'Of Raymond' one exquisite lick of brass sends out enough light to illuminate the whole record. [Nov 2008, p.106]

It is his most facinating, and bewildering, record to date. [Jan 2008, p.104]

The best tracks see the pair sparring over hymnal slow-burners that feature contributions from Neil Young, Brian Wilson, and Booker T. [Dec 2010, p.108]

The Manticore Tapes constitute an alternative history showing just how potent early Motörhead really were. [Aug 2025, p.92]

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]

They still sing some parts in unison, but here their voices are arranged more imaginatively. [May 2014, p.89]

Regardless of these felicitous connections, however, Hoop remains her own invention and the appeal of her biographical details doesn't lie so much in the glitzy endorsement of Waits as in the fact they chime so perfectly with her melding of Kat Bush sensuality and Mary Poppins whimsy. [Dec 2009, p. 95]

A ghosts' convention set to music. [Nov 2003, p.130]

This has wit in spades, an irrepressible love of language and genuine originality. [Oct 2004, p.110]

The six lengthy meditations here refine the formula. [Jan 2023, p.84]

Fluttering, arpeggiated melodies, ice-crisp percussion and muscular beats mean tracks like Ya Po kick hard and linger long on the palette. [May 2014, p.93]

It's astonishing how, despite his 32 instrumental credits and 20 guests, it still sounds dustbowl-empty, as if these were missives from The Great Depression, time-wise and spiritually. [Aug 2015, p.93]

Blending gargantuan, rack-stretched riffs with corrupted kosmische synth drones, spectral vocals and unyielding, relentless drums, the alchemical result [Oro: Opus Primus] is the heaviest form of psyche-doom space rock. [Jul 2012, p.85]

Chris is an imposing structure, one likely to dominate 2018's skyline. There are, however, still heights left to hit. [Oct 2018, p.89]

Profligate, self-indulgent and, against all oddly, hugely satisfying. ... [The single-disc] Sampler Edition is a handy 58-minute entry point to the mad endeavour. [Dec 2019, p.90]

Onstage his confidence was sky-high, his command total, much as it was in the studio. [Dec 2016, p.105]

The band's most persuasive album. [Feb 2006, p.92]

All this ambitioin coagulates into an irresistible, tumbling, tune-filled whole. [Dec 2006, p.118]

Throughout, Susman's serene croon delivers tantalising oblique images - "We'll talk a different language eventually/Shape every disaster carefully" (Mediocre Demon) - which add more layers to an already rich hue. [May 2026, p.88]

That he is reunited with producer Mitchell Froom only partly accounts for the likeness this album shares with his '90s work. [Jun 2006, p.111]

Throughout, frontman Stuart Murdoch's succinct dramas are typically populated by vulnerable dreamers and seekers, some still Young And Stupid (the opening track), others a reflection of how his Christian beliefs embrace the tenets of Buddhism. [Jun 2022, p.87]

Seesawing between pristine songcraft and experimentalism makes for a diverse, satisfying whole. [Apr 2021, p.94]

Connoisseurs of punk's darker corners and post-punk's experimental extremes will have their socks rocked off, totally. [Apr 2007, p.108]

Strange's earnestness is artful, and Farm To Table an uplifting triumph. [Jul 2022, p.88]

[A] luscious layercake of flange and Echoplex. [Jan 2013, p.90]

It's a dream, this pop. [Nov 2011, p.100]

Literate, thoughtful and rhythmic, and with Sullivan unveiling a rich baritone croon, Between Dog And Wolf marks something of a late-in-the-day career high. [Sep 2013, p.88]

Cocoa Sugar is an audacious high-wire act which captures them at a potent peak. [Apr 2018, p.91]