While Anastasis is typified by lengthy songs and sometimes rather ponderous beats, Gerald is in her element on Kiko. [Sep 2012, p.95]

Further evidence who believe Coxon is the most creatively restless member of Blur. [Aug 2001, p.98]

A welcome departure. [Jun 2004, p.114]

As overdriven and mutated a noise as ever they've managed, Damage also retains Blues Explosion's trademark sweat-drenched feel for soul. [Oct 2004, p.101]

There's much to be enjoyed here, but The Concretes, like a packet of Fruit Pastels, are best appreciated in fairly small doses. [Apr 2006, p.108]

Efrim Menuck's off-key wail remains an acquired taste, but there's undeniable collective commitment. [Apr 2008, p.112]

Even while eschewing the much-loved spacey dub demo interludes of earlier releases for a kind of metaphysical hard rock, all but one of these tracks are worthy additions to a now capacious legacy. [Jun 2015, p.90]

California Nights comes over like a dreamier take on Hole's Celebrity Skin or a souped-up. digitally-produced Go-Go's. [Jun 2015, p.86]

Moon ultimately suffers from a surfeit of wistful syrup. [Feb 2014, p.95]

A record to give reigning empress of dancefloor diversity Roisin Murphy a run for her hard earned. [Jul 2016, p.95]

With shade and contrast added to the anthems, the songs emerge from a brooding, often restrained darkness so when Fray and co click into euphoric chorus gear they genuinely soar. [Dec 2016, p.92]

No Further Ahead Than Today's 10 chromium-smooth synth-pop essays are so meticulously, lavishly and mellifluously constructed that listening to them is like being dosed up with dopamine. [Jan 2017, p.96]

There are tidings aplenty, but little comfort and even less joy. [Feb 2017, p.97]

It's tasteful and meticulous throughout, but the longer, more adventurously songs exert a greater grip on the imagination. [Oct 2019, p.91]

Sure, these blues are familiar, but at least these friends make 'em fun. [Aug 2023, p.82]

For all their organic methods, these Animals often come across so robotic and constricted--witness natural Selection's echoes of woozy Chicago house classic Washing machine--stripping those painstaking vocal arrangements of their humanity. [Mar 2016, p.94]

Hearts is meta-shoegazing, a melody-driven dive into mist, where focus is difficult. [Sept. 2011, p. 97]

Scratch beneath the glossy surface of Torches and beneath the gurgles, stutters and hands-aloft choruses lies an album with a disappointing lack of substance. [Aug. 2011, p. 94]

Fascinatingly oblique songs are plaed with confidence and laid-back precision, rather than smothered by a desperation to impress. [Mar 2005, p.96]

The band sound like they're striding into the mainstream, leaving Desveaux sounding more of a sweet, upbeat pop-rock songstress than she should. [Apr 2009, p.109]

There are gothy antecedents here – Baby Blue Movie sounds like the ’80s Cure over-medicated in the Hollywood Hills – and if it sustains a certain moodiness, X’s adheres to a tonally one-note atmosphere. [Aug 2024, p.82]

Only Johann Johansson's airy decanting of Protest and two movements from chamber music Glassworks really tap Glass's sublime essence. [Dec 2012, p.88]

There's no hallmark of originality or pushing envelopes, nor any sense of collaboration between two distinct talents creating more than a sum of their parts. [Apr 2012, p.94]

The disc as a whole is never quite as gripping as its conceptual predecessors. [Jun 2006, p.112]

Instrumental rhythms and all manner of sound effects are used to colour in these morbidly compelling stories. [Apr 2017, p.90]

Like Weimar cabaret Gilbert & Sullivan. [Apr 2006, p.104]

This is SMD's deepest, moodiest record to date. [Jun 2012, p.85]

Old Growth has the primeval, fuzzed-out power of the trio's earlier albums, but with a new clarity and groove. [Mar 2008, p.113]

Krell sounds like ha has taken a step back, seemingly trading his experimentalism for a more traditional blue-eyed soul route. [Jul 2014, p.91]

The live album of the film of his 2014 Scottish road trip reveals Moffat's irreverent take on his nation's folk songs. [May 2016, p.96]

"Back In Back" it ain't, but it's certainly a real return to form. [Nov 2008, p.102]

For every throughly relised composition, there is a meandering fragment, great only as far as it goes. [Nov 2009, p.90]

It's hard not to wish for more. Or maybe less. [Feb 2012, p.95]

It seems that self-examination has taken them to bold, new places. [Apr 2021, p.80]

Ten years from now, someone will stumble across this in a thift shop, buy on a whim and be thrilled. [Sep 2002, p.96]

The arrangemnts are smartly constructed, Campbell's guitar is economical and crisp, and his interpretibve skills and singing are as sharp as during his commercial peak. [Sep 2008, p.112]

[Tallies] inject sufficient Sunday/Cocteaus-ish vocal and melodic bounce to soften even the most calcified indie heart. [Feb 2019, p.93]

Continues to hit the sonic sweet spots. [Jun 2019, p.93]

Recorded in five days in 2008 with Frank Black in Salem, this album makes you realize where all the rage had gone from Back & Forth; it was here. [Mar 2011, p.99]

Nobody's expecting Steve Earle & The Dukes to break new ground, but when they break sweat, Terraplane comes to life. [Mar 2014, p.100]

For scholarly inclined fans, the 1987 demo is a fascinating document. [Nov 2004, p.110]

A pleasingly melodious onrush from which a complete absence of rhythmic funk fails to detract. [May 2009, p.108]

Long gone from Creation is the balancing act between country roots and pop ambition of their earlier albums, leaving a dense, darkly alluring pop where, if you listen closely, you might just hear a kitchen sink or two rattling in the background. [Jul 2014, p.93]

It takes several listens to mentally sync wit its wonky, lurching rhythms. [Jan 2020, p.91]

Those who thought White Ladder would stand as Gray's crowning achievement may now have to think again. [Oct 2005, p.104]

Anyone who blanched at Herrema's strychnine sandpaper vocals won't be seduced by this set, however, and Hagerty only rarely scale the truly sublime heights of harmololdic skronk within his reach. [Jul 2017, p.90]

[A] consistently crafted and stimulating set. [Jun 2005, p.100]

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

A Wonderful Beast occasionally revisits that street-walkin' vibe (When The Weekend Comes Around), but otherwise rises above genre to present this foghorn-voiced alt icon as quality songsmith, amid unprecedentedly high-spec playing and arrangements. [Nov 2018, p.94]

While Khruangbin's own cover of Kool & The Gang's Summer Madness is a technical knock-out, the two-punch combination of Maxwell Udoh's inaptly titled Nigerian disco landmark I Like It (Don't Stop) and David Marez's florid Ensename is distinctly below the belt. [Jan 2021, p.100]

Sweet and to the point. [Mar 2012, p.97]

An album as confrontational and consistent as Public Enemy's Apocalypse '91. [Feb 2002, p.93]

Ecstasy is definitely a Lou Reed record for Lou Reed fans. If you're a happy regular shopper at Lou's Boutique, this one'll fit nicely on the shelf alongside all the others.

A slick, clever and diverse set of populist dance and digi-rock songs. [Nov 2002, p.110]

A decent return, Alice mostly impresses despite the limiting permutations of their angst. [Nov 2009, p.94]

Delightfully chewy collaboration. [Feb 2016, p.90]

It's the kind of inimitably throbbing slice of neo-psychedelic unease they've knocked out with biennial constancy since 1999's Internal Wrangler. [May 2008, p.109]

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

ACR Loco lives up to its title. [Nov 2020, p.83]

Dynamic, packed with vim and hooks. [Jul 2012, p.83]

An enjoyable, if surprisingly safe, collection of roots rock. [Jul 2005, p.102]

Two Gallants make good on their promise with this third LP. [Oct 2007, p.94]

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

The acoustic neo-folk ditties that made his name are deployed in the form of 'Faithfully Remain' and 'Skin Thin,' but the heavy side of Harper makes for a welcome detour. [Jun 2009, p.102]

The one constant is their ability to chill the nape hairs, which ultimately is all that matters. [Apr 2008]

With producer Owen Morris at the controls, Which Bitch? always promised to be a riotous affair. [Mar 2009, p.107]

This set stays faithful to Lennon's melodies - like meeting old friends in unexpected but comfy clothes. [Dec. 2011 p. 99]

Their stylish debut knows a bit about content, too, bolting together [the album's] synthetic surfaces with Vorsprung Durch Technik efficiency, yet unashamed of the messy human heart beneath the shine. [Jul 2012, p.85]

Charmingly eccentric...but spiky too. [Jun 2012, p.92]

The repetitive music loses a little power when you're sitting down listening to a hi-fi. [Aug 2012, p.87]

Consistently engaging. [Nov 2012, p.87]

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

Given such a line-up and a high degree of cohesion not always apparent in similarly stellar offerings, good things should happen. And they do. [Sep 2013, p.90]

At it's best, II packs a winning, sun-scorched lethargy. [Jun 2017, p.88]

Years of sideman work have given Smith a certain world-weariness; that grit makes this newfound joy ring clear as a bell. [Aug 2017, p.93]

It's all imbued with such unhinged energy and genre-skipping abandon that Warmduscher collectively concoct some weird pop voodoo, perhaps best heard on the swampy bastard blues of the title track. [Jul 2018, p.96]

If there's a sense that the material has yet to coalesce to its strongest and most consistent point, there's much that bodes well for High Water II, due in 2019. [Sep 2018, p.86]

The 13 tracks of this marathon double-album offer surprising rewards. [Oct 2020, p.86]

An accomplished study in post-punk boom, synth whoosh and creepy-crawl vocals. [Mar 2022, p.90]

For every peak there's an occasional trough. [May 2022, p.88]

What was initially a singular vision varies intriguingly. ... although ultimately the pick of albums 19 and 20 could have offered something without any filler. [Mar 2023, p.92]

Mostly it's sparse, as a lonesome album should be. [Jan 2026, p.86]

Largely an album of blues covers that isn't terrible just, well, perfunctory. [Apr 2026, p.84]

It's not an ideal entry point into Amos;s unique world. [Nov 2011, p.98]

Sweet Apple rock it up in gonzo mid-'70s style, with lashings of glam and powerpop. [June 2010, p. 93]

Though the record perhaps lacks the one killer tune or irresistibly "come hither" song title that can really get you at it, the swooning Pure Heart, intermittently cinematic We Were One, neat instrumental segue Fata Morgana and sonically startling So Many Nights help flag a unique and fruitful cocktail of influences. [Jun 2016, p.90]

A dense, fervent, riffy drums and electric-guitar driven album. [Nov 2012, p.95]

While there's more than a little influence from early New Order here, one can also hear echoes of Suicide, PiL's Metal Box and the motorik reveries of Cluster. [Jul 2005, p.112]

A romp through Bootsy's former glories, subtly retooling them to sound comfortingly familiar yet not anachronistic. [May 2011, p.106]

Two distinct personalities: Death LP (dark and groovy) and the titular short film soundtrack (disjointed and upsetting). [Aug 2017, p.96]

Woman looks set to keep the leather-clad pair trucking for the foreseeable by bridging the propulsive beats of 2007's sweeping debut with the more baroque, borderline-cheesy prog aesthetic of 2011's Audio, Video, Disco. [Dec 2016, p.89]

Ultimately guided by voices, it peaks on cypher session S Bento MC5, an affectionate homage to A Tribe Called Quest's Scenario. [Jan 2017, p.99]

If lyrics about mushrooms, unicorns and frogs are your jam, Coyne & Co. of course have you covered. The Naked Slaves and Amazon strippers do feel tiredly exploitative. [Feb 2017, p.93]

The Messenger duly wipes the slate clean and bursts with the same efflorescent skills that made Johnny Marr a guitar hero for the generation which had supposedly repudiated such a concept. [Mar 2013, p.90]

Almost everything here sounds pre-designed for drone-shot driving sequences in a slow-burning indie film, but in a very good way. [Dec 2019, p.86]

The quartet's attempt ti create something like The Chemical Brothers' patchwork futurism, it is influenced by frontman Jack Steadman's global travels, but ends up sounding like a bunch of Gap Yah students discovering foreign climes fir the first time and leaning too hard on the console's Arcade Fire 2007 button. [Mar 2014, p.90]

A leaner, more radio-friendly effort. [Sep 2015, p.86]

[Aerosmith's] affection for and facility with the material in hand [is] as plain as the nose on Gerard Depardieu's face. [May 2004, p.106]