It doesn't all work; but when it does, it's wonderfully widescreen. [Jun 2018, p.96]

Relying on her exquisitely malleable voice, slickly inventive production tics, and winning vocal support from south London's Sampha and Tanzania's Diamond Platnumz, among others. [Nov 2020, p.80]

Faun Fables do gothic folk with admirable vigour and this is incontrovertible force of nature. [Jan 2011, p.104]

The Last Shadow Puppets is an extraordinary side project that's even more enticing than the mothership. [May 2008, p.100]

The 13 numbers they've chosen are sung with respect and restraint. And beautifully. [Mar 2013, p.96]

There are moments where the duo sounds unfortunately like Muse. Yet for the largest part, this collection of tightly wound, riff-oriented rock makes for an exciting debut. [Oct 2014, p.90]

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

The Belair Lip Bombs exude the simple joy of being in a band, breezing out of your speakers without affectation. [Dec 2025, p.82]

Evoking cinematic cliches is almost unavoidable on a mutant, spirited debut whose diversity is its greatest asset. [Mar 2014, p.95]

[James Jackson Toth] fleshes out more whiskey-warmed, heart-sore folk with flashes of humour. [Feb 2013, p.98]

[An] intriguing debut. [Sep 2005, p.103]

This is a truly freeflowing masterpiece that stands shoulder to shoulder with Mos Def's 'Black On Both Sides.'

A quirky yet coherent whole. [May 2002, p.97]

If rock'n'roll is supposed to be dying, then these are exactly the guys we want manning the emergency room. [Aug 2001, p.98]

For every aching melodic twist and sagacious lyric, there's a lumpy, sub-Beach Boys dirge and dicing-with-doggerel couplet to negotiate. [Mar 2003, p.103]

Their patchwork approach to psychedelia recalls the shoestring ingenuity of cult mid-'90s act Neutral Milk Hotel. [Jan 2005, p.104]

Rivers is a record that will haunt you long after you've heard it. [Sep 2010, p.99]

The next must-have pastoral American sensation, from Oklahoma.[Sep 2011, p.97]

The trio blow out the cobwebs with their relentless blasts of heavy metal sax/bass/drums power. [Feb 2014, p.98]

We Move is warm, slick and modernist. [Oct 2016, p.96]

It's their slickest yet. [Feb 2012, p.99]

Among many highlights, the best and brightest is the Guided By Voices-do-Status Quo elation of Box Batteries, an elegy for youth designed to live forever. [Jun 2015, p.88]

Haunting, unsettling hybrid. [Jul 2020, p.83]

The occasional slo-mo reverb-guitar twang, and on The Answers To The Questions a weary beatbox, cap off a supremely unsettling update on Lynchian pop weirdness. [Sep 2024, p.92]

He transforms the bi-hearted bop of randy Weston's Little Niles into a plaintive musical love letter that, like much of what surrounds it, demands repeated listens. [May 2011, p.108]

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]

This is a very organic, modern album. And it's brilliant. [Mar 2014, p.93]

Negrito transcends his influences to create a new kind of hip, gritty, thought-provoking urban musical currency. [Sep 2020, p.83]