What Dylan gives us in these recordings is something of a sentimental memoir.

Shauf paints an endearing sketch of his house party's many moods. [Jun 2016, p.97]

Another sprawling, somewhat overwrought Ashcroft solo record. [Jun 2016, p.88]

Toledo's ability to craft songs that swerve from fuzz-pop to jaded melancholia making him a cut above his underground contemporaries. [Jun 2016, p.92]

Clapton hasn't sounded quite so inspired in years. [Jun 2016, p.88]

The Wild Swan echoes both John Hiatt's gnarled, R&B-rooted wit and Van Morrison's lyrical-mystic flights while developing Vance's own romantic voice. [Jun 2016, p.90]

If David Lynch were looking to soundtrack dreamlike disassociation, he need look no further. [Jun 2016, p.91]

Altogether, a brilliant and very welcome return. [Jun 2016, p.88]

An account of how virulent idealogy can draw in the most rational people. [Jun 2016, p.97]

The Triad's twinkly elegance is packed with rich detail that greatly rewards deeper investigation. [Jun 2016, p.96]

Even if elsewhere the electronic elements occasionally err toward the passe, ultimately, this is as spirited as it is an unexpected cavort through altered sonic pastures. [Jun 2016, p.94]

While the production still feels ill-judged, there are some crackling tracks. [Jun 2016, p.92]

Tracks recorded with Cyndi Lauper and Primal Scream suggest some pruning might have made for a more impactful listening experience. [Jun 2016, p.88]

It began with 2013's minimalist Blindspot, harrowing on lost love; moved into 2014's Distance, trying to accept things; and here's reflection. [Jun 2016, p.94]

Fan The Flames and French African Queen end the CD with real vigour. Confirmed fans will lap it up. [Jun 2016, p.93]

Cohen's sometimes overly mannered, Brett Anderson-echoing vocals won't be for everyone, but nevertheless this is a brave and absorbing statement. [Jun 2016, p.91]

With its wealth of sonic adventure, its thoughtful merger of the personal and the political, and its four choice guest spots (Jack White; Kendrick Lamar; James Blake; Abel Makkonen Tesfaye AKA The Weeknd), Lemonade is a dazzling example of pooled talent coalescing around an iconic doyenne. There can be little doubt on whose head Prince’s crown should now sit.

A Splash Of Colour remains more grab-bag than coherent statement. [Jun 2016, p.104]

Their early temper now lurks beneath, as chiming post-punk atmos channels affecting, emotional jabs. [Jun 2016, p.97]

Each track on Under The Sun has its own unique, haunting spirit, lingering long after the final note decays. [Jun 2016, p.95]

She immediately impresses with a solid version of Wanda Jackson's Funnel Of Love, then moves on to deliver a brace of Patsy Cline classics that stand the comparison test, before with the aid of Vince Gill, whooping it up on You're The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly. [Jun 2016, p.94]

Too often their untethered jangle neglects the other side of the tight-but-loose equation. [Jun 2016, p.97]

Choral folk pop reveries and soft rock tease out the cosmic everyday. [Jun 2016, p.97]

Hopelessness sees Anohni take a harder radical line--her rich, red velvet voice set not in the pastoral piano landscapes of lauded past albums, but in the contemporary electronic stylings of two producers: Glasgow DJ Hundson Mohawke and his Warp label contemporary, Brooklyn's Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never. [Jun 2016, p.89]

There are moments of a chamber ensemble compactness and clarity, but at times it all gets suspended in and blurred b clouds of ambience. [Jun 2016, p.95]

It's sleek through and through; vicious when it needs to be, yet overwhelmingly classy. [Jun 2016, p.93]

Another left-field guest-fest. [Jun 2016, p.96]

Better Strangers' intense mechanoid rhythms and unfamiliar time signatures can make for uncomfortable listening, but snatches of melody are never far away. [Jan 2016, p.94]

His vocable chants on You Can't Remain Here and purposefully awkward intoning for Detachment dance on the edge of parody. Yet the baroque sharp-tuned dances he weaves around the gothic gloom-chorales of Wisconsin-raised dark-pop enigma Zola Jesus possess an occult delicate beauty. [May 2016, p.91]

Atmospheric chromatic harmonica, swirling strings, shadowy woodwind and Bargeld's rich voice add up to an album demonstrating that black has many shades. [Jun 2016, p.95]

Large chunks of Everything At Once sound dishearteningly workmanlike. [May 2016, p.92]

There's little point in denying trip-hop's influence here--the bass on Yr Olaf is undiluted Massive attack-- yet Lisa Jen's vocals and Martin Hoyland's gitar create an eerie reverie all of their own. [Jun 2016, p.90]

Music that alchemises urban jazz with rural Americana to create something that is haunting and otherworldly. [Jun 2016, p.94]

Muezzin duels with fellow tenorist Shabaka Hutchings hit the spot. [Jun 2016, p.97]

The Stones' I'd Much Rather Be With The Girls, written with her in mind in '65. best captures the 72-year-old. [Jun 2016, p.96]

[A] Second set of smart, retro-futurist pop. [Jun 2016, p.97]

The album works better as [a] vehicle for Williams' fiery, lucid spiels and inventive productions than straight-up narrative. [Jun 2016, p.97]

Four albums in 18 months might induce a malaise within lesser bands, but King Gizzard's current purple patch peaks here. [Jun 2016, p.96]

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]

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

It's a grand gesture of a record, though, and if at times it's a little too much, that's entirely in character. [Jun 2016, p.94]

None of these songs sound like they took too long to write or record, but her appeal lies in how, despite her off-the-cuff vibe, she often hits the bullseye or happens upon something enamouring. [Jun 2016, p.93]

Musically it is more diverse [than Gone Away Backward] and his literary influences are to the fore. [Jun 2016, p.91]

Morby has delivered largely run-of-the-mill roots rock, but Singing Saw is more measured. [Jun 2016, p.91]

An album of dark beauty and unnerving enchantment. [May 2016, p.93]

All told, it's a slight listen, which fails to stand alone from its parent project. [Jun 2016, p.93]

Though the record perhaps lacks the one killer tune or irresistibly "come hither" song title that can really get you at it, the swooning Pure Heart, intermittently cinematic We Were One, neat instrumental segue Fata Morgana and sonically startling So Many Nights help flag a unique and fruitful cocktail of influences. [Jun 2016, p.90]

The answers Wallumrod seeks may be out of reach but in the process of searching she has produced an album of disquieting power. [May 2016, p.90]

[An] Ubu-sinister psychedelic LP. [May 2016, p.96]

The sprawling opening (title) track commencing with familiarly tremulous, slow-motion synths inexorably rising and falling, oscillating between exquisite consonance and transient dissonance. [May 2016, p.94]

Sunnier than before, Malamore is a swirl of pounding drums, spoken French, baroque melodies. [May 2016, p.96]

His own voice is a marvel too, heartfelt and luminous. [Apr 2016, p.96]

This is the work of an artist who, seemingly despite himself, has turned into a major contender. [May 2016, p.93]

A sweetly-rendered set of originals. Sometimes, though, even if it drips with Nashville authenticity, it's all a bit too sugary. [May 2016, p.90]

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]

There's no white-hot creative explosion, just a gentle simmer. [May 2016, p.88]

Antitheses abound--organic and electronic, modern and ancient, pastoral and urban. Combined, they create something extraordinary. [May 2016, p.91]

Simpson invests this bold, widescreen music with such heartfelt and real pathos and joy that it announces him as a major talent, and makes A Sailor’s Guide To Earth so rewarding.

The best songs here--the loose, Blaxploitation soul groove Bones; the Cat Stevens-like Deeper And Deeper--are those on which Harper sounds most relaxed and contemplative. [May 2016, p.86]

There's a telepathic harmony to their nuggety pop chug. [May 2016, p.86]

The quiet simplicity of In The Light, Long Way From Home or piano-led My Eyes suggests a delicacy within the songwriting pair of Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz that will prove far more satisfying in the long run than any future Top 10 Success. [May 2016, p.88]

Chromatics fans will fine much to love, but the eeriness that made Carpenter's reputation is mostly lacking because he doesn't need to soundtrack a shock or its aftermath. [May 2016, p.89]

The former High Llama may be low, but this is no menopausal weepy. [Apr 2016, p.96]

Overblown and cloying, it destroys any early promise by way of total saccharine overdose. [May 2016, p.86]

The skill that always made him singular--his ability to shape perfect pop melodies--still shines. [Mar 2016, p.92]

Gibson's captivating, narrative postcard songs are bolstered by a cast of Brooklyn musicians. [May 2016, p.96]

There are some surprising nuances in the set. [May 2016, p.91]

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

Painting Of A Panic Attack is easily FR's strongest album in years. [May 2016, p.89]

Though inconsistent, the quartet have siphoned the best of punk and '90s slacker pop to create an album that couldn't be any more Rough Trade if it tried. [May 2016, p.94]

Sometimes it's a bit repetitive or her voice goes trebly, but then you get What's Not Mine's Bjork-style weirdness. [May 2016, p.92]

It gives way to creeping synths, much post-rock elation and an epic finale, sung in French with nape-raising efficacy. [Apr 2016, p.96]

Like a Gibby Haynes-fronted Bongwater. [May 2016, p.96]

Although recognisably, and powerfully, the work of Explosions In The Sky this is now a band whose music undulates. [May 2016, p.92]

Changes redefines the Bradley Soul sound again. [May 2016, p.87]

Are You Serious is goosebump thrilling and deeply moving. It's also warm and funny, even in its darkest moments. [May 2016, p.93]

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]

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

Western and Middle Eastern influences collide in a glitchy and rhythmically experimental union. [May 2016, p.96]

Mogwai [parlays] the hoary quiet/loud arrangement dialectic into a thing of immersive, undeniably affecting potency. [May 2016, p.89]

Their first album in seven years is a guns-blazing reinforcement of classic tropes, powered by young 'un Daxx. [May 2016, p.88]

It's a mix of acoustic and occasionally stodgy soft rock with a message of peace and positivity to all men and women. [May 2016, p.88]

An enjoyably hook-filled, pulse-quickening dab of squidgy yet soulful colour. [May 2016, p.96]

Their fourth album largely abandons any subtlety in favour of a scattergun art racket. [May 2016, p.91]

[Azel] finds him maturing rapidly. [May 2016, p.93]

The interplay between Stephen McBean's laconic drawl and Amber Webber's gothic-tinged wail remains their secret weapon, lending a lean bite to this hefty psychedelic behemoth. [May 2016, p.93]

All through this listenable, though frankly inconsequential album, PSB are stuck on a sound: it's that booming release of early '90s dance, filtered through a bit of early-noughties terpsichorean quiet-loud sonic sexiness. [May 2016, p.86]

Though some things remain reassuringly the same--the glitzy, moody, twangy, cinematic '60s Euro-pop feel--as if time hasn't passed, there's also a strong sense of Turner and Kane having grown as people. [May 2016, p.86]

The album's blend of '70s Euro-flick iciness, shag-pile funk and dark lyricism make for an intriguing and sophisticated treat. [May 2016, p.86]

Played loud, and listened to intently, it's the Bonnie Prince's most vital new release in more than a decade. [May 2016, p.88]

Its loose theme is authority: on Curfew and Battery, beats hit like police baton rounds, sirens wail and every chord feels significant. [May 2016, p.91]

Sadly, there's a few too many tunes like (Girl We Got A) Good Thing--the sort of throwaway preppy drivel critics of Weezer think they sound like all the time--for this to sit alongside the band's classic work. [May 2016, p.90]

Potential is a ripe showcase of Hinton's gift for alchemising base source material from unknowns such as London's MC SdotStar and Jamaica's Naturaliss into truly transformative dance pop. [May 2016, p.90]

Blues Of Depression picks up from where that album [2014's Different Shades Of Blue] left off, allowing the fretboard wizard to demonstrate that he can write good tunes as well as produce a seemingly endless supply of molten solos. [May 2016, p.92]

Songs with fuller backing reveal much melodic moxie. [May 2016, p.96]

The live album of the film of his 2014 Scottish road trip reveals Moffat's irreverent take on his nation's folk songs. [May 2016, p.96]

Her gift for unearthing colourful material and then delivering it with both swagger and soul is compelling. [Mar 2016, p.99]

Following the creative upswing of 2012's Silver Age and 2014's Beauty & Ruin, this is definitive work. [Apr 2016, p.87]