A challenging listen. But such is Blake's sonic invention and flair for extricating beauty from the murk, it's well worth sticking with. [Aug 2016, p.92]

More blood on the tracks might have upped the ante, but as it stands Tomb is still a gorgeous wallow, with producer Doveman's minimalist touches left to indicate cracks in the facade. [Feb 2019, p.84]

The 10 tracks rise and fall through burbling electronics and explorative jazz. [Apr 2021, p.88]

Throughout, frontman Stuart Murdoch's succinct dramas are typically populated by vulnerable dreamers and seekers, some still Young And Stupid (the opening track), others a reflection of how his Christian beliefs embrace the tenets of Buddhism. [Jun 2022, p.87]

Overall: troubled, unflinching, but tuneful and triumphant. [May 2024, p.82]

A record that soothes as often as it unsettles. [Jul 2012, p.88]

[Gentle Stream] is gorgeous sun-dappled psych, crossing the lighter side of paisley underground with Nick Drake's dreaminess. [Dec 2011, p.93]

It will either intoxicate or weigh down on you, or both, simultaneously. [Nov 2018, p.91]

It's an impressively elegant and expressive one. [Feb 2024, p.87]

Fuses Velvetsy heartbeat minimalism with pastoral strings and acoustic guitar. [Jan 2014, p.104]

Prolonged exposure to this scattershot approach can be exhausting. In smaller chunks, however, Free Humans is exhilarating, and unpredictably so. [Nov 2020, p.89]

The songs range from good to essential. [Oct 2009, p.101]

Willfully odd, beautifully hypnotic and with a wonderful lightness of touch: a straw poll of the office drew comparisons to Flaming Lips, Arcade Fire and Take That. [Feb 2010, p. 100]

When the songs are this well-crafted, we'll be back again. [May 2017, p.88]

Their masterpiece--the re-interpretation of Western rock history as some consenual power-prog dream narrative where Led Zeppelin and Soft Machine are more important than The Beatles. [May 2004, p.105]

Occasionally... there's a sense of things being too studied, the brain doing the work of the heart. [May 2003, p.106]

A razor sharp updating of previous themes. [Aug 2004, p.98]

It's messy, seductive stuff. [Dec 2003, p.113]

Her voice [is] a soft, soulful instrument that draws the listener in with seemingly minimum effort, then delivers whatever message she wishes to impart to willing ears. [Dec. 2011 pg. 94]

Simultaneously beautiful and uncanny. [May 2012, p.89]

There's a first-take feel, which the Horse are known for, and a whole lot of background harmonies, which they're not. [Dec 2022, p.84]

Within ominously booming coordinates often evoking Hans Zimmer-style soundtracking, dark-pop miracles reliably happen. [May 2025, p.84]

Amanda Shires has made the year's most emotionally raw album. [Nov 2025, p.86]

They serve up a tastier morsel with Mary Mary, a slab of tripped-out cosmic disco. [Oct 2014, p.93]

Fleshed out by two drummers, strings and brass, it's as infectious and disarming as it is genre-defying. [May 2011, p.109]

As ever, Butler weaves these disparate ups and downs without visible joins. [Sep 2017, p.91]

The Liminanas have returned all their favours by creating a blast of colourful psychedelia. [Apr 2018, p.93]

Edge Of The Sun offers no real surprises, but it is perhaps their poppiest set yet. [May 2015, p.99]

The Night Sweats' woozy, loose grooves are hypnotising and are perfect accompaniment to Rateliff's gravel-worn rasp. [Apr 2018, p.94]

It doesn't always land, but the DJ Shadow-esque glitch-hop of Peak Again- with Low's Alan Sparhawk on vocals - reflect James's desire to conquer new territories. [Jun 2026, p.93]

What it all means--if anything--is hard to take in, but the journey to finding out is utterly epic. [Nov 2013, p.85]

If Palmer sometimes gets it wrong, when she gets its it right, nearly all is forgiven. [Apr 2019, p.89]

The highlights: beautiful 'Hemingway's Whiskey;' spooky 'The Guitar;' and his moving, midtempo, backporchy cover of best friend Townes' 'If I Needed You.'

While good stuff (with good sound) in the main, its sheer length and predictability mark this as one for the fanatics. [Jan 2010, p.114]

From here, Del Rey will surely be forced to redraw the blueprint, but for now, this is her best yet.

A winner. [May 2007, p.106]

Sciubba turns in surreal, lo-fi rock, delivered with the drop-dead charisma of Patti Smith and in the dark-brown tenor of Nico. [Apr 2014, p.97]

Endless Rooms presents a tightly-knit ensemble creatively, thrilling ablaze. [Jun 2022, p.90]

An alternative greatest hits compilation, it proves that the old sound of tomorrow can still make the grade today. [Dec 2007, p.100]

A Healthy Distrust turns his scouring insight upon America's turbulent recent history, the response of a vulnerable, impassioned, imperfect man. [Mar 2005, p.106]

Its follow-up features a batch of songs Jones has lived with and reworked over 20-plus years, and the material radiates with a well-worn intimacy. [Dec 2009, p.90]

[An] accomplished compilation. [Oct 2012, p.100]

The resulting arrangements are masterful affairs that frame LaMontagne's material with great taste and flair. [Jul 2014, p.90]

Strong new jams. [Feb 2020, p.96]

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

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]

A collision of punk-fuelled cacophony, halting balladry and guttersnipe sensibility. [Dec 2003, p.112]

Certain of her likable idiosyncrasies appear to have been straightened out [since 2009's Hunting My Dress]. But while big, booming choruses bookend the album on Born To and When I'm Asleep, that's about as easy as this listen gets. [Jul 2012, p.89]

It is a lot like Teen dream, but novelty is hardly the point: if Beach House are your type, then Bloom is unlikely to see the attraction wither. [Jun 2012, p.93]

The "dark sunshine" sound Hersh says she's courting is sometimes a little alienating but there are some fine melodies beneath the rubble. [Nov 2018, p.86]

Burgess's bushy-tailed optimism and quality control never dips. [Nov 2022, p.94]

Intermittently challenging; ultimately it offers a comforting embrace. [Dec 2025, p.85]

Metronomy have tapped into a rich seam of eccentric pop for their third studio release. [may 2011, p.114]

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

Leader Joseph D'Agostino drops vowels with a schizoid, Malkmus-esque charm (somewhere between a meltdown and a bong pipe), while the band see-saw between going for the jugular and a surprisingly touching melodic tinkering. [Dec 2009, p. 90]

San Franciscan psych moodists here to reclaim independent music. [Jan. 2011, p. 98]

There is a single-minded intensity to the writing and the production which makes The Bride a very strong proposition indeed. [Aug 2016, p.91]

The Birthday Party-esque clamour of Spit You Out further shows what Metz are capable of when they ease off the accelerator. [Jun 2015, p.87]

One off-putting aspect: a vague sense of cocky over-cleverness. [Jun 2006, p.108]

Her's a downhome collection that's low on dBs but as impactful as anything he's done. [May 2011, p.105]

There's even more of a streamlined feeling to Seeds.... but there's precious little which surprises. [Dec 2014, p.93]

Its music holds a refreshingly naive (if ridiculous) charm. [Jun 2006, p.110]

There isn't quite as much gleeful taboo-baiting on this second set, as they dig further and harder into the absurdity of being a young woman in America, and still make it catchy and fun as well as angry and melancholy. [Jun 2015, p.93]

An album that, by turns, is lacerating and seductive. [Sep 2006, p.106]

Even playing it straight, Houck produces songs that skitter round your peripheral vision, hide in the back of your mind, their outlaw mental state playing hide-and-seek behind the classic rock curtains. [June 2010, p. 90]

A brave, inspired step into the unknown. [Nov 2014, p.100]

Big, brave and laudably odd it is, then. [Oct 2017, p.93]

There are nods to Scissor Sisters with some honky-tonk disco and references to the demi-monde. But there are also extraordinary tracks of looped beats and grainy heartbreak. [Oct 2018, p.84]

If only all pop music could be this smart and soulful. [Dec 2006, p.106]

An album that's lighter on its feet than its closest relation, When I Was Cruel. Jagged but innovative and angry but wry. [Dec 2020, p.86]

Sculptor yields centre-stage to Randell's haiku-like celebrations of human spirit and suburban transcendence. [Aug 2018, p.94]

Lucinda Williams has labelled Regan "his generation's answer to Bob Dylan," and on this evidence, that doesn't feel like hyperbole. [Feb 2013, p.90]

Teardo's pizzicato arrangements lend Bargeld's melodic sprechgesang monologues a profoundly sinister undertow. [Aug 2013, p.90]

This is real chase-the-devil-out revival with Reed's cut-throat scream and bluesy guitar playing pinned to an anything-goes-in-the-name-of-the-spirit backbeat. [Jul 2016, p.90]

Occasionally, delicate folktronica beauty mixes dreamy acoustic music with intense, layered electronics, while at others, the ambient wash leaves so little to focus on it's hard not to wonder if they didn't simply fall asleep in the studio. [Apr 2018, p.95]

Storm Damage's jazz-trio-do-singer-songwriter-ish arrangements are meticulous in their musicality, but the "personal anguish and political anger" which fired this album make for an intense, if rewarding listen. [Mar 2020, p.92]

These are wonderfully built earworms here, but callow writing sometimes morphs them into mere infections. [Apr 2021, p.82]

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]

The wild times end on a poignant, giddy high with Parful - a house-y banger raving about everyday hedonism transcending sectarian violence - an irresistible distillation of Kneecap's peacetime party music. [Jul 2024, p.94]

All in all, it's pretty much perfect. [Jul 2003, p.100]

The results are engaging without quite reaching flashover.

A gem. [Nov 2004, p.98]

The songs are a mite pretentious. [Sep 2004, p.99]

It's good to hear that force-of-nature voice again. [Dec 2012, p.96]

Its wintery charms and enervated intrigue are hard to deny. [Feb 2019, p.90]

The longueurs of the album's latter half rob the long-player of true classic potential, but the rehearsal room banter and stripped-back demos will pique fans' interest. [Jan 2019, p.105]

It's still one giant leap into the unknown, with all the notions of genre once again gleefully sidestepped. [Dec 2012, p.82]

A debut of undeniable quality. [Oct 2004, p.106]

Blom's buoyant indie-rock - a perfect vehicle for the everyday anxieties that power her songs - quickly proves hard to resist. [Nov 2021, p.84]

Overall this record is a heady, expansive treat. [May 2024, p.90]

If inherent heaviness is the ultimate aim for any metal band, then Mastodon only partly succeed. Fortunately, they hit the right combination between brutal, epic, progressive and endless wild soloing. [Aug 2014, p.92]

Ambivalence Avenue presents a livlier Bibio, tastefully absorbing hip hop and disco beats. [Aug 2009, p.104]

If the band have upped the musical chaos, there's still an unashamedly romantic feel. [Feb 2018, p.98]

The wait has been worth it. [Mar 2014, p.88]

Low have made one of the most impressive albums of their career and it still feels like their best work is ahead of them rather than stuck back in the past. [Oct 2015, p.92]

There's plenty of soul and swagger again here. [Apr 2006, p.94]

The results are as rich and organic as electronica gets. [Jun 2011, p.97]

A polished and enjoyable pop-soul confection that transcends its myriad influences. [Jul 2012, p.83]