Literary, rockin' and still pathologically possessed of above-par tunes. [Apr 2018, p.96]

Though it’s not the recluse’s reverie that was 2020’s fine single-hander Monovision, Long Way Home also feels somewhat introverted. [Sep 2024, p.86]

Returning to their electro roots might seem a surprising direction to take...but it works. [July 2010, p. 96]

These 21 carefully edited electronic jams have a distinctly new age feel, glacier-sized slabs of ambience occasionally disrupted by undulating or cluttering beats. [May 2020, p.89]

Those who have grown up with him will find much to love here. [May 2004, p.90]

The music is almost secondary, his production' often leaden beats a mere sideshow to mind-bending internal rhyme pyrotechnics that jab hard at the surreal dial. [Jan 2014, p.92]

Despite its experimental provenance, Wysing Forest is a cohesive, multi-layered collection. [Jul 2014, p.87]

For all the frenetic energy, lush orchestration and earnest vocals, however, It's Never Been Like That has the feel of the work of a hollow band. [Jun 2006, p.110]

The rest can't quite compete [with the 18-minute The Dripping Tap], and is at its best on the contrasting Magenta mountain and Presumptous. [Jun 2022, p.84]

As ever, Lanegan's voice is solemn and affecting, emphasising the melancholic sentiments of the material. [Oct 2013, p.91]

Glowing collection of covers. [Jan 2018, p.88]

The resulting oestrogen charge--an operatic Tori Amos with a dab of Jane Siberry--is terrific when Worden reins in the "hello trees, hello sky" imagery, wincingly precious when she fails. [July 2008, p.110]

Some more like-minded collaborators might raise the temperature. [Feb 2009, p.112]

Part polemic, part paean and featuring contributions from amongst others, Paul McCartney, Imogen Heap and Tina Grace, it makes for an arresting colection that's as valid musically as it is for any mesage it is sending. [Nov 2008, p.12]

Coffey's new solo album is split 50/50 between space-funk rock guitar features and more grounded tracks as he becomes the servant of singers on five of the 11 tracks here. [Jun 2011, p.106]

Agreeably retro psych-pop from New Zealand. [Apr 2013, p.98]

If the pace and mood start to become a tad predictable, Satomi "Deerhoof" Matsuzaki's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is more of a spectral journey into a far stranger world. [Jan 2016, p.96]

The alert and taut Always Ascending restores theband's original pop kinesis and then some. It is by far and away their most interesting offering since that debut album. [Mar 2018, p.92]

Pollard's lyrics are characteristically oblique, but persistence pokes through as a theme. [Jan 2020, p.90]

She ensures these songs keep it together. [Sep 2020, p.88]

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

This is terrific. [May 2012, p.89]

This most thrillingly deathly of bands remains alive. [Dec 2024, p.90]

The best Gang Of Four tribute album... ever. [Nov 2005, p.96]

For twisted garage buffs these unsettling sounds are, again, a joy. [Dec 2012, p.89]

Jean's sonic scope is breathtaking, complemented by imaginative lyrics. [Dec 2007, p.102]

Studs Nuggets ruckus with broody grooves. [Mar 2020, p.96]

Warning is the sound of three men growing old far too gracefully.

The sense of isolation, longing and homesickness are palpable. But he's also wry and darkly funny, self-referential, and self-deprecating too. [Sep 2012, p.95]

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

This latest sheds much of the lo-fi fuzz and spur-of-the-moment sloppiness that characterises previous records, allowing the myriad hooks and melodies to stand out bolder, brighter and all the more pleasing. [Sep 2010, p.106]

Fifth album from former Afghan Whigs mainman's collective. [Apr. 2011, p. 94]

Their best in years. [Dec 2003, p.118]

Improved fidelity aside, the song remains the same. [Aug 2004, p.88]

This time, the division between uninspired, joyless Gang Starr pastiches like Don't Say Nuthin and the polymorphous likes of Stay Cool or Outro has never sounded so glaringly obvious. [Aug 2004, p.92]

Policy is a dazzling execution of one man's crazed vision. [May 2015, p.91]

On this solid business-as-usual set, his band kicks requisite ass on Isaak's decent country-rock tearjerkers. [Jul 2009, p.106]

A nice little happy-ever-after. [Mar 2014, p.92]

Far from punching predictable button, these reconstructed mischief-makers excel when locking electro horns with primal motorik grooves. [Apr 2019, p.94]

The rethink has paid dividends. [Nov 2007, p.90]

They still pack a metallic, tight-as-you-like punch that's more than ready for 10 rounds with Yow's gnarled voice. [Oct 2007, p.98]

Amid the jagged funk-offs, a synthesized steel band and the odd keyboard etude colour a strong debut. [May 2015, p.94]

A record of disarming directness. [Oct 2015, p.89]

By turns, raw, sophisticated and sublime. [Sep 2006, p.104]

Mollestad confirms her love of The Melvins, Sonny Sharrock and six-string gymnastics. [Jun 2013, p.95]

Hallucinatory sonic landscapes that whistle, throb, sing and buzz like the heightened inner-space rhythms of the body. [Apr 2014, p.95]

Urstan find Roberts'signature whistling-kettle delivery ... framed with guitars, fiddles, drums and brass. A peaty, heathery authenticity pervades - to compelling effect. [May 2012, p.88]

Tremendous fun throughout. [Sep 2017, p.87]

Crow sounds wholly at ease, but for all the vocal variety Stevie Nicks, James Taylor and a rueful Vince Gill bring, she doesn't sound wholly inspired. [Oct 2019, p.89]

Armstrong continues to lean on lyrical phases that sound clever but don't say much. Still, the album includes several strong character sketches. [Nov 2016, p.88]

Roadsinger really does pick up where Cat Stevens left off back in the late '70s. [Jun 2009, p.103]

There is a certain sameness in evidence that makes the album more meditaional aid than rip-snorting prescription for maximum engagement. [Jan 2012, p.90]

Lucid lyrical imagery punctuates the muzzy near-consciousness. [Sep 2013, p.96]

A wonderfully mellifluous, atmospheric affair. [Nov 2013, p.94]

A little under-sung in mumbling modern folk shorthand for emotion, but lovely. [Jun 2017, p.95]

[The Long-Awaited Album exudes] humour on such tracks as Caroline and Strangest Christmas Yet. Martin also offers a touch of romance with All Night Long and delivers a chunk of heads-down speedgrass with instrumental Office supplies. [Dec 2017, p.87]

Tempting to ask for more of this dark night of the soul. [Jan 2018, p.94]

Williams' storytelling gift is palpable, but pleasant to alight on though it is, Front Porch perhaps lacks that one outstanding merger of lyrical acuity/melodic potency, a la Dolly Parton's Jolene. [Jun 2019, p.89]

It's where Elbow and Springsteen intersect. [Mar 2020, p.96]

The quieter moments work best, like the moody, organ-led reworking of Shakin' All Over, which lesser bands have thrashed into the ground over the years but really shines here. [Dec 2023, p.86]

On record it’s more the spoken-word sections that grab the listener. [Jul 2024, p.93]

Little Honey is, then, a something for everyone offering. And a few will be disappointed. [Nov 2008, p.104]

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

While Kenny still sounds like he's mumbling mantras to himself, the band's soft-focus allure remains undiminished. [Oct 2005, p.102]

The results are truly beguiling. [Jul 2009, p.104]

Keeps a glossy electropop trajectory, but there's a precarious tilt to the shoegazing rush of Do You Still Believe In Me? or the startling heartbroken lyrics of Dolphins. [Feb 2026, p.87]

Blood proves to be another mixed bag. [Aug 2015, p.92]

V. creates a sense of space, both mental and physical, as well as the idea of an alternate perception that is the calling card of West Coast psychedelia. [Jun 2018, p.91]

Their improvisational roots are still evident, but the bursts of outsider pop shining through proves they have plenty more to dig up. [Jan 2019, p.89]

Despite being probably the best illustration of the scope of his creative impulses, ultimately Life Is... capsizes under the weight of its own cleverness. [Feb 2010, p. 104]

A reflective, pop album fit for a rainy afternoon. [Mar 2003, p.103]

What keeps him afloat is his unflagging pursuit of a good tune. [Nov 2002, p.102]

Electric piano and pedal steel-caressed intimacy rules the day, keeping attendant preciousness almost, if not completely, at bay. [Aug 2004, p.99]

This is a more consistent set, and, hopefully, a revelation for a few young metal heads. [Feb 2003, p.89]

A return to basics--14 meticulously sculpted, wordless vignettes tricked out in blurry beats, subtle digital daubs and mellifluous bass counterpoints. [May 2004, p.104]

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

The 2009 live comp shows how testing their sets can be, with long glitchy interludes between colourbursts of song. [Feb 2020, p.96]

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

The result are suitably soothing. [Mar 2016, p.95]

It buries some strong writing, singing and potential. [Aug 2012, p.96]

Turnbull readily unleashes his inner thespian but he's got playful pop-song chops, making A Hound At The Helm something of a post-modern glam trip that's far too good to be neglected a second time. [Jan 2015, p.94]

Questionable sequencing and some strange production choices (layers of synths and suffocating syntheric strings) sometimes make Jordan sound like a guest artist o her own album. [Jun 2026, p.86]

You're left with a record that few will better this year. [Oct 2011, p.101]

The more experimental efforts have a real impact. [Sep 2012, p.97]

Like most of ET's work, it's worth the wait. [Nov 2013, p.90]

Currie ceding power to him [producer Mike McCarthy] has worked a treat. [Nov 2013, p.90]

At just 23 minutes long this stop-gap album, but it's great to hear the fire in his belly once more. [Jan 2018, p.94]

The best moments come when the duo break out of their languid comfort zone, as on the breezy Feel Your Weight and dynamic Phoenix. [Mar 2018, p.90]

The core idea brings a bright focus and forward movement to their gummy, ambrosial stoner sound, adding bright melody and fairytale zing to these end-of-summer tales of beachbound escape and smalltown torpor. [Nov 2009, p.101]

It throws up its fair share of sunshine treats. ... Consumed in one siting though, the relentlessly Day-Glo vibes can get a little sickly. [Aug 2021, p.81]

Alegrias bends gems from his Byzantine catalogue into new shapes. [Jun 2011, p.97]

The disillusionment makes for downbeat and decidedly adult pop. [Feb 2014, p.88]

A few songs confirm her gifts....More often, self-satisfaction takes over and the final track's dull. [Nov 2008, p.108]

It's an uneven ride and not without longuers. [Nov 2011, p.93]

[The lyrics] carry every once of experience and writerly imagination he's learned and earned in 76 years. [Dec 2012, p.86]

Sadly, there's a few too many tunes like (Girl We Got A) Good Thing--the sort of throwaway preppy drivel critics of Weezer think they sound like all the time--for this to sit alongside the band's classic work. [May 2016, p.90]

White's devastation lends poignancy to tracks ... that skip with country celebration even as he chokes on the words. [Apr 2012, p.95]

A rare beacon of quality amid the shoddy posthumous rap parade. [Feb 2020, p.91]