The songs remain sweet and sad, delicately picked folk foregrounding a serene voice. [Aug 2017, p.97]

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]

Born on a Gangster Star is the more accessible volume. ... The result is a thrilling excursion, possessing an otherworldly ambience and substance you'll spend months decoding, every spin yielding something new. [Aug 2017, p.88]

Amid all these tribulations, Toro Y Moi still quarries a few gems. [Aug 2017, p.89]

Sparkling banjos arpeggios; freak-out saxophjone; John Parish's inventive production; a wealth og strong, beautifully-enunciated vocal melodies--tons has gone into the latest work from Kate Stables, aka This Is The Kit, and all of it is good. [Aug 2017, p.91]

A record that exudes the glee and relief of emotional recovery. [Aug 2017, p.93]

Bluesman's solid soul and guitar chops fit snugly with Hi band. [Aug 2017, p.97]

Every Valley is timely and useful. [Aug 2017, p.89]

For the most part, Haim remain drive-time ear candy, undeniably slick and effervescent. [Aug 2017, p.88]

2017's TLC are clearly more comfortable reminiscing, making their good-natured fifth less futureshock, more time machine. [Aug 2017, p.89]

Winter Woma is something of a throwback but all the better for that. [Aug 2017, p.95]

Immersive, but not entirely absorbing. [Aug 2017, p.91]

As ever, though, their sheer weight in numbers often becomes overbearing. ... Yet, while their palpable urgency is frequently dissipated in the splurge, Hug Of Thunder's peaks are sky-scraping, indeed. [Aug 2017, p.88]

A storyteller in the grand tradition, with the instrumental skills and a crack band. These songs tell her story, of a hard-lived life, of love won then lost. [Aug 2017, p.

A consummately composed lesson in narrative songcraft, which tugs on the heartstrings as it sails into the sunset with Take Me Home. [Aug 2017, p.86]

Here, solid collaborative vibes in the wake of all that life trauma make for rousing, edge-of-collapse rock action. [Aug 2017, p.89]

There are some lovely moments. ... But ultimately, the impossible ambition of Planetarium looms over every single moment. [Aug 2017, p.89]

This ragged, feverish concoction, fortified by choppy-bar-band tropes as Sensor mirrors Paul Westerberg's disillusioned bonhomie. [Aug 2017, p.90]

Throughout Ribbons, you feel Adam's guitars as much as hear them, his use of drones, volume swells and Eastern-flavoured trickery taking us deep into the mystic. [Aug 2017, p.91]

The results are largely sublime. [Aug 2017, p.91]

A humane and typically eclectic affair with winning flashes of eccentricity. [Aug 2017, p.92]

Her relaxed experimentation is more inviting than hearing Longstreth grind his axe. [Aug 2017, p.92]

Powerplant sees Girlpool's naif-pop mature into a brittle, unpredictable, subterranean pop that recalls Pod-era Breeders. [Aug 2017, p.92]

The gift of such unadorned recordings--no attempt to conceal the hoarseness in closer Sky Blue Sky, for instance--is the proximity to the singer and his songs. [Aug 2017, p.93]

So You Wannabe An Outlaw may be one of his very good, rather than great albums, but it's truly wonderful to hear him having such fun making it. [Aug 2017, p.93]

The record increasingly drifts into hazy, slo-mo dream-pop, which inescapably pales besides the bolder tracks upfront. [Aug 2017, p.94]

[Moyet] sounds notably energised throughout this second electronic pop outing. [Aug 2017, p.94]

The music is charming, if a little simplistic at times. [Aug 2017, p.94]