Her rich, soulful vocal sounds wonderful on the darker material. [Oct 2013, p.98]

If dark forces are gathering, her songs do not lack an icy beauty. [Jun 2026, p.90]

The overall effect is a bit off-key, ill-defined and generally incomprehensible yet warm and attractive. [Mar 2007, p.100]

Its emotional impact is sublime. [Apr 2020, p.96]

Occasionally, they favour the billowy and formless- Waving A Whit Flag goes nowhere, albeit moodily - but their best tracks showcase Yorke's song most transparently; Panavision and Free In the Knowledge are two of his loveliest in years. [Jul 2022, p.90]

An album full of jukebox hits. [Mar 2007, p.98]

The material is of consistently luminous order. [Oct 2007, p.90]

BSP's sifts from poignant viola and tranquil vocals to foaming turbulence are perfect. [Jan 2014, p.104]

It moves sedately and seductively, a brooding mass of reverb, drone and throb, all counter-pointed by Trappes' gossamer-light vocals. [Jul 2021, p.87]

It's when he boosts the Zulu content on Emmanuele - his sweet tenor blending with clicks and close-harmony singing - or breaks everything down in a contemporary style on Kea Morata, that you'll feel like you have been transported to a new world, where everything is possible. [Apr 2025, p.85]

Remarkably, the performances by current artists from Ralph Stanley down the generations to Angel Snow are all superb. [Feb 2014, p.91]

Most of these 11 new songs begin with Tutlle's solo finger-picking guitar, and it's lovely. So's her voice. [May 2019, p.90]

Brisbane trio navigates teen psychodramas with the sort of wry reportage that makes Courtney Barnett such a charming indie narrator. [May 2016, p.96]

The righteousness is on full display in New York City. On Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bono howls, “We’re so sick of it!” If such declarations were beginning to sound sanctimonious at the time, 30 years of legit activism--including sitting down repeatedly with ideological adversaries such as Trump VP Mike Pence--casts Bono’s piety as the real deal. ... Thirty years later, U2 continue their pursuit of the righteous; looking back to be sure, but suited to this moment all the same. [Jul 2017, p.104]

This Material Moment is a reassuringly complicated fusion of Bjork and Richard Dawson with intense mid-'70s Virgin records vibes. [Aug 2025, p.80]

Cameos by Vampire Wekend's Ezra Keonig and Tamil rapper M.I.A. add to a joyous but knowing smorgasbord that will play equally well in a Lilongwe disco or Shoreditch/Brooklyn trend hole. [Oct 2009, p.107]

Instead of warm colours they work with a more monochromatic palette. There's darkness, rain, a chill in the air, remoteness, a sense of nature--and more of than not, a very British remoteness and sense of nature. [Feb 2010, p.90]

Murphy has smartly subverted the dancefloor diva image, and these songs come from the uncanny valley, android beauty not quite hiding their off-centre menace. [Aug 2016, p.98]

Casey and collaborator Shawn Creeden deliver a bold album that eschews their previous organic approach in favour of a more electronic direction. The effect is intoxicating. [Apr 2010, p.92]

Deliriously provocative, Amnesiac is as splendidly other and awkward as its sister album. [Jul 2001, p.104]

A grimier, more uncomfortable listen. [Nov 2004, p.100]

The results are generally spectacular. [Jul 2014, p.93]

This is manna for hip hop fans starved of basic but ballistic beats-and-breaks fare in an increasingly litigious age. [May 2004, p.102]

The understated widescreen desolation of their eponymous second album marked a breakthrough for Warpaint, their artfully washed-out funk-punk making more sense than ever. The follow-up, Heads Up balances that downbeat vibe with more upbeat, poppy elements, creating a tension that's electric. [Nov 2016, p.91]

There's a new directness, a more linear approach to melody, and, most unexpectedly, the overt presence of synthesizers. [Mar 2022, p.86]

It moves musical mountains with joyous funk, ecstatic hand-clappers, and fine redemption blues. [Sep 2014, p.95]

Ritual is enchanting and transportive. [Sep 2024, p.84]

The result might be Orcutt's most beautiful album, a phantasmal union of folk, blues, rock and country visions that crackles with the intense fire of his own country's turbulent history. [Jan 2020, p.89]

It's both far-out and potentially pack-leading. [Jan 2017, p.99]

A record designed to ensnare the as-yet-uncommitted listener without abandoning their extant fan base. [Aug 2006, p.103]

These six albums attest to the depth of Fela discography, and to the diversity of his message. [Feb 2018, p.104]

It's as much fun as it needs to be--as it should be. Reflective, restless, fiercely engaged, it feels like it's in constant process of rethinking and remodeling, slicing off bits of musical flesh and slapping them back on elsewhere as it dips and bounces along the street. [Feb 2018, p.94]

Just one problem: at 38 minutes, it's over far too soon. [Jul 2022, p.91]

[It] burns with pop ambition. [Feb 2007, p.105]

Ocean Roar exists deep in extreme nature, a journey's end of madness, memory and Euphoria. [Nov 2012, p.95]

Condon has a tendency to over-emote vocally, but even at its most melodramatic this music's rhapsodic swirl is undeniable. [Nov 2007, p.104]

Premiership stuff! [Sep 2010, p.103]

This repeat performance from marginally less familiar names might seem like a poor substitute for a new project. Happily, it's not. [Mar 2016, p.97]

The Dap-Kings lent their powerful Muscle Shoals-esque funk licks to Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and even Robbie Williams. But they work best together in their Brooklyn studio, as 100 days proves. [Nov 2007, p.100]

If All Of Us Flames feels more hopeful, rest assured there is o downscaling of tension or combat. [Sep 2022, p.89]

12 self-penned kitchen-disco bangers, each one a gem. [Oct 2022, p.84]

While production high jinks threaten to override shapeshifting songs like Neon and Angst, the delicate balance between Ellery's lithe effectual voice and Skye's layered abstractions continues to confound expectations in singular skew-whiff fashion. [Oct 2022, p.89]

His whip-smart three-string guitar licks still take centre stage and his banter sizzles with the personality and charm that have won him so many new admirers. [Oct 2008, p.112]

Few, if any of 2009's more high profile rock releases could match the adrenalin charge of Death's 34 year-old debut. [Mar 2011, p.114]

It's a wilful shuffle through the space-time continuum, where powerful pearls of wisdom about memory, the future and black justice pierce the sonic murk. [Oct 2021, p.90]

A dozen simple, beautiful dirges. [May 2003, p.108]

Epic, lyrical, and as ultimately old-fashioned as those words suggest. [Oct 2003, p.106]

This is an album that seduces as readily as it challenges. [Sep 2015, p.88]

Cave has managed to move away from the stifling atmosphere and the false captive environment of No More Shall We Part and somehow create a Cave world where The Bad Seeds can indeed stretch, howl, riff, sniff, grind and bark with a freedom unheard on record since 1993's Live Seeds. [Album of the Month, Feb 2003, p.84]

There's country stoicism, sentimentality and sparkling sadness on the songs. [Aug 2012, p.96]

Foals consolidate their position here by continuing to do what they do best, namely expressing big emotions loudly through fizzing rock anger or unbridled, danceable joy.

A series of musical shocks driven by Marcal's powerful vocals. [Feb 2022, p.89]

This is a musically assured, soulful descent into life's messy middle. [Mar 2026, p.81]

A sensitive, sure-footed triumph. [Jan 2017, p.99]

While Oldham frames his Bonnie 'Prince' Billy alias as a group name this time out, it's a collaboration which enhances his long-running idiosyncrasies rather than blandifies them. [Apr 2026, p.92]

This is not only Horace Andy's best album in 40 years, but it is also a work of lasting power. [May 2022, p.84]

Unreservedly recommended, but for the uninitiated and obsessives only. [Nov 2013, p.86]

The Beta Band made some dazzling music throughout their seven-year lifespan. [Nov 2013, p.101]

As a heady whole, Mother is a cousin of '60s American boundary pushers Kaleidoscope and, especially George Romanos, whose 1970s album Two Small Blue Horses defined a new Greek psychedelia. Mother is that good. [Feb 2018, p.95]

Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? is more exploratory than Fading Frontier, but there's a minimalism that helps its stark ideas and sad-eyes melodies shine through. [Feb 2019, p.88]

With piano and dulcimer adding unforeseen acoustic texture, Trees Speak’s soundworld is ever-changing, often terrifying, but rarely short of awe-inspiring. [Jan 2025, p.90]

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

It's the melodic strength of its 15 "proper" songs that's the real mindblower. [May 2021, p.81]

It's a record best consumed in a semi-recumbent position, in order to match the loping, laidback pace of the music and Cox's stoned, oak-aged vocals. [Dec. 2011 p. 99]

The reinvention is thrilling to eavesdrop. [June 2008, p.106]

It's a winning formula that will maintain Lakeman as one of the country's biggest folk draws. [Mar 2025, p.89]

Within the framework of 10 solid soul arrangements, the benefits of constancy in love brings a hearty restorative to the downtrodden spirit. [May 2019, p.92]

There's an occasional clunkiness and Let England's Shake's visionary fever is lacking. Yet there's an authority in Harvey's voice, her brisk musical and lyrical stride demanding the listener keep up. [May 2016, p.84]

A record that's serene on the surface but with a dark undertow. [May 2016, p.91]

A chilly conference of Cold War atmospheres and modern kleptocratic dread. [Jun 2016, p.95]

Blending machine rhythms and subterranean beats with ghostly atmospherics, world music chants and groaning analogue disquiet they create a rich, unnerving sound that feels both modern and ancient. [Mar 2011, p.114]

Rarely less than poignant, with the composer's gift for aching earworm melody much in evidence. [Oct 2020, p.93]

The album's ethos is about teamwork rather than individuals, and on that level it succeeds magnificently. [Sep 2017, p.89]

The songs here are among his most direct and fully focused. [Oct 2025, p.81]

[A] diverse new set. [May 2014, p.96]

As overdriven and mutated a noise as ever they've managed, Damage also retains Blues Explosion's trademark sweat-drenched feel for soul. [Oct 2004, p.101]

These songs sound like old country classics. [Aug 2012, p.96]

Courageous, wilful, fractured and something of a triumph, 22, A Million will move you, though you may struggle to explain how, or why. [Nov 2016, p.87]

Aswad and Steel Pulse stand proud amid JA heavy-hitters Burning Spear and Black Uhur u, while PiL, The Slits and The Pop Group mingle with the un-dread Joe Jackson, SLF and Angelic Upstarts. With Misty In Roots glaringly absent due to ‘rights issues’, there’s ample scope for a sequel. [Sep 2024, p.101]

I'm Not Bossy, I'm The Boss is simply a remarkable collection of well-made songs. [Sep 2014, p.94]

This is an absolute joy. [Jun 2023, p.92]

This is perhaps Eno's most personal record to date. [Jul 2005, p.102]

O'Hagan has taken apart what he's known for and put it back together in an entirely fresh ways. [Jan 2020, p.89]

Determinedly singing in her own accent was a wise move. [Oct 2005, p.110]

There’s a song (Love & Revolution) about how much he fancies his wife! Fear not, however – Seun hasn’t gone soft in the six years since his previous album, and it doesn’t take long before the heavy artillery steps in. [Nov 2024, p.93]

A loose lyrical thread (mental instability), an unrestrained creativity and an enviable sense of musical freedom are the only things holding it together. [Jun 2006, p.104]

A journey, then, one exploring the psyche of a man and his relationship with the world. [Jan 2018, p.90]

Here, Marc Almond's slightly-too sharp voice and Dave Ball's compendium of antique synth tricks are once again a perfect pop match. [Jul 2022, p.93]

It's Wobble's unmistakable geometric bass patterns which anchor these 11 collaborative tracks. [Apr 2020, p.89]

Again, the result is terrific with Hunter, band and producer in perfect harmony. [Mar 2016, p.92]

Producer Dan Carey brings cohesion to the multiplicity. ... An absolute tonic.[Jun 2021, p.86]

Well yes, there's that ear-splitting explosion of aural nihilist expressionism, but still it's thrilling and has lost little of the initial impact. [Dec 2008, p.120]

This first widely available release is a superb distillation of the duo's talents. [Dec 2008, p.112]

Its such an embarrassment of riches it actually seems preposterous that everything here was produced in just four years. [Dec 2008, p.118]

Formidable. [Feb 2009, p.109]

Deceptively light on first hearing, Anywhere But Here possesses a vulnerability and depth its predecessor lacked. [Nov 2022, p.93]

The album's exemplary and diverse array of toothsome guitar sonics helps, but more crucial still is yer Hawks; oh-so-distinctive vocal harmony blend. [Jun 2016, p.96]

There's nothing arch about Heavy Nights, only the sound of these gorgeously coiffured tunes. [Aug 2020, p.92]