov 2023, p.87]

Who's Next may not have been Pete Townshend's chose destination, but it encapsulates The Who better than anything before or since. It's the art=school provocateur, the bare-chested rock god and their virtuoso, brandy-soaked rhythm section at their peak. [Nov 2023, p.96]

Rodgers wears his now mellower, less macho persona well on Coming Home and Photo Shooter, but the writing input of an Andy Fraser or a Mick Ralphs, say, is sometimes missed. [Nov 2023, p.86]

Still adept at spectacular, if somewhat opaque intimacy, he enchants on My Red Little Fox, with its baroque recorders. [Nov 2023, p.85]

No Fixed Point In Space is as on point as it is off grid. [Nov 2023, p.92]

A joy. [Nov 2023, p.89]

Stasium's work put a spotlight beneath these 11 songs, brightening hidden corners until Bastards Of Young, Left Of The Dial and Kiss On The Bus sparkle like unworn jewels. [Nov 2023, p.103]

His bristling, unexpected arrangements draw new complexities from songs as familiar as Wade In The Water and Swing Low. [Nov 2023, p.87]

Smith often finds herself stuck in a musical straitjacket of tired R&B tropes, rarely able to break out of a narrow comfort zone. [Nov 2023, p.88]

The themes - anxiety, longing and dislocation - are familiar, but here Blonde redhead address their potent heartaches with renewed grace and strength. [Nov 2023, p.93]

Ultimately, it's Woods and Elucid who provide the intense, erudite, funny through-line. [Nov 2023, p.93]

Songs like the Breeders-worthy single Doubt reveal serious song-writing smarts. [Nov 2023, p.94]

It possesses a charm and innocence that's genuinely disarming. [Oct 2023, p.88]

Clever, involving, vital addition to one of the strongest discographies of the last 30 years. [Nov 2023, p.82]

To Bolero-riffed beat-pop, Soul Capturer beautifully exorcises today's digi-overload, while 22-minute Defeat finds hope in an entrancing oceanic ebb-and-flow, with all the child-like discovery of late'90s Mercury Rev. [Nov 2023, p.86]

Her jazziest yet, expressive alto-sax and hypnotic spoken words ladle emotional gravitas onto its fevered meditations and splintered storytelling. [Nov 2023, p.94]

High-end reference points for a record that spectacularly reconciles micro-detailed improv with deep-listening ambience. [Nov 2023, p.90]

A triumph of healing and connection, experimentalism balanced out by emotional heft. [Nov 2023, p.89]

The years have proven that the deceptive simplicity of their music only increases its potency, working hand-in-hand with their long commitment to the healing powers of brotherhood and melody.

Intimate, ambitious and just occasionally misfiring. [Oct 2023, p.82]

This album as a whole is a definitive statement by a peerless ensemble. [Nov 2023, p.90]

By the time the closing spiritual Requiem rolls around it's self-evident Russell is very much in a genre of one. [Nov 2023, p.86]

Tirzah matches the spacious, hazy intimacy of Levi's often distorted creations with unself-conscious melodies, as if singing in her sleep, finding beauty in imperfection and transience. [Nov 2023, p.90]

Overall, one mighty, magnificent trip. [Nov 2023, p.84]

Stylistic Easter eggs confound and delight. [Oct 2023, p.86]

It's the emotional, cathartic journey of the chief protagonist that captivates the most. [Oct 2023, p.86]

Organic, evergreen loveliness. [Oct 2023, p.88]

A "rumination on life and death," which suitably chimed with earth's current 'end times' vibe, from sorrow to rage, elevated by post-rock's most luminescent guitars. [Oct 2023, p.88]

The music, which is characterised by extraordinary switches in style, reflects the diversity of the archive, morphing from bleepy electronic and futuristic R&B to churning garage rock with distorted megaphone vocals. [Oct 2023, p.81]

With these songs, though, Cilker is building a beautiful place of her own. [Oct 2023, p.86]

Fairbairn's side-of-mouth playing is extraordinary bucking the universal post-millennial effort to out-blast Coltrane, in favour of beautifully gentle explorations which are both intrepid and sublimely calming. [Oct 2023, p.85]

Accompanied by electronic and acoustic instruments, Brett's baritone sounds less sombre on this album, more rich, relaxed, even crooning on Strawberry Moon - a perfect foil ro Rennie's vision of a world full of blood and ghosts. [Oct 2023, p.83]

Mitski has long stared at happiness and wondered what comes next; here, she spies it, smiles and then shrugs, the smart band beneath glowing like some warmth hearth on a cold Los Angeles Night. [Oct 2023, p.85]

While Linkous’s tendencies to smudge and collapse his songs are apparent – not least the atmospheric disturbance of antique hymn O Child – so too is his generosity of songwriting spirit, positioning the bleakest sentiments in dynamic, questioning music.

This album is as artistically varied as can be. Best of the faithful versions are Margo Price's rousing Stranger In A Strange Land and Monica Martin's intimate A Song For You. [Oct 2023, p.83]

Sea Of Mirrors stands up without the set dressing. It ends with a brief reprise of the opening track, gently lighting the aisles to the exits; you might well find yourself staying put in the dark, ready to let it run back to the start and play out again. [Oct 2023, p.76]

Hard-won optimism, as ever, from this troubled heroine. [Oct 2023, p.78]

Ultimately, Mid Air is an ecstatic love letter to love, but also the queer clubs where Romy found validation and her soundtrack to liberation. [Oct 2023, p.88]

Fade is a tease that she could do out-and-out pop if the mood were ever to take her, but there are too many strange and good ideas for anything quite so prosaic. [Oct 2023, p.81]

In places it verges on doodling, as if Barnett is endlessly tuning her guitar, but tracks such as Intro or Tiver sound darkly majestic, like deep, drifting hollowed-out Americana. [Oct 2023, p.78]

Hearing this in its entirety 45 years on, it really is up there with Young's greats. [Oct 2023, p.97]

Top-drawer tunes throughout. [Oct 2023, p.78]

Empire State Bastard make you feel like you've been in a cage fight with Mike Tyson. [Oct 2023, p.82]

Deliver[s] more surreal, neon-psych country rock, in sweet harmonies and super-crunchy six-string riffs. [Oct 2023, p.89]

All told: here's blues, raw'n'alive. [Sep 2023, p.83]

Finds her super-brassy, minimally-tooled groove machine in peak form. [Oct 2023, p.97]

Evocative rather than vivid in a way that evokes Faith-era Cure's greyscale atmospheres, Everything IS Alive is the sound of Slowdive still holding their impressive earthly form. [Oct 2023, p.85]

Surely Relentless is how Chrissie Hynde always wanted the Pretenders to sound. [Oct 2023, p.79]

A slinky, soulful, witty, mid-paced affair. [Oct 2023, p.81]

Georgas's blend of vintage new wave with quirky ethereality includes touching haikus and lullabies, but it's the pissed-off frankness that wins out. .... Gorgeously cathartic. [Oct 2023, p.81]

A sobering adventure close o something like home. [Oct 2023, p.86]

Road is a hugely enjoyable hoot. [Oct 2023, p.82]

The songs are wonderfully non-toxic, obsessed in only the best possible way, a refreshing take on country love and lust. [Sep 2023, p.82]

What's new, though, is how Taylor has pushed his music's most rousing dimensions to the fore. [Oct 2023, p.84]

Inevitably flawed yet fascinating, it's respectful without being reverent, less myth-making tribute, more robust embrace. [Aug 2023, p.81]

Appaloosa Bones is prime Isakov. [Oct 2023, p.81]

They've just turned their hazy daze up to 11. [Sep 2023, p.89]

A thrilling 90-minute swansong. [Oct 2023, p.93]

Much of IM is thrillingly intense, then; a rabbit punch with pop-prog interludes and Devo-like hooks. [Sep 2023, p.88]

Hozier's audacity can feel outsized and overbearing, but his tandem of earnestness and eccentricity here is more winning than not. [Sep 2023, p.91]

Well-crafted and unfussy. [Sep 2023, p.92]

Its dozen tunes about finding love, rejecting losers, and criticising corrupt systems are a patchwork of assorted American pops. [Sep 2023, p.83]

A cathartic wrestle with identity, Deliverance will sit well with fans of the original Some Bizarre roster. [Sep 2023, p.91]

An undeniably enjoyable career-twilight collection. [Sep 2023, p.82]

Volcano continues where 2021's Loving In Stereo left off. [Sep 2023, p.86]

Has a spare, homespun feel with its simple folk guitar. [Sep 2023, p.82]

Expansive, restless, subtly volatile, Radio red is intriguing enough to keep it locked. [Sep 2023, p.84]

Over 12 mostly blueprint-hugging songs returns diminish, but scuzzy beat-box disco outrider What Did I Ever To You is great. [Sep 2023, p.86]

Stylistic touchstones veer toward the William Blake's 7 weird of Julia Holter, Henry Cow and Julie Tippetts' prog-jazz outlier Sunset Glow. Incomprehensible/irresistible. [Sep 2023, p.87]

The revivified Bush Tetras prove No Wave's not dead. [Sep 2023, p.86]

Sure, the age is clear in the voices of Matt Piucci and Steven Roback, but so is the honesty inside songs that mine lost brothers, opportunities, and time. [Jul 2023, p.86]

It's absorbing stuff, even shorn of the images. [Aug 2023, p.87]

If there isn't a great leap forward, there is progression on assorted fronts, so The Best Is Yet To Come embraces all-out rock, but Scared Of Love suggests acoustic ballads could be an alternative way ahead. [Sep 2023, p.88]

Aqueous groove Up tackles mid-romance feelings of inadequacy, while coldwave-y Begging You Now infers a darker supplication. Ever-infectious, however, and rarely short of good fun, this one should substantially further the threesome's upward trajectory. [Sep 2023, p.91]

Supernatural Thing makes a strong case for keeping that odd flame alive. [Aug 2023, p.82]

The years don’t fall away – you feel every one – but this recording shows just what a beautiful thing that can be.

This pared-back sonic trip sings with freshness and immediacy. [Sep 2023, p.89]

Fluid, cultured, but never wilfully indulgent, Days In The Desert refuses to sit still. [Sep 2023, p.89]

Welshpool Frillies maintains the high standard GBV since he reunited them six years ago. [Sep 2023, p.82]