Oldham's typically weary, wavering larynx is rendered imperious as it rises Lazarus-like from the wind-tanned dronescapes and rasping harmonues of an epic 'Cursed Sleep,' while a mistily brooding 'Ain't You Wealthy? Ain't You Wise?' finds him deploying unlikely falsetto whoops a la springsteen. [Nov 2008, p.110]

There's more down the line, heart-on-the-sleeve songcraft secreted, near-guiltily, in the album's latter half. [Mar 2012, p.99]

It's properly cosmic stuff. [Jan 2012, p.97]

Minimalist production values prevail and succeed in highlighting the beautiful--and often haunting melancholic--sonorities of Wilson's pipes. [Sep 2012, p.90]

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]

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

Here they are, refreshed and refocused if not exactly reinvented. [Jul 2016, p.90]

The results are a triumph. Scott interprets everything in a manner that touches heart-strings. [Mar 2017, p.98]

[The Selecter] haven't sounded so energised since their 1979 debut, Too Much Pressure. [Nov 2017, p.100]

You might struggle to identify where their influences end and begin, but Mattiel's charisma - and solid gold tunes, in the form of Lighthouse and the darkly gothic Blood In the yolk - ultimately win out. [Apr 2022, p.89]

Ultimately hit and miss, Justice's gift for arena-friendly hooks remains undimmed. [May 2024, p.86]

In short, genial, infectious guitar pop like they used to make. [Feb 2008, p.102]

It’s unlikely to set anything alight, but LA Times still leaves a warm glow. [Aug 2024, p.81]

Studded with occasional gems...it's also weighed down by a handful of jokey throwaways and partially realised pop numbers among its 24 tracks. [Oct 2011, p.94]

Just a quick read of the titles on this 12th album shows Chuck has lost none of his sloganeering, rebal-rousing wit. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Lollipop finds songwriter Curt Kirkwood, as ever, rearranging rock history into new shapes that fit his wonderfully warped vision, delivering some of the Pups' most compelling tuneage yet. [Jun 2011, p.102]

Though he can give good ballad he mostly sticks to what suits his gritty vocal and his attitude best: speed-grass. [Dec 2008, p.108]

It is striking how old school and immediate it sounds. [Dec 2016, p.90]

It takes awhile to get some traction on these unassuming songs. But once inside it is a strange and enticing world. [Jul 2018, p.95]

Orbital remain a comforting presence, and still have plenty to say. [Mar 2023, p.85]

Straddles the line between the jackhammer clattering pop of Girls Aloud (Sorry, Etc is almost a facsimile), the elusiveness of Fiona Apple and Chvrches’ own electro backdrop. [Feb 2025, p.88]

The reference points suggest Cerebral Ballzy care little for innovation, but they've nevertheless created the best US punk debut for some time. [Sept. 2011, p. 98]

They produced 11 perfect songs defined by sweet, honeyed vocals and spiritual uplift. [Apr 2013, p. 90]

This band brings a grubby beauty to a sound imbued with the insidious durability of the Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac. [Sep 2007, p.105]

The songs are rarely more than threads of querulous melody and floaty notions. [Jun 2012, p.93]

This tenth album opens, unappetizingly for non-disciples, with a histrionic funeral dirge call provocatively, Killing Strangers--plus ca change from the Status Quo of Satanist twaddle. But hold tight, there's livelier material ahead. [Feb 2015, p.89]

A compelling blend of 21st Century world music. [May 2003, p.106]

Isn't an easy listen but those with an adventurous ear will be well rewarded. [Aug 2004, p.101]

With a couple more new songs, this could have been a great second album rather than a stop-gap release. [Jan 2002, p.90]

Musically and vocally, this is Franti's most confident and varied work to date. [Jul 2003, p.106]

It's a mellow, meditative and mid-paced work... TIB is still a strong record, which fans will grow to enjoy immensely. [Jul 2001, p.94]

Breach is a dull affair of humdrum tunes, mundane performance, and lyrics which lose themselves in vague imagery as if Dylan were actually evading the chance to express himself.

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

The Road Part 1 is described by Lavelle himself as having "a foot in modern London"--a link that is at best tenuous. As a melting pot of disparate ideas, however, it's frequently gorgeous. [Sep 2017, p.87]

There are some great moments. [Nov 2006, p.101]

At times feeling almost uncomfortably personal, i the main these indie-folk confessionals are kept just the right side of maudlin to make Barlow's exposed emotional workings a surprisingly engaging listen. [Oct 2015, p.96]

This is not an uplifting listen. [Apr 2014, p.91]

It's the same PSB sound--huge electronic hooks wed to archly recited lyrics. The only difference is almost every track here is a potential hit. [Apr 2009, p.100]

More recognisably Air-like despite half its tracks being merely serviceable collaborations. [Feb 2020, p.89]

With each album, the Canadian collective's mix of '70s rock and nursery rhyme harmonies gets less raucous and more predictable. [June 2010, p. 94]

A restful, even romantic experience, Kastlander echoing Tracey Thorn's plaintive soul, in a beguiling confluence of wan Scando-folk currents and American hip hop. [June 2010, p. 97]

[Brian Chippendale] returns for more overcharged neon-Morricone industrial pop onslaughts, drums and vocals hooked up to his evil super-oscillator. [Apr 2013, p.89]

Baby 81 finds a band evolving past expectations into a newly intriguing proposition. [Jun 2007, p.101]

Filmic instrumentals ranging in mood from Badalamenti oddness to bright piano etudes and reflective gloom. [Nov 2018, p.96]

Most tracks are sophisticated, jazzy pop songs and ballads about relationships, but the angry young man of yore occasionally peeps over the parapet. [Feb 2008, p.102]

While he's putting love into these rippling, galloping beats, the vocal melodies get a little samey. [Apr 2010, p.103]

Talkin To The Trees is one of these simple pleasures, a port in the storm in these troubled times. [Jul 2025, p.83]

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

Jackson Browne's return after six years feels dutifully dragged out of some deep somnolence, maybe exhaustion. [Nov 2014, p.90]

Treetop Flyers have perhaps wisely chosen to avoid Mumfords' bombastic path for an altogether sunnier route. [Jun 2013, p.88]

Yes, it lacks the ambition of Norton Folgate... but compensates with pop nous. [Dec 2012, p.89]

A likeable troika of covers--Neil Young's Revolution Blues, The Monkees' You Just May Be The One and Sandy Denny's Bushes And Briars--effectively locate Acoustic Dust on the stylistic spectrograph. [Jan 2015, p.98]

Only final track, The Way Our Lives Go, a slowish ballad, counts as a surprising divergence from the template. [Mar 2018, p.95]

A few missteps, but horn-pumped soul-rocker Love Again is a happy return for the Jersey Shore prince. [Aug 2019, p.98]

The LP is a little crammed. [Nov 2020, p.82]

After nine songs averaging under four minutes, Moore closes with The Realization, 10 minutes of converging light and dark, and one of the finest piece of music that he has put his name to. [Apr 2022, p.84]

Occasionally slight and throwaway, everything here is nevertheless fun. [Jun 2024, p.87]

There's much to applaud about Bow To Love as Campbell targets toxic masculinity (Everything Falls Apart) and the distancing, dehumanising aspects of social media (4316), but you sometimes feel only the shallows od her rhyming dictionary are being plumbed. [Jun 2024, p.82]

It's accompanied with a swing and a fingerclick all Waterhouse's own and could turn out to be the soul album of 2012. [Jun 2012, p.88]

Profound? Hardly. Fun? Indubitably. [Jan 2013, p.93]

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

Another epically conceived record from a cult hero who should be slaying arenas. [Oct 2015, p.95]

A triumph, possessing a universal appeal that extends beyond the dancefloor straight to the heart. [Sep 2001, p.100]

This is an album of winsome alt country charm, like a pleasant cousin of Ryan Adams. [Feb 2004, p.98]

Sadly, their steadfast refusal to engage the emotions is irritating and alienating. [Feb 2001, p.95]

An album of relentless, aching beauty. [Mar 2003, p.96]

An eccentric, genre-hopping tribute to the mutability of song-craft. [Mar 2002, p.101]

Johns has finally learned how to cull from his influences without plagiarising them. [Sep 2002, p.95]

The focus remains upon Lightbody's gauche romantic vignettes; nirvana for those who believe the world could usefully sustain a second Lou Barlow, but over an album's duration akin to persistent immersion in lukewarm herbal tea. [Sep 2002, p.104]

Plenty of smokey psychedelia, country-rockin' fun and damn fine tunes. [Oct 2003, p.122]

It's sex music for oddballs. [Sep 2012, p.89]

This is intended to be the lighter of the two albums although the stylistic differences aren't great. [Jun 2017, p.91]

At their indie-disco feyest they can elicit comparisons with Hot Chip, but Lightbulbs trips the dark fantastic in its own deadpan style. [Sep 2008, p.110]

It's a shame Eisold has lost some of individuality, but you can't fault him for hook-fueled momentum. [May 2011, p.110]

The quintet's first bona fide album in five years, perhaps acknowledges the baton passing, as does an absence of post-rock tropes. [Jul 2009, p.97]

On Bella, Thompson is once again in the crossfire of a stop-start relationship. [March 2011, p. 109]

The shimmering finger-picking and angelic backing vocals of Old Pine build a cosy fireside vibe, but elsewhere the upbeat hoedowns are less impressive. [Nov 2011, p. 92]

Tastefully gauzy production elevates Indian-based KK's indie-psych pop second. [Mar 2020, p.96]

The group have been honing their craft for over 20 years and all their trademarks can be found here. [Jun 2018, p.96]

The truth is, her lion's mane voice is best suited to expressing thick-browed emotions like paranoia or picking at the carcass of a long dead relationship. [Apr 2014, p.94]

Fans of mavericks like Mark Stewart, and indeed Mr. Van Vilet, should investigate. [Feb 2009, p.109]

Most compelling on the looser, less slick numbers. [Aug 2014, p.96]

1991's indie strivers and success stories, over three nugget-selected discs. [Mar 2022, p.98]

[Moon Duo] channels Velvets fuzz-rock through Spacemen 3 drone on a psychedelic trip, with wah-wah and lethargic vocal drawl. [Dec 2012, p.96]

The package as a whole doesn't invite repeated listens. [Jan 2017, p.102]

Not exactly left field, but on the right track. [Jun 2012, p.86]

A bit shambolic, then, but Thao has enough charisma to sustain hearing it all in one sitting. [Mar 2013, p.98]

It's a few tracks too long, but it's easy to get lost in its smoked-out haze. [Apr 2005, p.89]

There are several instant classics here. [Oct 2015, p.94]

A familiar narrative, perhaps, but rendered with uniquely mordant wit. [Apr 2017, p.91]

A soaring Here In Spirit joins reincarnation musing Who Am I? at the pinnacle of its daft-genius. [Jan 2020, p.92]

Motorpsycho's commitment to their heavy cause is admirable, but even part-timers will benefit from a day trip through their universe. [May 2026, p.88]

This is The Chemical Brothers at their crowd-pleasing, raucous best. [July 2010]

[Nelson] moves effortlessly from pop country balladry to well-heated Western Swing. [Jul 2012, p.94]

Whitley's is an unconventional neo-soul debut. [Apr 2013, p.98]

Permanent Signal drinks from a similar, if sonically expanded pool [as 2012 debut Strange Weekend]. [Sep 2013, p.94]

Taylor Hawkins indulges his '70s hard rock fantasy. [Jun 2014, p.98]