With little in the way of banjo now, nearly every song comes steeped in acoustic piano, while the vocals are pitched to eke out every last chunk of substance from well-honed lyrics. [May 2010, p.93]

It's not easy to make Sabbath-style proto-metal sound fresh, but Black Mountain have a way of writing songs that go to the places you hope they will without descending into cliche. [Oct. 2010, p. 92]

This trick of balancing heavy and light serves Mercury well. [Jul 2022, p.88]

A triumph of majestic American pop uplift over bleak real-life adversity. [Oct 2005, p.112]

They've forged a sound that's ambitious and close to unique. [May 2008, p.109]

The State Between Us offers a subtle, multi-layered but potent riposte to latter-day jingoism, the spirit of compassionate inclusion made manifest or woven implicitly into the eclectic sonic narrative. [May 2019, p.95]

Even on a transitional work, No Age's spirit of adventure is its own reward. [Sep 2013, p.89]

Many longtime listeners... are sure to be disappointed with the radio-friendly production and sheer innocuousness of [the] lyrics. [Jun 2007, p.104]

Finds an uncommonly energised Oldham ranging across his capacious back catalogue, his palpable enthusiasm manifesting in unlikely between-song whoops of joy. [Dec 2005, p.116]

It is probably Dylan's most distinctive statement. [Oct 2012, p.94]

The 50th-anniversary edition affirms the underrated triumph in Cahoots. [Feb 2022, p.97]

Shine justifies John Legend's signing of her to his Homeschool label and finding producers she could inspire. [Mar 2008, p.112]

Fusing techno with campanology is a bold aim on paper; in practice it's a revelation. [Feb 2013, p.91]

Kane, like his Puppets partner, is fast becoming one of Britain;s landmark composers. [Jun 2011, p.102]

Revealing and uplifting. [Feb 2015, p.94]

Camp art-pop songs matching Kassie Carlson's surreal lyrics with burbling synths and booming basses, it might snag GT the audience they crave. [May 2022, p.96]

Scally's armoury of drum boxes, Bontempi organs and electric guitars provides shape-shifting backgrounds--classic '60s pop arrangements filtered through the fuzzy prism of a dream. [Mar 2008, p.108]

It's not always easy to get emotional purchase on these songs, but the hint of something moving beneath the immaculate surfaces makes the challenge worthwhile. [Dec 2025, p.86]

Despite the numerous positions, No Lube So Rude becomes a little no-note. [Mar 2026, p.80]

They may occasionally press autopilot but the unexpected sound of Blythe singing for the first time ever on Overlord proves their willingness to suppress a few decibels for the sake of progress. It suits them. [Oct 2015, p.90]

James ford and Jas Shaw's command of synth hardware lends itself to organic songwriting. [Dec 2016, p.93]

At least Wake Up Now lifts its voice in protest during turbulent times, rising even when it doesn't quite shine. [Oct 2017, p.93]

The excellent concept sometimes outshines the music, but if everyone's a tourist, this is the trip to go on. [Nov 2022, p.88]

Sprawling and dense as it may be, but amid its deranged lyricism and brutal soundscapes, 8 Diagrams vindicates The RZA's devotion to the collective ethic. [Feb 2008, p.100]

Not an easy listen, but admirable. [Nov 2017, p.97]

Defiantly mainstream. Still, it's certainly not weedy, relying on big Nashville arrangements filled with swelling strings and modulated Hammond organ. [Mar 2021, p.82]

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

Beach Music is stylistically disjointed. [Nov 2015, p.94]

Thrilling third from the ex-Headcoatee's duo. [May 2010, p. 93]

A forward-looking treat. [Jul 2015, p.87]

Big, warm music that doesn't shout loud, yet makes itself heard. [Apr 2017, p.97]

Walk Thru Me Andrew Perry feels less vibey and cutting-edge, with occasional polemical tunes reedily voiced by Davis, and Barlow brooding on grown-up issues like parenthood (My Little Lamb) and battling depression (Crepuscular) – not different enough from latterday Sebadoh, or indeed solo Barlow, surely, to reprise 1995’s commercial uplift. [Aug 2024, p.84]

With its indelible songs and bug-eyed intensity, this album makes you wish that more bands could be so irreverent. [Apr 2006, p.100]

It's not that Tortoise have got their groove back--they've never lacked compelling rhythm--rather, they've rediscovered their alchemical ability to conjure the atmospherically and melodically sublime from premium grade popular and art music precedents. [Jan 2016, p.89]

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

There is an inflammatory urgency here that reminds you of why Kurt Cobain considered Black an almost saintly figure. [Feb. 2001, p.88]

As fine as anything they’ve done, making a virtue of their shoestring gear and lo-fi recording tech to create minimal space-rock morsels focused on interior melancholy. Their melodies are sluggish, warm and desolate, their arrangements spare but affecting. [Jan 2025, p.90]

One of the most vital and imaginative records that [Coldcut has] ever made. [Jan 2006, p.120]

Kykeon is an album of simple instrumental guitar rites that, through repetition, drone and variations of melodic line achieve a particular kind of ecstatic cyclic euphoria. [Feb 2015, p.88]

An enjoyable if just occasionally patchy miscellany. [Feb 2018, p.90]

Further confirmation, then, that this stalwart of the rave generation, with a little help from his friends, still has plenty of fire left in his belly. [May 2020. p.89]

He's embraced a lush, harmony-drenched sound akin to late-period Fleetwood Mac or even the outer reaches of yacht rock. Yet, it's underpinned by biting, literate lyrics and mostly crestfallen characters. [Apr 2022, p.83]

It's clear Maal is still boxing clever. [Jul 2009]

They know their limits, and while they are prepared to test them, gently, Marauder isn't in the market for revelation. With songs this subtle and steely, though, reinforcement is good enough. [Sep 2018, p.87]

Seemingly ramshackle songs with deceptively shrewd arrangements, like the woozy, Beta Band-ish Paper. [Aug 2018, p.96]

The follow-up to 2020's When We Stay Alive continues that LP's fragile introspection. [Jul 2022, p.97]

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

A multifaceted--yet cohesive--creation that burnishes anew the golden age of space exploration. [Mar 2014, p.93]

Their unique pop panache saves the proceedings from simple retread. [May 2006, p.102]

Blurry Blue Mountain is as idiosyncratic and left-handed as ever, pregnant with moments of mercurial magic. [Dec 2010, p.104]

Only a dearth of melodic variations disappoints. [Sep 2014, p.93]

The benchmark for 2008's best electronic record has been set. [July 2008, p.102]

An album hitting some dead ends, as other avenues open up. [Jan 2020, p.88]

Though Blue Water is sunk by its stilted piano arpeggios, Lady, the record's other piano ballad, has real substance. [Nov 2014, p.100]

Can't deny his range (hip-hop, disco, acoustic picking) or songwriting, but voice and lyrics lack depth. [May 2018, p.98]

Showcases [singer Yukimi Nagano's] full emotional range. ... Six albums in, now, as ever, Little Dragon deserve far more attention. [May 2020, p.94]

Creating a feel that blissfully reminiscent of Bruce Langhorne's instrumental score for Peter Fonda's 1971 western, The Hired Hand. [Aug 2020, p.89]

In their hands, [a cover of Nina Simone's Assignment Song is] a hypnotic wonderwall of sound. [Dec 2016, p.89]

As the Crow Flies feels like a more personal work. Both a soundtrack to dreamlike childhood summers and an imagined government guide to the cycles of the seasons, complete with liner notes by historian and folklorist Ronald Hutton. [Sep 2011, p.101]

[The album] is most notable for two typically saturnine contributions from unlikely electro diva John Grant. [Jun 2014, p.98]

Return To The Noon can seem too dense a construct to penetrate. [Dec 2015, p.88]

Mostly, it feels like a marriage of Weezer and Superchunk, amid all-pervasive fuzz-pedal abuse. [Feb 2019, p.88]

Imagine Deerhoof without the jazzcore twist'n'turn or Stereolab with extra no-wave muscle and groove. [Jan 2006, p.126]

If the phosphorus-hot psychedelia of their first Hexadic record was too much for some ears, this subtly chance-infused union of magick and method should prove more inviting. [Jan 2016, p.90]

Green Day are admirably assured, honest, and funny on Saviors. [Mar 2024, p.82]

Krautrock surrogates get expansive on fourth album. [March 2011, p. 96]

A disappointment. [Apr 2012, p.88]

Gorky's play it spare and (mostly) live, placing further emphasis on their long-established pastoral bent. [Sep 2003, p.100]

The solo J. has all the heartfelt keening of Where You Been-era Dinosaur, but with a fresh approach to his trademark blending of powerchords and melodies.

They're a little short on the kind of tunefulness necessary to make these chorus-less songs stand out. [Dec 2003, p.112]

[The] eight covers [are] all imaginatively and emotionally committed, six of them brilliantly so. [July 2002, p.96]

Dusky, angsty synth-pop. [Apr 2004, p.103]

Showcases her passionate and bittersweet voice in a stripped-down atmosphere. [Aug 2002, p.104]

A newly dynamic SAG here build on the intuitive eclecticism of last year's "59:59" debut. [Nov 2009, p.100]

They're still best when the basic Paco Pena influences surface. [Feb 2012, p.94]

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

Lee is free--and it sounds wonderful. [Oct 2017, p.96]

A band featuring such like-minded oddballs as Sufjan Stevens lend nice textures to the psychedelic swirls of Olympic Portions and Hovering Above That Hill, but simpler fare is more memorable. [Apr 2011, p.101]

Instead of dynamism there is a defiantly "demos" feel to tracks that makes for a charming, fat-free album. [Apr 2014, p.96]

A burbling concept piece with moments of poppy and demonic. [Oct 2016, p.100]

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

With Keep Your Eyes Ahead Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel have pushed their fringes out of the way to display a new focus. [Mar 2008, p.112]

There is much to love here, just as much to hate, and nothing to be indifferent about. [Mar 2010, p.99]

This crisply produced second LP sticks rigidly to the same mandate--big beats and bigger tunes--and feels a little dated as a result. [Jun 2011, p.97]

The years haven't deadened Lucero's spirit: indeed, that experience only lends their ballads and brawlers a weightier punch. [Jan 2013, p.90]

Elsewhere, Lamontange's vocals slip back into mope mode, but his tour band's firm playing and decent string arrangemebts add an aura of depth and substance. [Dec 2008, p.110]

If the initial listening experience challenges, long-term exposure unfurls Instrumental Tourist's full beauty. [Jan 2013, p.91]

Album seven hits a sweet spot between prog and power-chords. [March 2011, p. 108]

If the imagery on this album is often solemn--ice, looming meteorological disaster, remote canyons--it isn't melodramtically so. [June 2008, p.109]

Impressive as it all is, a genuine follow-up to Illinois feels overdue. [Dec 2009, p. 92]

Velocifero is comparable to pop at its best--travelling straight to the brain's pleasure centres but taking a strange tantalising cargo with it. [July 2008, p.110]

It's a downbeat party, but one with real atmosphere. [May 2012, p.88]

Her candy floss-flavoured cough syrup vocals will be a little sweet for some tastes on first hearing, but when backed up with an acid lyrical kick, the overall effect is devastatingly insidious. [Sep 2013, p.95]

Her piercing, angelic voice, redolent of Tori Amos, is given a sparkling canvas by Claes Bjorklund's synth battery. [Dec 2014, p.96]

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

A dash more melodic brio wouldn't have gone amis, but its muted charms gather cumulatively nonetheless. [May 2008, p.109]

Track by track, these are nuggets of brilliance. As a whole, it's baffingly eclectic. [Sept. 2011, p. 106]