Lynn still sounds full of the life-force; more engaged and effervescent than many stars half her age. [Apr 2016, p.88]

There's a pleasing, ad hoc nature to these loose-limbed grooves. [Mar 2016, p.97]

The overriding feeling, though, is that you want to give them a good shake, maybe get them a it drunk, try to liven them up. [Apr 2016, p.91]

Sturdy, rousing, crank-it-up Rock'n'roll that's sometimes more punk, sometimes more country. [Feb 2016, p.93]

Multi-artist tributes are typically patchy by nature, but George Fest really works. [Apr 2016, p.86]

Throughout the album's crisp 10-track sequence, this reconfigured band are clearly once again enjoying the fruits of the unfathomable confluence of life and art. [Apr 2016, p.87]

Painkillers suggests their frontman really was holding his best songs back. [Apr 2016, p.88]

By shedding some of their rock'n'roll excess, though, it feels as if Primal Scream finally have some idea of what they want to be when they grow up. [Apr 2016, p.90]

All told, less might have been more. [Apr 2016, p.96]

Closer listening finds thin-voiced New Yorker Andrew Wyatt undercutting the Swedish Britney Spears producers' sleek earworms with sing-along melancholy. [Apr 2016, p.96]

Ward opens More Rain with the sound of a deluge outside before going on to ponder the vast gulf between the American Dream and its less glamorous reality, but the final glitterbeat stomp of I'm Going Higher he finishes with the sun on his face. [Apr 2016, p.94]

He has an honesty, knows how to caress a good song, and phrases knowingly. [Apr 2016, p.89]

Bar the grating closer, it's their most beautiful yet. [Apr 2016, p.89]

Ambitious but muddled, throughout they veer from awful to the gently compelling. [Apr 2016, p.86]

There's no manifesto here, only an exploration of identity, just as Letissier searches for her place in this decade's pantheon of fabulous poly-musical femmes. [Apr 2016, p.92]

With Telegram's Krautrock, psychedelic Pink Floyd and glam rock influences, it packs a remarkable punch. [Apr 2016, p.91]

[The Ridge] finds the Montrealer's signature esoteric bow-work allied to song structures that err, at least vaguely, toward the orthodox. [Apr 2016, p.93]

It's confusing, with flaky endings and mood swings, and an utterly compelling mix of not caring at all and desperately caring. [Apr 2016, p.87]

Wintry, ethereal and strangely bewitching, it feels both ancient and modern, rooted in the raw Appalachian landscape of Leigh's childhood and the contemporary language of confessional memoir. [Apr 2016, p.91]

Imbued with harmonies, melody and some hard-edged dynamics that draw on Led Zeppelin, this is what the pastoral Pink Floyd of 1971 might have done next. [Apr 2016, p.91]

Ne So is a thing of delicacy, it's a silky, immersive grooves and intertwined guitars weaving a subtly seductive canvas against which Traore's smoky vocals, often couched in close harmonies, waft. [Apr 2016, p.92]

Anthrax's energised take, though hardly original, remains forceful and persuasive with each member still delivering with the strength of 10 men. [Apr 2016, p.94]

London's Yuck offer scrubbed-up take on the FX-drenched guitar pop of Pavement or MBV. [Apr 2016, p.96]

There's a dark, delicious humour and true heartbreak in the NY trio's frank yet delicate confessionals. [Apr 2016, p.96]

Albanese's piano plus synths and cello soundtrack near-darkness in pensive, drifting instrumentals. [Apr 2016, p.96]

Emmy's most effective tool is a sense of place, and her journey from experience to the finished work, saturated in detail, is often a lot darker than her measured delivery suggests. [Mar 2016, p.94]

A succession of sprawling mini-epics--throbbing with energy, insidious basslines and pulsing chords--prevail. [Mar 2016, p.95]

For a rapper who has excelled in redefining the artform, The Life Of Pablo is a sprawling, uneven and curiously unfinished sounding affair with a dearth of recognisable bangers. Much less than the sum of its parts when stacked against the grandiloquent orchestral sweep of 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy or pared-back abrasive aural sculpture of predecessor Yeezus, it suggests West is merely human after all.

The quality dips and pitches, occasionally stuck at third on the bill at the Bill And Gate. There are tiny revelations too. [Mar 2016, p.104]

A potent debut that juxtaposes pastoral lyricism with urban angst. [Mar 2016, p.96]

Capable, often catchy, but the Shaker fail to truly stir. [Mar 2016, p.100]

Feed The Fire takes Lana Del Rey to a spacey summit meeting with Lee Hazlewood of Summer Wine after a conference call with Sweden's own Concretes. [Mar 2016, p.99]

Their emotional post-club grooves are the real star. [Mar 2016, p.95]

On his third solo album, Steve Mason veers dangerously close to that overfarmed damaged-earnest-sensitive-bloke territory, but luckily he doesn't seem capable of schmaltz or emotional cheap-shots. [Mar 2016, p.95]

Again, the result is terrific with Hunter, band and producer in perfect harmony. [Mar 2016, p.92]

A solo debut with am encyclopaedic range. [Mar 2016, p.96]

Inventive, swinging, dud-free and very musical: terrific entertainment by any standards. [Mar 2016, p.94]

Lovers of their earlier electro-cumbia won't be disappointed, but nor will reggae fans or Garifuna aficionados. [Mar 2016, p.98]

Here he mines Suicide and Depeche Mode's sleazy synth overtures. [Mar 2016, p.100]

Emotions unemoted can work, but Good Advice feels too disciplined/stylised. [Mar 2016, p.98]

She delivers twisted, nostalgic jazz, flanked by her Spanish husband's eerie Portuguese guitar.... Lovely. [Mar 2016, p.98]

Mavis tries to stamp authority on songs written by ward's musician pals.... They're not all great though--neither the Charity Rose or Nick Cave contributions hit the spot. [Mar 2016, p.99]

More euphoric indie fits and starts from Hooray For Earth's Noel Heroux. [Mar 2016, p.100]

This repeat performance from marginally less familiar names might seem like a poor substitute for a new project. Happily, it's not. [Mar 2016, p.97]

It's an artful and lyrically dense synth-pop LP. [Mar 2016, p.96]

2012;s Rhine Gold album leant more on burbling electronica, while Grasque pushes further still, into slow R&B jams, chillwave, even George Michael when Makrigiannis uses his higher register. [Mar 2016, p.95]

Their reunion album fizzes with energy--although it retains the underlying melancholia that defined their previous work. [Mar 2016, p.95]

For all their organic methods, these Animals often come across so robotic and constricted--witness natural Selection's echoes of woozy Chicago house classic Washing machine--stripping those painstaking vocal arrangements of their humanity. [Mar 2016, p.94]

Much of the airbrushed pop-metal nous that elevated 1983's Pyromania and 1987's Hysteria back in evidence. [Feb 2016, p.92]

An album in glorious hock to improvisation, rhythm and texture. [Mar 2016, p.95]

A sense of growth, impermanence and yearning runs through these songs. [Mar 2016, p.96]

Almost entirely instrumental apart from the occasional detour into Floyd-like orbits, this is yet another bold statement from this ever-changing and challenging group. [Mar 2016, p.96]

Culturally rich, and instantly identifiable as excellent, this one's an extra-hot essential. [Mar 2016, p.97]

A rich score of chamber melancholy and electronic disquiet. [Mar 2016, p.97]

The result is a thematically complex neo-romantic narrative of wit, tension and sweep. [Mar 2016, p.97]

Enlightened and challenging... an incredible String Band for a brave new world. [Mar 2016, p.99]

Experimental pop that feels for the warm electronic pulse of '80s futurism. [Mar 2016, p.100]

Pulsing, hypnotic 13-minute opener Tardis Cymbals is a tough act to follow, with its primitive drum machines and rippling bassline, yet they trump it with voyages into scything death disco, bright Floydian vistas and even '60s vocal pop on Liquid Gate. [Mar 2016, p.95]

Concise, understated alt rock with cryptic, literate lyrics. [Mar 2016, p.100]

This is diaphanous pop music--perhaps overly flimsy on occasion--but full of sparkle and more variegated than before. [Mar 2016, p.97]

[The album] has no one style, no favoured musical template. [Mar 2016, p.92]

Like a turbo industrial Tears For Fears. [Mar 2016, p.98]

Collaboratively, spiritually and musically... it works superbly. [Mar 2016, p.99]

Recent world events demand some kind of visceral response, and sonically, musically and emotionally, Hidden City's primal, from-the-heart worldview represents just that, unwittingly or not. [Mar 2016, p.90]

The delightful, multi-mood Commontime is just shy of an hour, opens things out and is more personal [than 2012's Plumb]. This might be the sound of maturing. [Mar 2016, p.96]

She delivers intelligence and sensuality like she never saw a line between them. [Mar 2016, p.98]

There's no happy ever after, of course, but at least this excellent record has come out of the darkness. [Mar 2016, p.92]

If you love pop, you really have to hear it. [Mar 2015, p.92]

Of the 12 heat-seeking tunes, Daughters sounds the best bets. [Mar 2016, p.100]

Alluring, if more cold brewed latte than electric kool aid. [Mar 2016, p.100]

Wabi-Sabi is as becalmed and warm as it's wracked and haunted. [Feb 2016, p.94]

There's a warmth and careless spirit to 96, Rome and myriad others that hasn't always been there down the years, and they've seldom bettered Save You. It really is heart-warming to have them back on point. [Feb 2016, p.90]

Further evolution is needed to forge an identity from the shadows of their contemporaries. [Feb 2016, p.98]

There's a '60s simplicity that's instantly engaging. [Feb 2016, p.93]

On The Move sounds like music made with drinks in hand and wide smiles on faces. [Feb 2016, p.95]

The exceptional songs of Martin Henry are served by the trio's undemonstrative guitar, bass and drums being augmented by keyboards, glockenspiel and harp. [Feb 2016, p.91]

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]

It is the most raw and intimate long-player in the 15-year career of this fine Nashville-via-New England singer-songwriter. [Feb 2016, p.93]

On a basic, gut-punching level they deliver with inarguable aplomb. [Feb 2016, p.92]

If Watneys Red Barrel-flavoured stompers like Roll The Balls, Watch Your Step and Bonehead Waltz are something you'd dig, this is definitely for you. [Feb 2016, p.98]

Delightfully chewy collaboration. [Feb 2016, p.90]

In The Magic Hour is, in turn, both exhilarating and exploratory. [Feb 2016, p.97]

If the alcoholic's lament Death Came teeters close to parody, then the bare-boned country pop of Place In My Heart and Bitter Memory offer some much needed respite. [Feb 2016, p.90]

It's pleasingly dizzying, yet curiously coherent. [Feb 2016, p.98]

An album whose gentle charms fades a little before the final curtain falls. [Feb 2016, p.93]

This Family album goes toward capturing the band's undeniable genius, in music that lingers like the most terrifying dream. [Feb 2016, p.91]

Afrucaine 808 have perfected a highly effective remedy to standing still. [Feb 2016, p.94]

The first seven tracks are wonderfully lush and mellow, but loses its way on the closing two-song suite, War/Peace. [Feb 2016, p.96]

Jet Plane And Oxbow pulls together crisp, motorik grooves, dirty great guitar riffs and arms-aloft choruses. [Feb 2016, p.90]

As was the case on 2013's Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO, seem poised equidistant between the mellifluousness of '70s Beach Boys and prog rock opacity. [Feb 2016, p.93]

A debilitating thrash/death doom speedball. [Jan 2016, p.98]

The deliciously daft Litter Love, all skronky synth and cavernous twang guitar, Stoltz comes on like The Wombles' nemesis--and dishes enough pop suss to brighten Mike Batt's eyes. Fans of Kelley's wonky back-pages gem You're Out Of This World will also lap-up Wobbly. [Dec 2015, p.89]

The set includes seven songs left off This Note's, many now sturdier than versions previously issued. [Feb 2016, p.104]

Sessions and collaborations abound, finally collected here. [Feb 2016, p. 104]

Although Gibbs's lyrics rarely veer beyond their survivalist comfort zones, his innate ability to switch up styles allows him to scale the gaping chasm between Forever And A Day's moody confessions and the unreconstructed boasts of Cold Ass Nigga with ease. [Feb 2016, p.94]

Though arriving with less of cacophonous attack, their crush of distortion and Elena Tonra's swooning vocals is rooted in the same psychedelic heartland. [Feb 2016, p.91]

A touch of feyness lingers. Not much, though. [Feb 2016, p.95]

These "little" songs have the feel of home-studio genesis, thanks to pitter-pattering drum machines, the unflashy layering of instruments, and the author's intimate lyrical reflections. [Feb 2016, p.94]