Top-notch whiteboy radio rock with an eerie inner glow of Manson family sunshine...

Wide, sprawling, often anxious canvases that deliver the same rebel-hearted romanticism, promises of social insurrection, and weary stream-of-consciousness confessionals he's been turning out for years. [Aug 2004, p.89]

Though never dragging its feet, it rarely stretches its creative muscles.

DFA DJ/engineer's gangshow debut. [Oct. 2010, p. 95]

Taken as a whole, it's an arresting step towards the light. [Feb 2013, p.90]

To be fair, Sharpe, a dramatic alter-ego for leader/singer Alex Ebert, does corral a few tunes infectious enough to last the distance on Broadway. [Sep 2009, p.90]

But those with the gumption to take this record on will certainly come out of it knowing they've listened to something, and you can't fault Malone for putting himself out there. [Dec 2009, p. 94]

Their refusal to accept stylistic boundaries when playing songs works well here. But balancing structure and freedom can be like trying to square the circle, and when you record quickly to preserve spontaneity, not everything will be successful. [Aug 2013, p.91]

His vocable chants on You Can't Remain Here and purposefully awkward intoning for Detachment dance on the edge of parody. Yet the baroque sharp-tuned dances he weaves around the gothic gloom-chorales of Wisconsin-raised dark-pop enigma Zola Jesus possess an occult delicate beauty. [May 2016, p.91]

The album's second half-hour wilts, but the first is Temples Excelling as never before. [Jun 2023, p.92]

Though humour abounds, there's also some serious musicianship on display, both from the mercurial Goldblum and his excellent band. [Dec 2018, p.90]

By turns, it's both sublime and downright ridiculous. [Oct 2005, p.116]

Noble concept, but possibly the dumbest clever-clogs album ever made. [Jun 2010, p.98]

The bulk of In Dream is much darker, but no less alluring. [Nov 2015, p.94]

Graham Coxon has left behind his early Jam-meets-Syd-meets-Billy Childish thrashings and his more petulant little-boy-lost vocals, and recorded an album seemingly inspired by Paul Weller's "22 Dreams." [Jun 2009, p.98]

Gentle, reflective, angsty girl'n'guitar fodder that's often more worthy than interesting. [July 2000, p.104]

Here is a pop masterpiece so toe-tapping and huggable that we might just have to rearrange the canon. [Mar 2008, p.106]

Duets with Stevie Nicks and the latest country sensation, Colbie Caillat, lift the proceedings--but the tracks that stand out are those where he sings with more personal reflection. [Jul 2011, p.114

Their comeback is an even more demanding listen. [Dec 2012, p.87]

Overall Anthems is a gutsy carer swerve from Carter who proves himself capable of crooning with swagger. [Mar 2013, p.94]

While there's a sense that Jungle lack the invention of Young Fathers, whose vocals they echo, or Thundercat, whose disaffection they share, For Ever's Sunset Strip soap opera is always compelling. [Nov 2018, p.91]

Its predominantly midtempo, cleverly crafted pop-Americana sounds even more substantial. [Apr 2007, p.97]

Intriguing debut. ... A surfeit of vocals is distracting. [May 2017, p.98]

Overblown and cloying, it destroys any early promise by way of total saccharine overdose. [May 2016, p.86]

Like the second series of their HBO sitcom, from which most of the tracks here are culled,...Freaky feels a little rushed, but there's still plenty to love. [Dec 2009, p. 95]

Gentleman Jack White does his Loretta Lynn production thing for another grand old lady. [Feb. 2011, p. 108]

This is unlikely to expand thier fanbase, but The Mars Volta are making music built to last. [Feb 2008, p.113]

New York's post-punkers are mooder than ever. [Oct. 2010, p. 90]

Zig Zaj corrals its celebrity cameos within a strictly ring-fenced aesthetic. [Oct 2011, p.98]

By turns whimsical, self-deprecating and humorous. [Oct 2015, p.93]

The keening askance of his voice, celestial choirs and brittle hesitation of his guitar all speak of terrible demons exorcised, and when that all comes together on Brother or opener Part One: The End, maybe only Josh T. Pearson can touch his pain. [Aug 2012, p.84]

A close encounter with mortality via the deaths and serious illness of a number of friends and relative infuses the drunken beats, fractured samples and sweet-smelling melodies with a mood of melancholia. [Dec 2013, p.89]

Haze's impetuosity may've harmed Dirty Gold's commercial prospects, but the purity of her intent speaks volumes. [Mar 2014, p.94]

No Tourists may be an open-topped bus ride around a familiar sonic landscape, but it's also a lot of fun. [Dec 2018, p.84]

Unfortunately the reality doesn't quite live up to the concept, because unuually for Squarepusher it isn't quite bonkers enough. [Dec 2008, p.100]

Musically, Stewart's ambition to marry first-album Suicide with Einsturzende Neubauten and latter-day Scott Walker has been realised with aplomb. [Mar 2014, p.95]

In many ways, My Love is an excessive, ludicrous - no, make that brazen, unapologetic - record; vital because it wasn't born out of a painfully self-conscious view of its maker's place in the world.

The whole affair comes off like a desperate bit of trend trawling. [Feb 2004, p.99]

Represents a giant leap backwards. [Nov 2001, p.112]

There are times when their admiration for R.E.M. burns a little too brightly... but overall this marks another step forward. [Mar 2005, p.100]

This is, however, their most mellow, reflective and tempered release yet. [Sep 2009, p.95]

Where 2008's 2 was frazzled and powerful, this one feels soporific, moderate, even a little slight. [Sep 2010 p.94]

Gainsbourg's reedy vocals ... just don't stand up to the rigours of live documentation. [Dec. 2011 p. 98]

Perfect-pitch harmonies and chiming guitars glide through 10 tracks of heartbreaks, make-ups and drunken misadventures disguised as glorious summertime breezes. [Aug 2013, p.91]

She sounds a tad daft masquerading as a feisty Harlem mama on the Pharrell-produced I Can't rely On You, but her uber-gutsy delivery still charms. [Apr 2014, p.90]

This eighth album is very much business as usual. [Dec 2016, p.92]

Jaguwar don't reinvent the wheel, but their propulsive guitar rock intricacies bring all the right deep-sonic thrills. [Feb 2018, p.99]

With the less auspicious intrusions of Petra Haden's '80s rock emoting, and Meyer's cliched whiskey-waffle, it's harder to discern where Williamson's heart lies. [Sep 2018, p.88]

Chilled psych-folk from a surreal world. [Jan 2019, p.92]

The result is an album of eminently listenable sonic frontierism, and Butler's most accessible work in years. [Dec 2018, p.89]

The results sound authentic, melodic '60s girl-pop, if a bit thin. [Feb 2019, p.93]

Has much to recommend it. [Oct 2005, p.101]

I'm Not Bossy, I'm The Boss is simply a remarkable collection of well-made songs. [Sep 2014, p.94]

The album has its moments, but you really couldn't call it the main event. [Jun 2009, p.99]

The strung-out meanderings of Doggy or De Soto De Son veer equally toward indulgent and the cosmic. [Feb 2010, p.112]

It would be easy to write off the album as pastiche but a confessional, honky-tonk-styled "Cigarettes," and the grit Merriweather puts into the immaculately fashioned grooves, show he's more about feel than fashion. [Jul 2009, p.95]

Sheer liquid mayhem. [Dec 2005, p.98]

[A] fractiously funky but resolutely glum return. [Dec 2002, p.108]

Ron in terrific voice; Santana's Latin rock and jazz notes both beautiful and rousing. [Sep 2017, p.96]

Ultimately, The Llamas seem like a Heston Blumenthal of sound, stimulating through a kind of weird science. [May 2011, p.112]

While impressive in their cinematic scope they can feel a touch superfluous. .[May 2013, p.96]

Amid the jams and Vietnamese trim, neat ideas coalesce. [Dec 2018, p.94]

Like a brand-new gadget, it might look smart but Leisure Seizure's obsolescence is built-in. [July 2011, p. 103]

Develop the creepy incantations into songs and they might really grab some shirtfronts. [Jul 2009, p.107]

The diversity and quality of his songwriting should be even harder to ignore on this second. [Dec 2013, p.84]

Sure, there is a handful of magic that could cause significant flame damage to a dancefloor somewhere, but, beyond that, Jessica 6's toil to sculpt killer from filler is an endeavour that only occasionally pays off.

You can fully imagine The Leisure Society penning another hart-rendering minor classic sooner or later. But for the moment, the waiting must go on. [May 2013, p.88]

A genteel album, more for mellow reflection than dancing on ceilings. [May 2015, p.93]

More quirks and rough edges would have added tot he thrill, but this is nonetheless a heart-warming set from a cultural treasure. [Aug 2018, p.88]

More attention seems to have been paid to assembling the cast than finding something for them to record. [Dec 2004, p.98]

If their creative missteps in the past two decades have generally been caused by their twin determinations to keep up with modern pop and relentlessly pursue music that works in stadia, then here they’ve cut themselves free from all of that. Ultimately, it may be a watershed moment. By stripping it all back down, in some ways, they’re bigger. [Apr 2023, p.84]

Familial is an acoustically plucked, feet-on-the-ground record, Selway's fragile and inviting voice a delightful match for his slightly anxious, if misplaced, self-doubt. [Sep 2010, p.98]

Always Tomorrow sounds like a last laugh - elegantly modulated, slightly hollow. [Apr 2020, p.88]

Although album five gets back to core values, it retains a subtle sumptuousness. [Apr 2010, p.99]

Ghastly. [Feb 2005, p.102]

Howver uncool, these la's will have loads more hits in '08. [July 2008, p.104]

Their strong suits are Nathan Nicholson's forlorn warble and the pop hooks that pepper quiet melodramatic, minor-chord rock songs like Locked In The Basement. [Mar 2011, p.98]

Despite a few bright spots--a Beach boys-style makeover of I Got Rhythm and a swooning I Loves You Porgy--the album falls short of either artist's legacy. [Sep 2010, p.93]

A quirkier affair than their previous works.

Disappoints big time. [Oct 2003, p.110]

The other 48 selections feel forced or too like karaoke homework. [Oct 2021, p.92]

Quality control slumps toward the end, but when they're good the're grrreat. [Nov 2004, p.110]

EAR PWR have concocted a gorgeous chillwave gem. [Jul 2011, p.115]

The crystalline vocals hint at either uplifting profundity or overblown pomposity--it's hard to say which. [Mar 2013, p.98]

The Peth prove they're no mere cracked actors. [Oct 2008, p.110]

A doldorous racket. [Dec 2013, p.86]

Motorcade Amnesiacs feels stifling, overbearing, all too wrapped up in its own perceived cleverness for the listener to really warm to. [Jun 2015, p.92]

Strong, tub-thumping songwriters fall prey to Nashville cliche. [Dec 2018, p.94]

Despite the Vegas veneer, there's an underlying punk energy, like a cocktail dress with a tattoo at the neckline, a combined act of tribute and subversion. [Feb 2019, p.84]

In essence a tonic, The Medicine Show is a little bit more of what the world need now. [May 2019, p.93]

This retreat to classical roots is soothing, if a little one-note. [Jul 2020, p.88]

Frankly this sort of thing makes Athlete, Snow Patrol et al sound like fire-breathing berserkers. [Oct 2005, p.102]

For all its ambitious and admirable wilfulness, the sound of Casablancas playing in his sandpit is still an acquired taste. [Nov 2014, p.94]

Whereas Eno's purest ambient music has such an organic abstractness the listener stops thinking about what is actually producing the sounds, Lanois favours guitars, which links his music more to established styles. [Jul 2005, p.110]

Ghostly lullabies from the Birmingham, Alabama two. [Jan. 2011, p. 105]

The 13 eco-friendly songs from across his career are augmented to varying degrees by nature sounds: rain, thunder, frogs, horses, ducks, crickets, chickens and several critters I can't identify. Sometimes intrusive but they're often atmospheric. [Aug 2016, p.90]

Songs that any liberal-minded Cat Stevens fan will adore. [Dec 2006, p.120]

[Amy Winehouse had] something compelling, human and wonderful, and it surfaces just enough on this compilation to make it worthy of her name. [Jan 2012, p.91]