As ever, though, their sheer weight in numbers often becomes overbearing. ... Yet, while their palpable urgency is frequently dissipated in the splurge, Hug Of Thunder's peaks are sky-scraping, indeed. [Aug 2017, p.88]

A storyteller in the grand tradition, with the instrumental skills and a crack band. These songs tell her story, of a hard-lived life, of love won then lost. [Aug 2017, p.

A consummately composed lesson in narrative songcraft, which tugs on the heartstrings as it sails into the sunset with Take Me Home. [Aug 2017, p.86]

Here, solid collaborative vibes in the wake of all that life trauma make for rousing, edge-of-collapse rock action. [Aug 2017, p.89]

There are some lovely moments. ... But ultimately, the impossible ambition of Planetarium looms over every single moment. [Aug 2017, p.89]

This ragged, feverish concoction, fortified by choppy-bar-band tropes as Sensor mirrors Paul Westerberg's disillusioned bonhomie. [Aug 2017, p.90]

Throughout Ribbons, you feel Adam's guitars as much as hear them, his use of drones, volume swells and Eastern-flavoured trickery taking us deep into the mystic. [Aug 2017, p.91]

The results are largely sublime. [Aug 2017, p.91]

A humane and typically eclectic affair with winning flashes of eccentricity. [Aug 2017, p.92]

Her relaxed experimentation is more inviting than hearing Longstreth grind his axe. [Aug 2017, p.92]

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

The gift of such unadorned recordings--no attempt to conceal the hoarseness in closer Sky Blue Sky, for instance--is the proximity to the singer and his songs. [Aug 2017, p.93]

So You Wannabe An Outlaw may be one of his very good, rather than great albums, but it's truly wonderful to hear him having such fun making it. [Aug 2017, p.93]

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

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

The music is charming, if a little simplistic at times. [Aug 2017, p.94]

Perversely, however, amid the overbearing production values, it's that grizzled, needling voice that keeps matters connected to the street, where Little Steven's heart truly belongs. [Aug 2017, p.95]

It's the insular intimacy of Korkejian's songs, like Zephyrs whispered in your ear, that make this debut such a triumph. [Aug 2017, p.95]

Stubborn Persistent Illusions may be their best yet. [Aug 2017, p.96]

[A] fine, part-politicised follow-up. [Aug 2017, p.96]

There's a real poignancy to waltz-time close The War, which is partly a tribute to the late Labour politician Jo Cox, but Gilmore also houses rally calls amid floorfillers. [Aug 2017, p.96]

Largely insubstantial. [Aug 2017, p.97]

These songs conjure shifting states-of-consciousness. [Aug 2017, p.97]

Deliberately nostalgic. Musically, however, it sounds fresh-packed. [Aug 2017, p.97]

It's an album that at times sounds like it wants to smash your face to pieces, sometimes your heart. It's beautiful, horrible, bleak, spiteful, overwhelmed, overwhelming--a cry of panic ,despair, anxiety in the face of accelerating modernity. .... All three [previously unreleased tracks] are excellent in their way. [Aug 2017, p.100]

This parade of audacious flops is a powerful introduction to this great band's pleasures, should you need one. [Jul 2017, p.104]

Cathartic, rich and true. [Jul 2017, p.88]

Bouncy production keep things light; Pharrell-ish Feel It Still, soulful So Young; but perhaps too light. [Jul 2017, p.96]

It's a raucous portrait of a well-drilled band on fire. [Jul 2017, p.87]

It dives into the UK's musical melting pot, blending reggae, hip-hop, Asian beats and dancefloor nous. [Jul 2017, p.93]

Whatever Royal Blood have surrendered in volume here, they have gained in new dimensions. [Jul 2017, p.89]

A winsome, nostalgic atmosphere. [Jul 2017, p.91]

His strength is his honesty. He couches his anxieties in simple but poetic language as his band find the sweet spot between country and rock. [Jul 2017, p.90]

Resistance bubbles with zest and vitality. [Jul 2017, p.87]

It's not the easiest to digest in one sitting, but its languorous, tripy/hippy cocktail is refreshingly unique. [Jul 2017, p.91]

When the music gets quieter there is an irritating increase in tape hiss. [Jun 2017, p.89]

The slow-burners can drag, but it peaks again on Down and Eno-ish Waiting. [Jul 2017, p.96]

Wisely not handing over the reins completely to the makeover crew, the new Sangaré is not so very different from the old one--and when you have a voice like hers, it really doesn’t make a lot of difference what knobs are being twiddled in the studio. Sangaré rocks in her own way, and nothing is ever going to change that.

Throughout, it's the sheer quality of Nau's songwriting that truly impresses. [Jul 2017, p.89]

Earth-shattering breakbeats take a backseat to slicker, smoother, jazzier efforts and broad-brush over-emoting for much of its ponderous second half. [Jul 2017, p.91]

McVie brings the sing-song pop; Buckingham, the whispered vocals and fingernail-splitting guitar solos. [Jun 2017, p.86]

At its best, Weather Diaries rejuvenates their burn-it-down guitars ad pretty vacancy. ... But some of the old problems remain: a thin lyrical wash, an occasional plod. [Jul 2017, p.86]

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]

Anyone who blanched at Herrema's strychnine sandpaper vocals won't be seduced by this set, however, and Hagerty only rarely scale the truly sublime heights of harmololdic skronk within his reach. [Jul 2017, p.90]

If this is about cities, it's cities glimpsed in poetic, fragmentary dreams. [Jul 2017, p.90]

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

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]

Chuck sets an example for everyone else to follow. [Jul 2017, p.94]

With everyone now doing '80s-dance-pop, these Parisians seem more veteran than hipster on this set of Italo-disco and sophisticated pop. [Jul 2017, p.96]

Midway, things meander, after Adrianne Lenker's pellucid vocals twists and turns. [Jul 2017, p.96]

If Crack-Up falls short of perfection, it inspires hope that transcendence is waiting around the corner. [Jul 2017, p.84]

Distractions' expanded palette takes in grime, experimental R&B and robotic house, like an alternate soundtrack for an arcade racer. [Jul 2017, p.91]

At it's core, Peasant resembles a masterpiece, but this softening of the sonic edges ultimately dulls its grand impact. [Jul 2017, p.94]

This compelling song collection offers an abstract journey through the themes, influences and emotions of a most eventful year. [Apr 2017, p.94]

The melancholy Tumbleweed sound become the sound of '70s country rock. [Jul 2017, p.100]

Intimate, timeless music. [Jul 2017, p.92]

The foggy nights of soul chronicled here lend Chastity Belt's bruised indie pop a weight that suits it. [Jun 2017, p.89]

As lush, escapist pop, Waiting On A Song is a triumph. [Jul 2017, p.90]

Naturally, every song is a fully formed gem underscoring Saint Etienne's unique way with setting reflective pop upon a dance floor chassis. [Jul 2017, p.86]

The results are appropriately cinematic and evocative. [Jul 2017, p.91]

[The remix disc] does a decent job of contextualising Leftism's legacy. But it's the originals that still burn with rare incandescence. [Jun 2017, p.100]

All of the new mix’s strengths are writ large here. Ringo is restored. The voices feel ‘properly’ balanced and positioned. And in general, where there was whimsy (the bête noire of most Pepper agnostics) the power of solid drums and central voices irons it out. ... It’s an album--maybe the album.

A diverse collective taking turns at the canon. [Jun 2017, p.94]

The Song Of Day And Night catches Jones aka Summertyme at his best. [Jun 2017, p.91]

Country-soul with luminous warmth. [Jun 2017, p.95]

The father-and-son combination is satisfyingly unpredictable, with a fresh, non-rock approach to some of the rhythms and unexpected shifts in style. [Jun 2017, p.86]

Resin Pockets plays like a found notebook of rapturous Proustian melancholy, everyday moments of dreamlike revelation assembled into weakly-strummed, frailly-sung almost-pop songs that embrace the beauty of transience and imperfection. [Jul 2017, p.87]

This young, Reading rock foursome offer hyperventilated hooks and heart-soaring breakdowns. [Jul 2017, p.96]

Meditative, twitchy, cerebral, the Heliocentrics are at once timeless and of the now. [Jul 2017, p.93]

The dynamic range of Elvin Suite--Part 1 and 2--composed by Watts and fellow legend Jim Keltner--proves that drummers can do more than bang on things. [Jul 2017, p.92]

It's the exclusives that made this a cornerstone of any grunge collection. [May 2017, p.106]

[A] mini-masterpiece. [Jul 2017, p.105]

Aided by Gabrielle Drake's spoken word and arrangements that vary between bare, the lyrical and the dreamy, it makes for a most moving collection. [Jul 2017, p.92]

More a growler than a singer, Ayisoba plugs in and lets rip from the start, his heavily rhythmic songs wasting no time on subtlety, his band driving the trance sounds home. [Jul 2017, p.91]

This is bruised, bruising music, intellectually satisfying, animalistic. [Jul 2017, p.91]

Painfully literal in its detailing of grief. [Jul 2017, p.91]

The 10 tracks here find the band bridging the gap between saloon singers and barroom rockers, the results playing like Frank Sinatra fronting The Replacements. [Jul 2017, p.90]

Too often, though, a combination of slight songcraft and waters' awkward tendency to sound simultaneously angry and platitudinous starts to wear thin. [Jul 2017, p.89]

There's no arguing with craftsmanship like this. [Jul 2017, p.88]

The backgrounds are rich, warm and authentic sounding, but the real power lies the potent, passionate vocal trinity. [Jul 2017, p.87]

Kids In The Streets sounds joyous, reflective, nostalgic and even grateful in places, with an upbeat swagger that comes from knowing you're making the album of your life. [Jul 2017, p.89]

So rich is their vocabulary of subtly shifting textures ad discreet melodies that lazy ambient cliche or factory setting keyboard predictability are entirely eschewed. [Jul 2017, p.92]

A trippy reined-in take on Madlib's psychedelia across a powerfully conversational ode to person resurrection winningly contrasted against past druggy misdemeanours. [Jul 2017, p.93]

There's bountiful fun to be had pledging your inner teen's allegiance to Ho99o9's burning flag. [Jul 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]

It sounds surprisingly, hypnotically groovy. [Jul 2017, p.96]

Richly layered and astutely arranged. [Jul 2017, p.96]

The Chimp awakes. [Jul 2017, p.96]

Her syrupy soul often fails to mesh with B.I.G.'s taut flows. [Jul 2017, p.96]

Her lovely nuanced voice is fully spotlit amid the passions of both Stay and Better Off, showcasing a remarkable new talent. [Jun 2017, p.90]

Enduring, reliable but far from set in their ways. [Jun 2017, p.92]

Stream of realpolitik consciousness lyrics come leavened by a synthetic, dancefloor-wise production. [Jun 2017, p.95]

A little under-sung in mumbling modern folk shorthand for emotion, but lovely. [Jun 2017, p.95]

It's an exploration of the end that assets it's not over. [May 2017, p.88]

The Psalms comes with plenty of mainstream country--in the supple, drawling warmth of Colter's voice--and spiritual certainty. But it is easy to recognise the broader, ecumenical grace and relief of Joni Mitchell's early records and Laura Nyro's salvation songs in Colter's passionate focus and rolling, intuitive aplomb at the piano. [Apr 2017, p.91]

This is a triumph of achingly beautiful pop protest music. [Jun 2017, p.94]

Throughout, Bryant's vocal is rich and full on songs that are framed in exclamatory horns and soothing organ. [Jun 2017, p.92]

Deceptively simple-sounding, beautifully constructed folk songs. [Jun 2017, p.95]