Beat-less but involving standouts like Memphis Helena, with its plangent lead line intimately tracked by Nelson's hushed hazy intoning, and elegiac, rippling acoustic guitar-propelled Muriel Spark are as inexorable and immersive as a high summer sunset. [Dec 2019, p.92]

Theirs is really a taste worth acquiring. [Sep 2005, p.103]

Nothing here is less than intriguing. [Oct 2012, p.86]

Both spectacularly riotous and deliciously bittersweet. [Nov 2005, p.112]

By the end, As If makes you want to run away, arm in arm with the night. [Nov 2015, p.93]

Many of the songs segue into one another, a percussive keyboard outro blending into a slow keyboard intro, with Moses sounding like the soundtrack to sunrise--gorgeous. [Oct 2013, p.95]

Live albums often disappoint but this one doesn't. [Jan 2017, p.101]

It's a record of fierce seriousness, a demand for engagement as inescapable and immediate as somebody shaking you by the shoulders. [Aug 2023, p.82]

They're bowing out on a high. [May 2026, p.93]

The whole thing is furious, funny and, not least in the toy-town conscious reggae of Health Is Wealth, deeply loveable. [Jun 2022, p.92]

The result is another madcap sonic escapade. [Dec 2018, p.87]

New View furthers Friedberger's quest to declutter, finding great pop and occasional profundity in getting to the point and letting her tunes ring clear. [Feb 2016, p.92]

Big Time doesn't feel like a definitive transformation - it's still tender and unfurled in places - but it does have a new clarity, a sense of masks peeling away, veils dropped. [Jul 2022, p.84]

What some might reckon to be Drift Code's one significant weakness--that Webb is not a conventionally beauteous singer--is once more a strength. [Mar 2019, p.86]

It's all consummately executed, just lacking a burning lyrical purpose. [Mar 2025, p.86]

For all its flaws, the outcome remains spectacular. [Oct 2014, p.103]

The only musical shift is Bete Morcelee, which isn't grunge but zippy punk; the rest reprise Marry's trademark conjoining of equally joyous Afro-pop and Anglo-phonic guitar-pop. [Apr 2017, p.95]

Ire Works is a thrillingly hostile racket containing 13 wild bursts. [Dec 2007, p.110]

Due to the circumstances, guitarist Jez Williams takes the lead on more tracks than is customary, including gorgeous, Smiths-referencing highlight Last Year’s Man. But despite a difficult incubation, Doves soar here.[ Mar 2025, p.90]

A second album every bit as upbeat, funny and furious as their eponymous 2006 debut. [Apr 2008, p.105]

The production ideas and songs, however smart, won't change the world; they will, however, prompt large swathes to sing along. [Dec 2024, p.84]

Forever Howlong is a remarkably unified - and gloriously intriguing - piece of work. [May 2025, p.84]

White Men Are Black Men Too places Young Fathers firmly alongside Suede, Dizzee Rascal and Arctic Monkeys in the pantheon of those whose post-Mercury follow-ups confirm they know exactly where they're going and aren't going to let winning a modest prize distract them. [May 2015, p.88]

[Black Women is] the key cut on a third album that shows he's maturing impressively. [Apr 2014, p.97]

Eclectic whimsicality--chugging blues gets a stadium guitar intro; horns add even more uplift to engaging Fountains Of Waynesque Big Times. [May 2014, p.91]

It's the breadth of styles subsumed within and the impressively high quality-control throughout that makes The Child Of Lov such an assured and rewarding debut. [Jun 2013, p.84]

What's truly remarkable about the interplay, however, is the way the two seemlessly bridge the gulf between their cultures. [Mar 2010, p.93]

Although album five gets back to core values, it retains a subtle sumptuousness. [Apr 2010, p.99]

A record of substance, one that stands head and shoulders above today's garage bashers. [May 2003, p.89]

Gigi's Recovery fully achieves TMC's transformative purpose, its lyrics of unflinching self-scrutiny leading to side two's exhilarating Only Good Things and the thrillingly airborne climactic title track. [Feb 2023, p.82]

Alternative views of some other well-known songs affirm Petty's fundamental strengths as a composer and the Heartbreakers' interpretive flexibility. [Oct 2018, p.98]

With Lullaby his tricky metamorphosis from Golden God to dignified elder statesman is now complete, and the last stages of that transition make for a rewarding, often touching listen. [Oct 2014, p.84]

If the arrangements and performances are as good as retro-rock gets--with veteran drummer Gene Chrisman and keyboard player Bobby Wood among Auerbach's American Sound Studio band they would hardly be otherwise--the lyrics seldom boast a single sentiment or turn of phrase which isn't threadbare. Otherwise, never a dull moment. [Feb 2020, p.92]

Lyrically he's as pleasingly obtuse as ever. [Jul 2006, p.101]

Sunn O))) devotees will find satisfaction, but newcomers should start with 2009’s igneous rock classic Monoliths & Dimensions.

Those smitten with Myriam Gendron and Josephine foster's more direct missives will be instantly seduced. [May 2026, p.89]

They've grown and blossomed without sacrificing an ounce of what made them exciting in the first place. [Feb 2018, p.93]

Most [tracks] are brilliant. [Apr 2007, p.97]

These Wooden Shjips, however unchanging, even conservative, are becoming increasingly irresistible. [Nov 2013, p.86]

A remarkable record. [Dec 2014, p.100]

This is affectingly intimate. [May 2021, p.83]

With these selections long-time Arkestra saxophonist Marshall Allen proves himself an excellent guide. [Oct 2014, p.105]

It's great to hear them back on home turf, stripped of their last two records' strained conceptualism, instead just spitting out random, bratty nuggets about uncomplicated things like feeling horny and outrageous women. [Jan 2013, p.94]

A liminal, dreamlike music of eye-moistening poignancy. [Aug 2011, p.106]

Overall this is vivid testimony to art's elevating power. [Apr 2018, p.102]

It's like Lonnie: The Movie in sound - an absolute blockbuster. [May 2025, p.92]

A mix of pulsing, oven-ready bangers and darker reflections, Freakout/Release exudes the confidence of a band operating at its giddy peak. [Sep 2022, p.91]

Cymbals do serious but successfully swerve the perils of the po-faced by being fun. [Feb 2014, p.96]

Bowie's live vocal is excellent on a cover of Jacques Brel's Amsterdam, and the sound is seriously beefed up by the addition of Tony Visconti and Mick Ronson partway through the set, but massively new or consistently brilliant it is not. [Aug 2021, p.98]

This collaboration feels like a specific crystallisation of his {thom Yorke's] enduring love of electronic music, its release on Warp fitting given how much Autechre and Aphex Twin informed Radiohead’s Kid A-era pivot. [Jun 2025, p.78]

Vieux is on fine form, but it's yet more evidence that the Texans are one of the sharpest groups around. [Oct 2022, p.84]

On Sunset will not be remembered as Weller's most immediate record, or the most musically even, but it's certainly one of the most rewarding, and powerful. [Jul 2020, p.76]

Last Broadcast is visceral, pulsing, uplifting, widescreen but has none of the bluster that would tip its forbears into self-parody. [May 2002, p.108]

King's voice, whether riding roughshod over her band's new found vravura arrangements or playing the smoky chanteuse, is still a decisive instrument of its own. [June 2010, p. 99]

A late-onset triumph. [Oct 2020, p.92]

Paul proves this production pioneer can still turn in brilliant beats when he wants to. [Jul 2003, p.106]

Stirring, seductive album. [Dec 2021, p.88]

This is taut, Blondie-cool guitar-pop with a finger on the self-destruct tab. [Oct 2018, p.90]

The poetic soloing ad celestial melodies of Carried It All Around and woozy, irresistible anthem In Hollywood affirm that The Besnard Lakes are masters of their art. [Dec 2025, p.83]

Funny, learned and poignant by turns, Foreverland is a masterfully-arranged, part-chamber-pop record underpinned by Hannon's natural playfulness. [Oct 2016, p.93]

The result is 11 dazzling, fabulously hooky pop-rockers. [Oct 2016, p.95]

[Dave Gahan's] trademark delivery brings the gravitas to Machin's creeping strings-swaddled, Morricone-like mood. [Jun 2012, p.87]

An ecstatic update on classic techno. [Apr 2023, p.86]

The quirky rhythmic tics remain, as do the cheeky little melodies, but this is a tougher and funkier project altogether. [Feb 2002, p.100]

[Wand] deliver their heavy acid rock distortions with an Oxford-shirted campus naivety that lends their debut an added weird darkness. [Oct 2014, p.86]

It's got real presence. [Jan 2018, p.88]

It's to the band's credit, then, that Only You Left spins in its own unpredictable orbit, pulling out new mysteries from their off-centre helix of goth, shoegazing and post-punk. [Apr 2026, p.85]

Fidelity is beautiful, diaristic and a very real portrait of modern black womanhood. [May 2026, p.86]

A Dirty Three, free-folk weirdness takes Sophie Harris's vocal theatrics somewhere darker. [Jul 2026, p.93]

Aside from the occasional rote workout (Sweeden, enlivened only by Denys Baptiste’s squalling sax), Renascence finds Cymande firmly in the pocket. [Mar 2025, p.93]

No Fixed Point In Space is as on point as it is off grid. [Nov 2023, p.92]

News From Nowhere boosts the levels of electronic warmth, Buttery's unassuming presence adding an extra level of lushness rather than dominating events. [Mar 2013, p.90]

The resulting album is an impressive country-soul-meets pop hybrid, with Pritchard's powerful honey-toned vocals framed by some deft and sometimes dramatic production touches from White. [Nov 2010, p.108]

This third disc, to be blunt, pisses over the competition. [Apr 2009, p.106]

Here Kirby lets the sad beauty of his source - Schubert's Winterreise - bleed through, as if summoning up the solitary ghosts of the German composer's most desolate work. [Apr 2012, p.91]

Adroit instrumentation and elegant melodies from the NY quartet. [May 2014, p.96]

Hubcap Music is a seasoned, mostly joyous affair rooted in Seasick's fully paid dues. [Jun 2013, p.85]

Her sultry rasp--think Nancy Sinatra meets Bettye Lavette--delivers disquieting, brooding self-penned originals over warped, folk-tinged, electric blues. [Sep 2003, p.110]

[A] terrific LP, which depicts a sickness at the heart of America with a confident swagger and righteous anger.

It works as a powerful artistic statement. [Oct 2018, p.88]

Sundown is both a bigger sounding LP than Pleasure, Joy And Happiness but also a deeper one. [May 2023, p.91]

The fact that some of the material was lifted from cassettes means that the production quality varies wildly, but nonetheless 001 is catnip for Strummer fans. [Oct 2018, p.107]

Mirage rock's persistent melodies and infectious energy is hard to resist. [Oct 2012, p.87]

A concise 10-song encapsulation of Kilgour's eternal virtues. [Oct 2014, p.87]

There are inevitable quibbles. The omission of The Band’s own songs here is a missed opportunity to tie together these two institutions, both then wrestling with unknown futures. In the sleevenote, critic Elizabeth Nelson forgoes research into a historical moment where the primary witnesses are rapidly disappearing for a spree of purple prose. Some tapes are, of course, better than others. But, by and large, pick a track at random and you’ll find yourself stunned by how hard these six were pushing. [Nov 2024, p.98]

Intoxicated Women makes you fall in love with Gainsbourg and his women all over again. [Dec 2016, p.95]

By opening up melodically as well as rhythmically, Garbus and Brenner better reveal the big heart at the centre of Tune-Yards. [May 2021, p.87]

The energetic groove-riding results prove utterly compelling throughout. [Mar 2020, p.91]

Three of the tracks pass the 13-minute mark, but not a second is wasted. [Aug. 2011, p. 100]

She's at peak power on Faraway Look, expressing feminine vulnerability over immaculate Dusty In Memphis arrangements. [Mar 2019, p.95]

Crisp drum figures add punctuation, and a noodling sax help evoke a mood of traveling the city at night. [Mar 2013, p.91]

This Rev record is another triumph in which all is dream and this sometimes symbolism, the overall effect trippy, though less dark than of yore. [Oct 2008, p.102]

With its silvery guitar and tentative vision of collective power, the title track also offers a means of escape. It frames an album that, in its own determined way, boldly meets the moment. [Jun 2025, p.83]

From Ireland's proliferating alt-guitar pack, these intense runners could go the distance. [Feb 2024, p.89]

A dense, cosmic country, limber astro-funk and psychedelic pop record, it might be KGATLW's finest to date. [Jul 2025, p.80]

An album of considerable weight. [Feb 2012, p.99]

The result is a warmly autumnal, subtly adventurous set. [Oct 2021, p.90]

The album is a retroactive joy from start to finish. [May 2015, p.92]