Everywhere Bourne's judicious minimalism proves compelling. [Sep 2017, p.89]

Meredith and David Metcalf craft slow-rolling CA ghost ballads, beguiling end-of-days stories with the same mournful beauty as The Triffids' Born Sandy Devotional. [Oct 2017, p.98]

As ever, Butler weaves these disparate ups and downs without visible joins. [Sep 2017, p.91]

A couple of cracking originals of his own and beautiful production. You have to doff your cap. [Oct 2017, p.95]

The sumptuous How Soon The Dawn and gently rcok'n'rolling I Can Burn shine. [Oct 2017, p.98]

MC Dalek's indignant imagery can be tricky to unpick, yet his barbed lines are hard to dislodge on Weapons And Battlecries. [Oct 2017, p.96]

Powerful to the point of brutality, but affecting. [Oct 2017, p.98]

Just occasionally the jangles get repetitive; sometimes, good things do go on too long. [Oct 2017, p.96]

Tragedy and regret, all captured in beautifully glowering analogue. [Oct 2017, p.93]

The best moments find Deerhoof unadulterated, like the angular tropicalia of Begin Countdown, or drummer Greg Saunier's Prefab Sprout-like Ay That's Me. [Oct 2017, p.94]

Classic OMD tropes are almost overdone on this, their 13th studio album. [Oct 2017, p.88]

Big, brave and laudably odd it is, then. [Oct 2017, p.93]

American Dream feels like a strong re-statement of what they do, and what they can mean, a record that, despite its fear of death, feels very much alive. [Oct 2017, p.86]

As striking as her career-defining 2010 album, The Brothel. [Sep 2017, p.92]

This is vaulting, widescreen soundscaping of the first water. [Oct 2017, p.92]

[His bathroom's] natural reverb add a wobbly-otherworldly feel. [Sep 2017, p.96]

This new material finds them in [a] more experimental mode. [Oct 2017, p.90]

Strong synth tunes and beats, bristling with vocal angst. [Oct 2017, p.98]

Gogol Bordello's passport-abusing, transcontinental musical journeying occasionally feels like being faced with an over-ambitious tapas plate. [Oct 2017, p.96]

Hippopotamus is never anything less than wildly entertaining. [Oct 2017, p.88]

At times, it recalls the late-'60s acid blues experiments on Leigh Stephens' Red Weather and Peter Green's The End Of The Game but with a shimmering summer optimism and textural complexity all MacKay's own. [Oct 2017, p.92]

The once-lairy Scots' high-volume potency remains beyond question. [Oct 2017, p.92]

Scum is a joyous mash-up of cheap beats, precinct-loitering aggro punk and youthful vim; it's by no means a classic, but you suspect Cardy may well have one in him soon. [Oct 2017, p.94]

Invitations rushes of feeling are rich and real. Filthy Friends are a genuine supergroup surprise. [Oct 2017, p.96]

Clever, unflinching, experimental and catchy. [Oct 2017, p.98]

Her more organic songs stand out melodically amid layers of modern production mulch. [Sep 2017, p.96]

Holiday Destination needs to be uncomfortable and it is, a beautifully realised disturbance of any remaining peace. [Sep 2017, p.92]

Dwyer's crew are oft-cited as the world's most exciting live rock band; they're also making some of its most exciting rock records. [Sep 2017, p.93]