There's even hit-single potential--'Feathers' is unabashed radio-rock--that could make this weird bunch into the biggest cult band in the world. [Dec 2007, p.109]

Unsurprisingly for a 2D project, it's all a little flat. [Dec 2007, p.121]

Coming of age delayed for guile-free pop star. [May 2010, p. 95]

File under 'brilliantly out-there.' [Oct 2008, p.110]

While a smidgen of originality wouldn't go amiss, there's plenty to compensate for it in the way of exuberance and humour. [Feb 2019, p.88]

Johnson considers the world's woes with gentle reflection rather than recrimnation, along the way hoping to illuminate his son's path to finding his own truth. [July 2010]

What makes everything tick is Berman's plausibly gooey hooks, matched by guitars sparkling like diamante--just the ticket for shiny, happy people. [Jul 2014, p.95]

The group's fourth album confirms that their default setting is a bit four-square nuts-and-bolts punk pop. [Jun 2012, p.92]

A lesser work compared to, say, 2008's Nude With Boots, Tres Cabrones nevertheless stomps with enough sulphurous, slothful might to satisfy the faithful. [Jan 2014, p.102]

[CD1's] uproar casts most of CD2's over-delicate maunderings in a wan light. [Apr 2006, p.102]

The idea remains more brilliant than the performance can hope to be; because Wainwright is very good but Judy ia unassailable. [Feb 2008, p.98]

Here's a concept Tori: less is more. [Jun 2007, p.108]

Truly cinematic and imbued with humour and pathos, popcorn not included. [Apr 2013, p.94]

This, one, in its place [Pixies reunion], is fresh and really rather fab. [Mar 2009, p.106]

This is a triumph of achingly beautiful pop protest music. [Jun 2017, p.94]

The Menace is a far more varied and ambitious LP than the first and, one suspects, than the Elastica album we'd have got four or three years ago. A very pleasant surprise.

Easy listening with just enough unease to tease. [Nov 2003, p.125]

We could probably live without at least one of the three lengthy, slightly prosaic tracks that tail-end proceedings, but stand-outs Cup Of Coffee and Androgyny more than compensate. [Nov 2001, p.116]

As ever, this is a very knowing and authentic nod to retro chic, but one which occasionally crosses the line between infectious and neve-jangling pop, with just a little more style than content. [Jan 2001, p.94]

It's their talent for great hooks, that gets you in the end. [Aug 2009, p.99]

Beautiful, minimal and bewitching, it is both another reason to hate Peter Broderick and another reason to admire him. [Aug 2009, p.102]

It captures their two sides--songs are either rousing with crashing guitars, swirling atmospheres and arresting climaxes or empyrean, indie introspective ballads. [May 2013, p.88]

It's darker and starker, more 4am despair than midnight rendezvous. [Feb 2014, p.97]

One of the most surprising ambient albums of the year. [Aug 2015, p.95]

The ragtime version of Wild World is perhaps a re-imagining too far. ... Father And Son remains monumental and intensely moving, however. [Oct 2020, p.93]

The somnambulant nihilism of his one-trick flow and the risible machismo of choruses quickly wear out SpaceGhostPurrp's welcome. [Aug 2012, p.87]

This brisk, well-crafted follow-up maintains the feeling if a pop band masquerading as something harder. [Mar 2012, p.102]

Total Depravity strives to add something new to the mix but Andrews' habitual preoccupations keep The Veils from moving forward. [Sep 2016, p.96]

An ass-shaking blend of disco, house, '80s pop with apparent self-awareness. [Oct 2019, p.92]

Peyroux's best work may happen beyond the perimeter of her comfort zone. [Aug. 2011, p. 96]

He sometimes gets it right: the rare restraint of Positively 4th Street and Gates Of Eden hints at the fine album this might have been had Ferry and co given us more Dylan and less esque. [Apr 2007, p.108]

Sounding this simple is not always easy and for fans of pop with depth, Pete & The Pirates are a treat. [Jun 2011, p.100]

Broken Brights is like a stroll along the beach at dusk; reflective, intimate, nostalgic and yet full of tomorrow's promise. [Aug 2012, p.92]

Heartstrings is a succinct outing that charms. [Jul 2014, p.86]

Simplicity rules throughout and the material doesn't stray far from folk roots, yet always sounds contemporary. [Dec 2015, p.92]

Mirage rock's persistent melodies and infectious energy is hard to resist. [Oct 2012, p.87]

Tracks that will keep you waiting forever for the drop still have a corporeal appeal. [Jul 2015, p.94]

So Divided is less pompous, but the dynamic likes of Naked Sun and Stand In Silence barely atone for hamfisted stabs at chamber pop, country and The Cure. [Dec 2006, p.108]

It's mighty good. [Jun 2015, p.93]

She's simply not being fed the right material, or getting to work with a sympathetic producer. Hudson is a soul singer not a modern R'n'B one. [Jun 2011, p.104]

It's a beautifully recorded and unmistakably classy outing that resonates deeply. [Feb 2018, p.95]

The blend of Moulds old and new is highly successful. [Aug 2005, p.100]

This improbably excellent debut album eschews the studied blankness of many of that race's [psych revivals] current front-runners in favour of a playful yet intense engagement with psychedelic rock traditions. [Sep 2013, p.95]

There's little point in denying trip-hop's influence here--the bass on Yr Olaf is undiluted Massive attack-- yet Lisa Jen's vocals and Martin Hoyland's gitar create an eerie reverie all of their own. [Jun 2016, p.90]

Four decades and eight albums in, however, their own status as much cherished melody makers seems perfectly secure. [Jul 2016, p.93]

The pace down Mark Knopfler's latest road is steady and unruffled, like a 72-minute walk around a familiar locale--reassuring but rather lacking in excitement. [Dec 2018, p.87]

Regularly transcend mere pastiche. [Apr 2020, p.86]

It's a pity Parton has retreated into much safer and predictable territory. [May 2022, p.86]

The 6ft 5in, broad-shouldered Gibson finally sounds the part. [Jul 2015, p.90]

A triumph in thematic/aural juxtaposition, Come Ahead is up there with Primal Scream’s best. [Dec 2024, p.92]

Stirring but sombre stuff. [Aug 2004, p.86]

For every song that reacts against the last album, another chimes perfectly with its mood of epic redemption. [Sep 2003, p.101]

Heathen is a fine restatement of classic Bowie elements with contemporary twists. [July 2002, p.110]

There's less jamming than on earlier NMA releases, more insistence on songwriting. [Jul 2011, p.108]

Although California-based, her echoey swamp sound encompassing bottleneck guitars and cellos recalls the friendly/eerie seductions of Bobbie Gentry or Emmylou Harris's Wrecking Ball. [Mar 2013, p.90]

Occasionally, the histrionics and faux-biblical warnings of this guitar-drum duo tread a fine Spinal Tap line, but they do its majestically they can only be admired. [Mar 2015, p.95]

Much of Why Are You OK may be lush and beautiful, but there are too many rambling tracks to put it up with Bridwell's best. [Jul 2016, p.95]

Their star-kissed analogue sprawl and beautiful singing revitalise tired classic rock moves. [Mar 2009, p.107]

At once brooding and beautiful. [Jun 2018, p.97]

While there's an invigorating charm to Blue Songs, you're left concluding that it lacks its predecessor's USP. [Feb 2011, p.108]

For his fourth album, which fuses poo, techno and retro-futuristic disco with deftness, direction and a thick slice of humour. [Feb 2017, p.95]

An undeniably enjoyable career-twilight collection. [Sep 2023, p.82]

Jamaica Queen;s potty-mouth hits rap home run on brutally enjoyable debut. [Feb. 2011, p. 105]

Imaginative, derivative and warped. [Nov 2016, p.93]

An album of miasmic, trippy electro-pop, heavy krautrock rhythms and sinuous digital funk. [Sep 2017, p.93]

The kind of space-occupying Krautrock klang that suddenly fills you with the urge to set up an underground magazine and get the brown rice ready for dinner. [Jan 2018, p.88]

Politically astute, philosophical and profound, Ty's comeback is a tad too long, but only because he cares. [Apr 2018, p.92]

The odd sappy lyric is mediated by a resonant Jim James-ish baritone. [Oct 2020, p.94]

The results are patchy. [Sep 2017, p.92]

Rocks and then rocks harder, launching wave after wave of vicious punk hooks. [Jul 2005, p.106]

The duo's valiant attempt to circumvent the buzz-kill of pre-meditation can only take them so far, however, and Arthur Buck is not without the odd dud. [Jul 2018, p.89]

This 18-song miscellany reminds us that talent loves the company of talent, one-off duets with Ray Charles and Dolly Parton underlining Jones's seemingly effortless ascent to premier league status. [Jan. 2011, p. 97]

Results vary, froma plodding, Kasbian-like 'Deeripper' to the charmingly labyrinthine 'Headdress,' which is so fresh it feels like the genuine article. [Jul 2009, p.96]

Occasionally self-indulgence threatens, but no matter; there is an undeniable musical hunger and pioneering spirit at work here. [Apr 2006, p.101]

A bold step forward. [Nov 2011, p.98]

The melodies are so lush and the arrangements so stylish that you can't deny them. [Jun 2005, p.105]

There are a few weak links... but there's a melodic buoyancy here. [Mar 2005, p.106]

Straight and true, without a trace of rear-view-mirror sentimentality. [Nov 2014, p.92]

Most of the songs are observations from an emotional distance. [Jun 2018, p.96]

Breathtaking moments, brilliant tunes, and Breakdown, a genuinely Beatles-league pop hit. [Nov 2004, p.114]

They're a group that believes in a thing called love. Happily, however, they don't believe in a thing called restraint. [Dec 2005, p.98]

Joni Mitchell's voice these days is as complex and adult as bourbon whiskey. [Dec 2002, p.116]

An amibitious record. [Dec 2003, p.113]

This is an enthusiastic hymn to the terminally uncool. [May 2004, p.106]

North radiates a humanity that wasn't altogether apparent on, say, The Juliet Letters or When I Was Cruel. [Oct 2003, p.104]

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

There's little original in the likes of 'Psychosocial' 'Snuff' or "All Hope is Gone,' but the bludgeoning guitars are crisp, the overload of percussion suitably crunchy and a sense of bravura and commitment that's lacking in many of today's metal bands runs throughout. [Nov 2008, p.118]

The vocals are mostly too downmix, the lyrics too inaudible or too banal. [Apr 2011, p.101]

There's taut New Wave (Tiny Moves; Jesus Is Dead), but mainly moody electronic balladry (think Streets Of Philadelphia), with Del Rey turning up to fulfil the intend of her one repeated line ("I'll make it darker") on Alma Mater. [Jun 2024, p.82]

Knitting it all together, Lustman pens some melodic vignettes of considerable beauty. [Aug 2014, p.91]

A preposterous, highly-entertaining return. [Apr 2005, p.104]

Herren never lets his music become too easy-going or the listener too settled. [Mar 2006, p.108]

Tremulous covers from the '60s, '70s, US Westerns and beyond. [Jan 2018, p.93]

This just might be their best work in 25 years. [Jan 2013, p.92]

The best new tracks' confidence boosts the band's emotional clout. [Oct 2019, p.88]

Occasionally, the vaulting arrangements threaten to overwhelm what is a naturally lower-case singing voice, but the ambition here cannot be faulted. [Apr 2023, p.85]

Soft Hair's hypnagogic funk and soft-pop mystery is perverse and baffling. [Dec 2016, p.94]

Where Kloot's self-titled second had moments of glowing, maximalist production, here the sound is pared back. [May 2005, p.106]