The sound is '80s indie, air and water. [Apr 2019, p.96]

Wonky, wordy, connective - a Tapestry for the Williamsburg set.[Dec. 2011, p.93]

Matt Sims turns out to be the perfect complement to Leila's post-Moroder production pyrotechnics. [Feb 2012, p.97]

Shimmering, lounge-pop gives a velvet backdrop to fluent, Dylan-ish vernacular sung with flawless mitteleuropa cool. [May 2017, p.98]

The Electric Word now reveals the Reverend brothers Gean and Tommie West's vocal gospel-soul power utterly undiminished by time. [Apr 2013, p.96]

If Sideways To New Italy is a reckoning, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever's balance sheet is entirely in the black. [Jul 2020, p.79]

A joy to behold. [Sep 2021, p.81]

Italian-blooded debutante rocks passionately. [March 2011, p. 96]

[The Nocturne Diaries] is beautiful. [May 2014, p.91]

Sol Invictus scratches a creative itch created by the band's Second Coming Tour, and reasserts that they will not be second-guessed or pigeonholed. [Jun 2015, p.94]

Effortlessly good fun. [Jan 2023, p.99]

This restless, marauding and cacophonous set captures these most musicianly of b-boys firmly on top of their game. [Jun 2013, p.92]

Hyper-tense, but worth it. [Aug 2018, p.91]

A covers album supreme. [Dec 2004, p.114]

Packed with airhorns, grunts and slashing keys, its tempo shifts at will, a reminder of a singular talent. [Oct 2016, p.99]

[These albums] are as much of a pendulum swing from Is A Woman as Is A Woman was from Nixon. [combined review of both discs; Feb 2004, p.90]

If there's one complaint about Exterminator, apart from Bobby's rubbish rapping on Pills, it's that much of it feels like reworked outtakes from Vanishing Point.

The duo-only, no bass required songs don't lack for sonic depth. [Sep 2004, p.98]

Knitting it all together, Lustman pens some melodic vignettes of considerable beauty. [Aug 2014, p.91]

Think Metronomy, Junior Boys and a (much) chirpier John Grant. [Sep 2013, p.95]

This brilliant, complex and surprising piece proves to be no exercise in getting to know them better. [Oct 2012, p.82]

Though still no barrel of laughs--far from it--there is evidence of green shoots of hope here. [Dec 2016, p.91]

Yorkston is one of our finest talents, still stretching out. [Feb 2021, p.82]

Some of its finest moments are its most intimate and least arranged. [May 2006, p.99]

The Long Blondes sound pleasingly frayed around the edges. [Dec 2006, p.118]

Cassadaga is an album to warm souls, rally minds and break hearts in equal measure. [May 2007, p.110]

Up And Away is warmer and grittier than its '80s-polished predecessors, infused with the '50s/'60s trad folk and hybrid pop records her grandparents and parents spun for her. [Jul 2022, p.90]

Sounds great and further reveals the era-oddness of Prince's blending of '80s drum machine funk with late-'60s heavy rock. [Jul 2022, p.100]

12 fascinating electro-symphoic constructions informed by dubstep and Delia Darbyshire's BBC Radiophonic Workshop experiments. [Nov 2011, p.103]

Album four reverts to their initial template of hyper-melodic, lyrically skewed, synth-pop. ... Back on form. [Apr 2018, p.87]

A joy. [Nov 2023, p.89]

The shock in this collaboration is that it sounds savagely natural. [Dec. 2011, p.93]

They are spare but complete, as rich as old letters or photographs. [Dec 2023, p.86]

This is one heck of a wild and beautiful ride. [Apr 2015, p.89]

The album feels confessional, courageous. ... Yes it can be bleak as hell but Flamagra's artistic artistic triumphs are sublimely uplifting. [Jul 2019, p.92]

A formidable piece of work, repositioning Mercer away from his Pacific Northwest indie rock peer group. [Apr 2012, p.82]

It's that innate ability with a tune which separates Miike Snow from common or garden pop varieties. [Apr 2012, p.91]

Full of perfect pop, its 10 songs are giddy bursts of optimism and wonderment. [Nov 2022, p.86]

Sparse backing, strings or a brimming organ interject occasionally, and enhance their combined voices on a brilliantly realised record. [Aug 2009, p.100]

A Fool To Care has scarcely a weak note. [May 2015, p.90]

Charitable largesse aside, it's a must-have for fans of anyone involved. [Sep 2009, p.98]

[A] dazzling modern dance album. [Jun 2015, p.94]

A significant return to form. [Feb 2003, p.86]

They're more straightforward than they've ever been. .... They're not slackening. [May 2024, p.86]

They sing beautifully together and play everything. [Mar 2023, p.83]

While it's true you can often hear what upset the highlife connoisseurs, the bulk of this collection of outsider art holds up 30-plus years on. [Jun 2024, p.98]

Deep, mournful, impressive. [Apr 2004, p.99]

His most satisfying outing in decades. [Apr 2023, p.85]

An album that's thoughtful, emotional, expertly crafted and often sublime. [Nov 2019, p.84]

His own poetic, empathetic songs have a knack of turning modern ills into careworn country classicism. [May 2022, p.96]

Equal parts bludgeoning Art Brut and soaring pop grace. [Aug 2006, p.94]

A lively set that's way above par. [Jan 2019, p.92]

The results are as wildly evocative as anything by Steve Reich or Terry Riley, but thunderously affecting on their own terms. [Jan 2019, p.85]

What makes this more than a self-indulgence is the mellow melancholy he brings. [Oct 2006, p.103]

There's something romantic about this quiet, thoughtful music, but there's a sad quality to it too. [Feb 2017, p.94]

A smattering of era-appropriate scene-setting standards sit surprisingly snugly amid the bespoke symphonic esoterica--all further testament to greenwood's deep, intrinsic musicality. [Dec 2012, p.88]

The Oakland outfit grasp the slippery concept of time with philosophical relish and an abundance of psychotropic imagery on this conceptual sixth album. [Dec 2014, p.93]

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

Special Moves/Burning might just serve as a fittingly monolithic monument to their work to date. [Sep 2010, p.98]

A true treasure from the archives. [Dec 2014, p.109]

With these elegantly devastating songs, she carves put a space, and a class, all of her own. [Mar 2019, p.91]

it's uncompromising stuff, but these unsung horrors are unsung no more. [Apr 2018, p.92]

Angels Of Destruction continues a rich tradition forged in the bars of their hometowns. [Feb 2008, p.105]

Ultimately, the record triumphs via Rolling Blackouts; deep inhabitation of their music, ans the space of its creation. [Jul 2018, p.92]

Perhaps Terje pushes the eclectic envelope too hard, but dance albums are rarely this fresh, distinctive and evolved. [May 2014, p.93]

It's a record full of fabulous intros. [Aug 2018, p.100]

Even amid its fluffy ornamentation, producer Tucker Martine spikes the players' innately epic capabilities with a puritan elixir. The rewards are considerable. [Jun 2015, p.84]

GBV's only LP of 2013 and it's a good'un. [Jun 2013, p.95]

With simple surf beats and a lyrical bent that takes in everything from ladymen to male models, All Hands... is mostly playful (You're No Rock & Roll Fun) with a touch of pathos (Was It A Lie), but not a bad one in sight.

Despite the extended sabbatical, Leftfield’s muscular, invigorating presence remains undimmed.

A low-key exploration of how delicate melodies, processed noise and the occasional beat can intertwine, When It Rains drifting artfully to uncompromised skronk. [Oct 2025, p.83]

Elements of deep soul and space-age pop combine to create a retro-futurist vibe, songs sounding instantly familiar but slightly fried, as if beamed in from other worlds. [Feb 2023, p.84]

Yet it all still swings, rocks and rolls like a galleon in a squall, the Stones live remaining the luxury you can't do without. [Mar 2023, p.102]

At its core, this is pop music of a rare assurance. [Oct 2018, p.91]

A sophisticated set of cutting edge R&B.... TLC's best, most consistent LP. [Dec 2002, p.106]

It's a hugely inventive slab of sonic theatre plotted to the tiniest detail. [Oct 2016, p.99]

Ultimately, by stylistically venturing back and forth in time, Aaron Frazer has struck gold with Into The Blue, a multifaceted soul album that blurs the past, the present and the possibilities of the future. [Aug 2024, p.82]

The result is a bold, career highlight that's dizzyingly inventive on the surface, with a powerful emotional undertow. [Jul 2023, p.87]

It's chugging, stoner rock riff solace to those bored by the cod therapy of Some Kind Of Monster. [Oct 2013, p.98]

A hazy treat. [Oct 2006, p.103]

If you like Papa M and Nic Jones, prepare to be delighted. [Feb 2025, p.87]

When Bills, Aches & Blues works -and it nearly always does - it's more complex, though, pulling together the threads of an enduring artistic legacy to intriguing effect. [Jun 2021, p.85]

Fans disappointed at the resolutely unexpanded LPs should be aware; the upgrade makes revisiting them a supreme enjoyment anyway. [Nov 2011, p.110]

This new project from Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg signals serious sonic intent but wears its experiments lightly. [Apr 2018, p.96]

In 10 crisp, playful songs restores the exalted standards of the band's legend. [Dec. 2011, p.93]

Allison is as vocally ethereal as [Kendra] Smith and Newcombe as filmic and adventurous as [David] Roback. [Mar 2025, p.92]

This is mature, tuneful and utterly approachable album. [Mar 2013, p.87]

There's a great live feel, especially on the more uptempo cuts. [Apr 2019, p.90]

This has more than enough beauty and character to stand on its own. [Mar 2009, p.107]

The singer-songwriter's fifth is no less over-reaching and torrid in its back-story [as 2013's Once I Was An Eagle]. [Apr 2015, p.90]

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

The alien instrumentation here is systematic rather than fundamental--atmospheric colour that shows Hawley's current mindset rather than confirming some fundamental musical shift. [Oct 2009, p.94]

Initially baffling, Manafon richly replays further decktime. [Oct 2009, p.96]

Sarcastic, ironic--and occasionally infuriating. [Jun 2013, p.95]

-io doesn't try to ingratiate or console. Instead, Fohr ambitiously attempts to strip back protective coatings and cocoons, to show what happens when distractions peel away and the inevitable pushes through. [Nov 2021, p.90]

[Aerosmith's] affection for and facility with the material in hand [is] as plain as the nose on Gerard Depardieu's face. [May 2004, p.106]

Lyrically, it's Merrick's diary of their delirious reaction to that vast continent, such as the sublime desolation of Somewhere near El Paso, bathed in "a half-lit Denny's sign", or Lily Pad, where Merrick, sounding almost horizontal. [Jul 2024, p.88]

Astronaut..., then, could be King Creosote's finest hour yet. [Oct 2016, p.93]