For reggae fans of a certain vintage, This Generation will rule the nation. [Apr 2013, p.94]

[An] expansive advance on their Indian classical-inspired sound. [Aug 2013, p.98]

Greta Morgan's expressive range goes creamy and detached on hazy pop-psych. [Dec 2014, p.102]

Powerplant sees Girlpool's naif-pop mature into a brittle, unpredictable, subterranean pop that recalls Pod-era Breeders. [Aug 2017, p.92]

Countless bands can switch from quiet to loud effectively; few do it with such overwhelming power as Jambinai. [Jul 2019, p.91]

This intimate 2013 show at Los Angeles' storied Wiltern Theatre--beautifully shot for Blu-ray--is proof, revisiting tracks from throughout their catalogue, opening with a searing, gloriously sludgy grind through Incessant Mace. From there, they showcase their many facets. [Sep 2019, p.107]

This solo instrumental album feels lighter in gates-of-doom atmosphere than previous work, but even so, whispers and echoes start to bounce off this record's walls, promising revelations at every turn. [Nov 2020, p.86]

While autumnal gems like Rabbit chime with recent months' universal experience of isolation and inertia, Earth Trip also mirrors the salvation many have found in nature, its gentle, J.J. Cale-esque country-rock tempos evocative of restorative rustic rambling. [Jun 2021, p.82]

Hex isn’t really about individual tracks, though: it’s about mood and feel. Overwhelmingly, the feel is good. [Aug 2024, p.86]

Splitting the difference between the digital and the hand-cranked, Geologist has opened up his own haunting little universe. [Mar 2026, p.81]

What makes this combined reckoning of Brian's last, fully-engaged studio albums for The Beach Boys, with all of their peaks and flaws, such an enlightening, unexpected pleasure is the chance to hear the earnest dedication and breadth of inspiration in this brief window of renewal, long obscured by false promo and Brian's ongoing trials. [Apr 2026, p.96]

Oh My God, Charlie Darwin may well be the second best cabin-in-winter indie album ever made. [Jul 2009, p.96]

A lyrically strong album. [Jan 2022, p.82]

The trio's shared vocals are a unifying factor, finessing the outre music into gently hypnotic melodies. [Sep 2006, p.94]

How Do You Burn? finds the group on vintage form throughout. [Oct 2022, p.82]

Fun House moves Duffy ever closer to the revelatory heart of the matter. [Nov 2021, p.92]

The teen delivers poetic social realism. [Nov 2012, p.90]

An unpretentious euphoric debut. [Sep 2013, p.95]

[Moyet] sounds notably energised throughout this second electronic pop outing. [Aug 2017, p.94]

This second album builds on [2017's Feed The Rats'] sure foundation, the tracks now numbering six and dialling down the long-form indulgence in favour of more tightly focused song structures that sacrifice nothing in intensity. [Dec 2018, p.88]

Both halves of Legacy + prove the Kuti continuum to be in rude health. [Mar 2021, p.86]

Follow Clementine's muse, and the pay-off is huge. [Oct 2017, p.91]

This is continuing proof that the 42-year-old Gaz Coombes's best work is happening in the here and now. [May 2018, p.90]

The balming glow of the Sparhawks' sunray-through-clouds harmonies, their surfeit of haunting, enigmatic melodies, makes immersion in The Invisible Way's melancholia a sublime pleasure. [Apr 2013, p.96]

As intimate and unforced an album as I've ever heard. [Nov 2006, p.104]

Something for everyone on an album that should be a huge crossover hit. [Apr 2021, p.84]

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

We get bouquets as well as barbed-wire. [Jul 2025, p.84]

Strong and loose, political and personal, Pearl Jam get the balance absolutely right. [May 2020, p.84]

Like families, it's appealingly chaotic. [Apr 2016, p.96]

There might only be five songs here, but each one has a similar transformative effect. [Jul 2022, p.88]

A questing, festering record, Face Stabber isn't for the faint-hearted, but its lows are outnumbered by exhilarating highs. [Sep 2019, p.95]

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

The band's wild woolliness seems strangely AWOL. [Nov 2006, p.118]

The brooding 'Singing Man' and the euphorically optimistic 'Rising Up' underline that the best hip hop is about taking chances. [July 2008, p.100]

Away from the atmosphere and visuals of live performance, over an hour of such dense and highly personal account of pain and beauty on the threshold of death is particularly demanding; a pity it's not available on DVD. [Aug 2008, p.103]

This blending of expected and unexpected makes Soul Power something altogether special. [Feb 2015, p.92]

The trio's approach naturally invokes comparison to their forebears, but pleasingly, Night Beats are distilling a strong vintage of their own. [Feb 2016, p.92]

A feast for the committed follower. [Jan 2021, p.98]

Their most forward-facing jazz album yet, packed with complex, multi-storied compositions you can still dance to. [Nov 2021, p.89]

Professionally recorded with a slightly altered song order (no Down By The River). There is a definite air of victory lap. [Jun 2022, p.96]

An intriguing, stylistic volte-face. [Nov 2022, p.94]

While the brilliant closing Murder Of Sunrise delivers a suspenseful 18 minutes of menace via shimmering cymbals, speaker hum and fathoms-deep bass lines. There's beauty here too. [Jun 2024, p.86]

A 14-song whirlwind of dazzling approaches. [Aug 2024, p.88]

Placed in the modern setting and told in the universal language of folk music, her tales all ring true. [Aug 2024, p.83]

Pollard sounds more curious and engaged here than on some recent releases, and the result is the most compelling GBV of their third act. [Aug 2024, p.82]

Throughout, you feel Homme's pain, but ultimately marvel at his ability to channel it into music so brutally uplifting. [Aug 2023, p.79]

As each track segues into the next, this is a breathless listen, but the overall scheme works. [Dec 2005, p.99]

Furthering their Sonic Youth/Television post-punk quests. [Sep 2015, p.95]

[Producer Bach shaped] fragmentary song ideas into sprawling, free-flowing arrangements that nod to Mark Hollis, Tim Buckley and Jim O'Rourke. [Sep 2016, p.90]

The sun's gone out and here is the soundtrack to our long, dark financial winter. [Mar 2009, p.114]

Wintery Brit-folk closer New Year Of Grace is also special, a full-circle update on the steadfast, if weatherbeaten, live affair which the Opening track Gradually visits earlier in ts slow-burning voyage. [May 2016, p.89]

Though the full potency of this band is only ever manifest live, ABOMINATION REVEALED AT LAST - the Osees' 8th LP in five years - bears thrilling testament to their appetite for insurrection. [Oct 2025, p.88]

Despite having some of Ritter's least introspective lyrics, there are some of his most emotionally affecting songs. [Apr 2006, p.98]

While their material lacks the instant hooks of attention-snaring contemporaries like The Handsome Family, [it] rings with a robust authenticity. [Jul 2003, p.112]

Heaves with harmonic charm. [Oct 2003, p.111]

Fathomlessly beautiful. [Aug 2004, p.110]

Annoyingly, [the] high marks are all too infrequent. [Oct 2004, p.116]

Everywhere ageless rock'n'roll brio comes freighted with careworn sagacity. [Mar 2017, p.93]

A change in direction, with a consciously smooth production and modern drum sound apparently aimed more at FM radio than wind-up gramophones, leaving precious few rough edges. [Jul 2017, p.94]

The record increasingly drifts into hazy, slo-mo dream-pop, which inescapably pales besides the bolder tracks upfront. [Aug 2017, p.94]

Joplin's long, devastating plea for salvation once mirrored the big story--that the surprise star of '68 had outgrown her rough diamonds. The 30 tracks here, several in multiple versions, don't necessarily change that. But wart'n'all, Big Brother were the best foil Janus had. [Jan 2018, p.101]

Suggesting the sextet have now found their niche. [Jun 2021, p.89]

There's a slow-burning moodiness... together with a new directness. [Mar 2005, p.101]

A strong contender for soul album of the year. [Oct 2007, p.98]

The Weeknd starts here. Jan 2013, p.108]

Hardcore scholars will cheer this inspiring archival punk rock righteousness. [Dec 2014, p.111]

It's a compact yet satisfying set of 10 surging semi-acoustic almost-ballads with occasional electric interludes. [Sep 2013, p.91]

These 10 acoustic pieces hold a certain stillness within the variety of tempos, instruments and inspirations. [Apr 2016, p.89]

Like a very fine wine, after 25 years The Bats are only really just coming on song. [Jan 2012, p.96]

Georgia Blue's diversity of Georgia sounds sits well with its campaign for inclusivity. [Jan 2022, p.86]

An intriguing labyrinth of idiosyncrasies. [Jun 2005, p.110]

Nothing nosebleedy in its warm, evocative patchwork. [Oct 2016, p.100]

If it is meant to be a Pink Floyd homage, then it's an entertaining and highly distinctive one. [Nov 2013, p.84]

Jon Boden delivers an audacious yet subtle solo masterpiece. [Apr 2009, p.108]

This eclectic offering confirms that the trio's music is an unclassifiable meld of idioms that includes strong rock and pop influences. [Mar 2012, p.92]

It all hangs together well, and is ably supported by the band's superb musicianship. [Nov 2012, p.87]

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]

An exotic, often rapturous reading of Tzur's Sufi-meets-Hebrew song forms. [Jan 2016, p.91]

Restraint is key here, and ichaelson's very English version of Americana is a career pinnacle. [Feb 2018, p.96]

A transcendent album, From This Place is possibly the Missouri fretboard maestro's most impressive opus yet. [Mar 2020, p.91]

Their finest since 2010's Destroyer Of The Void - sees them concentrating on what they do best: songs that sound like The Beatles at Big Pink; songs that sound like Dylan gone power-pop. [Oct 2020, p.93]

Despite the occasional maudlin drift, The Bad ends meet rapturous ends when they rally against impending darkness. [Feb 2023, p.85]

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

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]

It's the LP's sparer, outward-looking, more spontaneous-sounding songs which house the best melodies. [May 2024, p.85]

Warning: the only rarity of note in this reissue, outside the remix narrative, is Lennon running down I’m The Greatest in a near-Beatles reunion with George Harrison and Ringo Starr – and that’s tucked away as a hidden bonus track. The Mind Games you get instead, in this lavish, rejuvenating treatment, is the several brighter, bolder albums it might have been, on the way to the one that fell flat in 1973. [Aug 2024, p.92]

The result is a record so euphoric and emotionally direct that understanding the words is not a prerequisite. [Jun 2025, p.86]

This is Birch untethered, stretching out and rightfully enjoying the musical havoc she intigates. [Aug 2025, p.76]

No Geography bears testimony to superior crate-digging chops, cut-up skills and disco. [May 2019, p.86]

10 songs that are the apotheosis of their spartan sound. [Jun 2019, p.95]

A late-night drift into the abyss. [May 2014, p.96]

The album's schizoid ruse is neatly summed-up by Make Art Not Friends, which makes its wondrous metamorphosis from lithe dance track to all-American rocker in just under six minutes. [Nov 2019, p.86]

It's a beautiful, nuanced record, the sound of new boundaries forming and realigning. [Aug 2022, p.94]

Death, love, the ghosts they leave behind: these are grand themes, and Hegarty channels their spirit with magical grace. [Nov. 2010, p. 100]

Witchy and hypnotic. [Feb 2015, p.95]

The sequel to 2006's Gamelan Into The Mink Supernatural lays needling waves of in-the-red euphoria and cymbal-saturated pummeling, with the occasional scenic feedback plateau to catch one's breath. [Apr 2011, p.97]

It's been worth the wait. [Feb 2012, p.96]