The first half of this double album follow-up picks up Badlands' wayward trail.... As the set wears on, Hungati's soundtrack-composer instincts take over. [Jul 2013, p.84]

Random Access Memories manages to maintain a core of sense and sobriety. [Jul 2013, p.83]

Stripped back to vocals, drums and piano not a million miles from Nick Cave's Boatman's Call, of 10 tracks, not one's a duffer. [May 2013, p.87]

Some 18 years after his astonishing debut album Maxinquaye, Tricky has come close to making Maxinquaye II. [Jul 2013, p.88]

Strange Pleasures is a lush, intoxicating place to drift away in. [Jul 2013, p.86]

Gravez is scrappy, fun but unoriginal--free in spirit but limited in execution. [Jul 2013, p.105]

Some ace stuff aboard here.... But you do long for MES to turn up with a sheaf of structured writing, as per Hex Enduction, rather than a sozzled brainful of scattered grievances and in-jokes. [Jul 2013, p.86]

A thoroughly charming patchwork of neo-'60s rock. [Jul 2013, p.82]

Immunity never drags. [Jul 2013, p.86]

Higher-proof versions of both music and visuals exist, but these songs stand up all by themselves. [Jul 2013, p.85]

While it's debatable whether Empire Of The Sun deliver on a stated aim to make music that's "transcendental," you'll have a lot of fun hearing them try. [Jul 2013, p.85]

With unerring melodies, Eleanor F hits the sweet spot time after time. [Jul 2013, p.84]

This pared back approach, which lends parts of the record a "dancier" vibe, may not suit all fans of his singular debut. [Jul 2013, p.85]

Kveikur largely conforms to existing Sigur Ros templates, and though the quirky rhythms and ethereal vocals of Isjaki spawn a certain magic, something is audibly lacking here. [Jul 2013, p.82]

It's vintage Boards Of Canada--a beautiful, shimmering, electronic maelstrom of liquid, vintage synths and slo-mo beats. [Jul 2013, p.82]

Iommi occasionally apes Slayer's squealing solos, but otherwise this is vintage Sabbathian, slow-grind all the way. [Jul 2013, p.82]

An album truly fit to do battle with the rock classics of any age. [Jul 2013, p.80]

Hyetel continues his transformation from producing club-oriented tracks to elegant, fully rounded electronica. [Jun 2013, p.89]

Wings Over America records the fact that they were a far sturdier, more streamlined and thrilling proposition than they were ever given credit for. [Jun 2013, p.96]

Nothing here is naive or inaccessible. [Jun 2013, p.89]

[A] thrilling state-of-a-broken-nation address. [Jun 2013, p.95]

The Weighing Of The Heart puts Shott's breathy yet deceptively resilient voice to work in the service of her music with a disciplined playfulness worthy of kindred spirits Juana Molina and Alexander tucker. [Jun 2013, p.94]

Another album big on willful naivete and arrangements so pretty they make Belle & Sebastian sound like Finnish black metal. [Jun 2013, p.86]

Those all curious about CocoRosie should begin here. [Jun 2013, p.88]

The dark matter of his fall that holds The Graceless Age together is formidable stuff. [Jun 2013, p.85]

As well executed as the latter half is, it can feel a mite unsatisfying compared to the stripped-down stuff that sits at the top of the album. [Jun 2013, p.85]

Bumpy at times, but worth the effort. [Jun 2013, p.92]

He's employed iPhone apps, junk-shop keyboards, cassette recorders and other unlikely paraphernalia to illustrate the wider aural picture. [Jun 2013, p.86]

Cathartic and beyond satisfying. [Jun 2013, p.102]

It delivers drama in spades. [Jun 2013, p.95]

Often beautiful, though as the protagonist of a song fragment say, he could stand to Let Go A Little too. [Jun 2013, p.95]

If not quite an Ironman or Supreme Clientele, this is Ghostface's most unified, coherent work in years. [Jun 2013, p.94]

Indigo Meadow is their first to perfectly balance melody with noise. [Jun 2013, p.94]

It may seem an unlikely match, but Martin and Brickell bring out the best in each other. [Jun 2013, p.93]

Their thrilling music rooted in old country with touches of blues and gospel can't help but remind you of Jack and Meg and Johnny and June. [Jun 2013, p.93]

Wolf People can play and on NRR have just enough Sabbath-styled hard riffing to appeal to the basest rock fan. [Jun 2013, p.92]

Fizzing with energy and invention, distilling influences into vibrant new hybrids, this is a must-have insight into an ever-fertile, increasingly global scene. [Jun 2013, p.92]

It's compulsive listening. [Jun 2013, p.92]

There's undeniable joie de vivre to the airpunching I want To dance but his "doing it for the kids" rhetoric and propensity to wallow in rose-tinted nostalgia gets a little corny. [Jun 2013, p.92]

A relentlessly effervescent electro/dancehall mash-up. [Jun 2013, p.89]

[Supermigration] fastens pillow-soft beats to steadfast bass lines in a variant of the motorik rhythm. [Jun 2013, p.89]

With its beautifully balances smorgasbord of UK garage, drum 'n 'bass, this is the album the person on the night bus in records by Burial would really be digging. [Jun 2013, p.89]

Ghostpoet serves up his bruised, tender heart with the steely precision of a master sushi chef. [Jun 2013, p.89]

The Redeemer finds Blunt adding a series of potent new weapons to an already well-stocked musical armoury. [Jun 2013, p.88]

Although Four may strike some despondent notes at times, it's a high point for Harvey's career. [Jun 2013, p.88]

Clarietta is no routine homage, more a gripping twist on a timeless classic. [Jun 2013, p.88]

Enjoyable, but the signposting towards "the good bits" can be a tad too obvious. [Jun 2013, p.86]

It's a joy to hear VDP's mission with the boosted clarity of 21st century production. [Jun 2013, p.87]

Little known natural wonders are gleaned from Rennie's witty and offbeat stories.... Meanwhile, Brett's deep bow-saw of a voice has never sounded so sonorous. [Jun 2013, p.87]

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

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]

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

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

Cloaked in fuzzy melancholy, Fandango is one for dreamers. [Jun 2013, p.94]

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

Though other instruments emerge from their corners their sparing deployments against Amidon's fragile voice lends them a far greater power, like vivid flourishes of colour in a starkly monochrome film. [Jun 2013, p.92]

Dogged by sub-standard productions and uneasy alliances, it's left to the RZA and Madlib's younger brother Oh No to partially save his bacon. [Jun 2013, p.89]

Silence Yourself demands you shut up and listen. Compliance is advised. [Jun 2013, p.87]

In its own way, Time is as pleasingly surprising as Bowie's re-emergence. [Jun 2013, p.86]

The ersatz '80s production, lyrical platitudes and soft focus atmospherics stray uncomfortably close to parody. [Jun 2013, p.85]

No one sounds like they are having much fun on this follow-up and his rearrangements of the classics on piano add nothing new to the songs. [Jun 2013, p.84]

Here comes irascible, unhousetrained indie-rock, laced with discord and lo-fi gnarl, yet thoroughly fresh and weirdly magnetic from start to finish. [Jun 2013, p.84]

The results are slightly uneven. [Jun 2013, p.89]

Nobody expected him, at 65, to be the street-walking cheetah of '73, rather just to raise his game, to try and bring that corrosive voice forward, commensurate with his age, the 2010s and, dammit, The Stooges. In short: he hasn't. [Jun 2013, p.87]

They might shake, they might tremble, but The National remain a safe pair of hands. [Jun 2013, p.86]

Cronin delvers timeless, classic pop that evades cliches. [Jun 2013, p.86]

If you crave that ineffable something Abba achieved, then it's only glimpsed here. [Jun 2013, p.84]

Both men have made better albums and Black Pudding sounds like a couple of guys too deferential to each other to actually raise a challenge and push a boundary or two. [Jun 2013, p.85]

Here and elsewhere, Vampire Weekend's growing self-assurance serves the needs of the song without playing to their perceived strengths. [Jun 2013, p.84]

It all amounts to Primal Scream's most satisfying album since Screamadelica, with something akin to maturity joining the still-vital urge to make transcendent noise. [Jun 2013, p.82]

There is a strange and gripping transport to be had in these imaginative flights concerning climbing Mount Everest, the Luftwaffe-bashing Spitfire, and in the Kraftwerk-in-a-garden-shed bango clap-along ROYGIV.[May 2013, p.85]

With electronic ace Ben frost's eerily beautiful final chapter is the perfect soundtrack for a dinner party to which only Ed Gein, Jack London and Catherine The Great are invited. [May 2013, p.94]

For reggae fans of a certain vintage, This Generation will rule the nation. [Apr 2013, p.94]

Something of a disappointment after 2008's Pot Of Gold. [Apr 2013, p.98]

Praxis achieves the tricky balancing act between playful and poignant. [May 2013, p.90]

Akron/Family's seventh album proffers 10 diversely arranged slabs of leftfield clamour, all of them shot through with a contrasting pop-classicist melodic sensibility. [May 2013, p.90]

Even if you take a rain check on that multimedia trip [interactive comic book], there's still much to enjoy. [May 2013, p.94]

The electronic undercurrent that's hummed throughout Hyde's musical life to date is there on Edgeland, but only in the gentlest of forms. [May 2013, p.85]

Though their sound seems delicate and ethereal, in a live setting the quartet's music yields plenty of compelling sonic drama. [May 2013, p.94]

Mind Control [is] as entertaining as the schlock horror flicks which informed it. [May 2013, p.86]

Laurent-Marke's facility for pleasant minor-key ruminations remain her strong suit, but the "stillness" of which she speaks all too often sounds like a stifling lack of urgency. [May 2013, p.85]

It cannot have been a paucity of good songs, strong playing or contemporary production values that was the problem, the 13 hitherto unheard tracks on Wings of Love stunningly illustrate. [May 2013, p.102]

Somewhere between the Moonlight Sonata-inspired title track and the desolate L'Enfer Et Le Paradis, Hardy will make you forget Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles was ever considered her finest song. [May 2013, p.84]

Junip's second album is enchanting enough to sell cluster bombs. [May 2013, p.88]

[A] moving tribute, gently awash with autumnal colour. [May 2013, p.96]

This is a rarity--an album designed to be listened to as a piece. [May 2013, p.84]

Nelson has impeccable taste in cover versions. [May 2013, p.87]

This fourth record in six years is another gem, a touch rockier than 2011's saccharine Lollipop, but no less sublime. [May 2013, p.95]

Partly dependent on the oft-derided production tics of '80s pop and soul, and partly a lagging stab at a (fairly) contemporary dance album, it may even disquiet the Toddheads. [May 2013, p.84]

Earle's most satisfying album in a while--and one that should please right across his fanbase. [May 2013, p.89]

V comes as a spellbinding corrective. [May 2013, p.95]

While impressive in their cinematic scope they can feel a touch superfluous. .[May 2013, p.96]

Rowe's gravelly baritone is as suited to the shimmering surf plucks of Downwind, or the percussive pummel of Horses as it is to his sombre ballads. [May 2013, p.96]

[A] ragged rock 'n' roll debut with vigorous grit, while Robbie Crowell's drawled, anecdotal lyrics add dive-bar sleaze. [May 2013, p.96]

Tracks like Half Angel Half Light suggest the passion remains fully intact. [May 2013, p.96]

More akin to their second LP. [May 2013, p.96]

Occasionally remarkable, American Twilight is a timely reminder of the instinctive songwriting that a certain other, more feted southern gothic Melbournian has sometimes mislaid. [May 2013, p.95]

It's a bloodless, disembodied album, rarely flushed with human warmth. [May 2013, p.94]