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]

At it's best, II packs a winning, sun-scorched lethargy. [Jun 2017, p.88]

Alas, it's largely diminishing returns. [Jun 2017, p.87]

Songwriter Darnielle expertly renders the acute emotions of adopting a new tribe and the resignation that life often forces. [Jun 2017, p.89]

A classy and elegant piece of work. [Jun 2017, p.93]

Super Natural is a wholly visceral experience, plugging into the same socket that animated Jerry Lee Lewis back in '57. [Jun 2017, p.92]

One tiny complaint: the original tapes were intended as complete listening experiences, immersive acts of prayer with transportive qualities of a religious or psychedelic experience. For the time being, this is just a taste of the full bewitching trip. [Jun 2017, p.102]

A grand sweep of material that shows their evolutionary flights and remarkable consistency. [Jun 2017, p.98]

Brass blasts and strings reveal cinematic vistas. [Jun 2017, p.95]

Modern Kosmology is every bit as good as its predecessor. [Jun 2017, p.90]

Rosewood Almanac more than transcends its influences. [Jun 2017, p.93]

An album that ranks among his finest work, not just for its strident messages of hope, but also for simply possessing such a high quotient of unimpeachable songs. [Jun 2017, p.84]

Halo digs deep into the unknown and bring back unexpected brilliance. [Jun 2017, p.93]

Unfortunately, Afterglow further embraces, and is overshadowed by, his influences. [Jun 2017, p.91]

Gloomy, seductive avant folk-blues. [Jun 2017, p.95]

A home-recorded collection of covers that roams joyfully (but not too joyfully) through six decades of songs. [Jun 2017, p.94]

A fuzzed-up Pixies-worthy melodic high. [Jun 2017, p.95]

Less niche cartoon-rave abroad, more classic-rock and baggy/disco. [Jun 2017, p.86]

Joan Shelley has a trick, at least, of making time disappear, her stately clear voice a rock at which the world flings itself in vain. [Jun 2017, p.86]

This is intended to be the lighter of the two albums although the stylistic differences aren't great. [Jun 2017, p.91]

The changing seasons--and death--haunt This Old Dog without ever hamstringing its perfectly weighted, sometimes deceptively chipper grooves. [Jun 2017, p.94]

An altogether more positive attempt to commune with nature. [Jun 2017, p.88]

A heady, volatile brew that, in these emboldened settings, have the makings of anthems. [Jun 2017, p.92]

A deeper return to that midnight shade of soul frontman Greg Dulli long ago made his own. The grungy tenor of the previous album is now mostly absent. [Jun 2017, p.94]

Slowdive is a surprisingly joyous return to the fray. [May 2017, p.90]

This is reflective country pop with a Van Zandt-ish warmth and wisdom. [May 2017, p.98]

Their ninth studio album is simultaneously more cosmic and conceptual than earlier efforts. [Jun 2017, p.89]

At the heart of Continuum and Incurably innocent are untamed pop melodies that writhe like snapped power-lines, while berserk closer Hostage Stamps is a glorious collision of Jane's Addiction, Minor Threat and Mahavishnu Orchestra. [Jun 2017, p.91]

It's on the Mellencamp/Carter duets Indigo Sunset and the tough, self-questioning What Kind Of Man Am I that it all shifts up a gear. [Jun 2017, p.93]

The sounds of surrounding life collaborating with art. [Jun 2017, p.86]

Wildly imaginative music. [Jun 2017, p.92]

Miraculously, the whole thing is given a neat completness by John Congleton's slick, electro-rock production. [Jun 2017, p.92]

A more sophisticated Harry Nilsson-like groove, but still keeping those Music City roots. [Jun 2017, p.95]

Sanborn's relentless modernism occasionally overwhelms Meath's sumptuous keening vocal and serpentine melodies. [Jun 2017, p.94]

The result is tender, powerful avant-rock to shake the walls. [Jun 2017, p.94]

Outlaw doesn't deliver six-pack sagas, instead he offers Bottomless Mimosas as a morning pick-me-up. [Jun 2017, p.93]

There's an appealing stealth and positivity to Ron's writing here. [Jun 2017, p.91]

Clever and cool, Season High is a career high. [Jun 2017, p.90]

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

Grand intermeshing spinneys of lush ambient sound, distant pounding beats, lonesome horns and glimpsed shadows of melody that hint at Beethoven, Mozart and older Teutonic ghosts. [Jun 2017, p.89]

Mulcahy follows the songs through rock, jazz and indie pop, from opening lullaby Stuck On Something Else to the Robert Wyatt-esque Geraldine, a rare and wise treat from an underrated songwriter. [Jun 2017, p.89]

It's soulful, spiritually questing--pretty much irresistible, too. [Jun 2017, p.88]

A boundlessly inventive and occasionally quite bonkers record that draws heavily on the input of its myriad guests. [Jun 2017, p.88]

Evilly powerful, filmic and flowing. [Jun 2017, p.88]

It's A Myth is like a musical Mondrian painting: all bold lines and defined patterns effortlessly delivered, but oblique and enigmatic too. [Jun 2017, p.87]

There are good songs here, but it sometimes sounds like Sheryl is trying too hard to turn back the clock. [Jun 2017, p.87]

A solid 11-song set. [May 2017, p.92]

A hugely enjoyable whole. After a fortnight's heavy rotation, it has yet to reveal its fatal flaw. [May 2017, p.89]

A return to fundamentals closest in kin to Lamar’s 2012 debut, proving that, questionable sleeve design aside, he’s in imperious form.

A record to welcome the morning light as it seeps through chinks in the curtain. [May 2017, p.91]

Both the rabbit hole ride of Comanche Moon and reverb-laden panic attack Death March--two highlights--could have been released at any point in the last half century. [May 2017, p.89]

Not as humorous as 2Bears nor as wistful as Hot Chip, here Goddard further explores the potency of the danncefloor combined with intelligent, leftfield pop. [May 2017, p.92]