Lustman's been musing on the conflict between the intimate, solo nature of his music making and the shared listening experience of his audience on dancefloors. Lustman's solution is the intimate, expansive Heaven Is for Quitters. [Dec 2016, p.93]

The music draws on '70s fusion, post-rock and free jazz, and throughout McCaslin's sax expresses boldness, anger, beauty, joy. [Nov 2016, p.92]

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

NxWorries spread their undoubted talents thinly across an offering several chillies shy of the full enchilada. [Dec 2016, p.93]

Their music palette may be limited but their style knows no bound. [Dec 2016, p.92]

Played with a straight face rather than a raised eyebrow, the whole thing is a gas. [Dec 2016, p.92]

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]

It's all as subtle as a flurry of punches in the face, but utterly uplifting. [Dec 2016, p.92]

It is striking how old school and immediate it sounds. [Dec 2016, p.90]

It's a giddy, breathless swirl of different sounds and styles. [Dec 2016, p.91]

It's clear that The Pop Group are back in full swing. [Dec 2016, p.90]

With barbed lyrics and messy, thrumming guitars a Honeyblood speciality, things never get overly pretty on thes 11 tales of "horror, lust and laughs," while new Honeyblood drummer Cat Myers, successor to Shona McVicar, has bedded-in nicely. [Dec 2016, p.90]

One of this unlikely old master's most hauntingly satisfying works. [Dec 2016, p.90]

Walls is not a lovable album but if Kings Of Leon would rather be taken seriously these days, instead of simply being adored, they have put down a solid foundation. [Dec 2016, p.89]

In their hands, [a cover of Nina Simone's Assignment Song is] a hypnotic wonderwall of sound. [Dec 2016, p.89]

While they haven't suddenly become a different proposition, they are exploring structure and metre. [Dec 2016, p.88]

FLOTUS is highly processed, highly textured--and yet for the most part, it sounds surprisingly natural and unforced. [Dec 2016, p.86]

A Henry Rollins cameo in the title track is tantalising: were he a constant presence, this set would really spark. [Nov 2016, p.96]

On the minus side, The False Foundation lacks an overarching character, so plays out like a soundtrack or compilation. [Nov 2016, p.89]

The Shaggs couldn't play, they could barely sing and their songs are rudimentary, but you won't hear many records with such heartfelt authenticity of feeling. [Oct 2016, p.107]

Ramones is pretty much perfect. [Sep 2016, p.102]

The shared predilection for sub-Saharan styles is implicit, if not obscure, across Let It Be You's 10, expansively produced essays. [Nov 2016, p.89]

There's no difficult second album syndrome for laconi-pop crew Hooton Tennis Club. [Nov 2016, p.78]

Syd Arthur still dabble in jazz, folk, Krautrock and saucer-eyed psychedelia, but Apricity is a notable leap forward, even from 2014’s excellent Sound Mirror.

An impressive emotional ebb and flow on this heart-swelling debut solo effort. [Nov 2016, p.96]

There are mimics here but actually surprising few for a tribute. The best salutes to the famously fragile songwriter reincarnate his work in new guises. [Nov 2016, p.87]

This is an opaque and quietly intense missive. [Nov 2016, p.86]

Even if it's not quite the Pretenders, it's good to have Chrissy Hynde back. [Nov 2016, p.86]