If the near Herculean task of sustaining enchantment through 12 instrumentals just occasionally tests Los Bitchos, it's easily forgivable. [Sep 2024, p.92]

Rattle That Lock escapes the weight of legacy and operates in the here and now in a serene triumphant manner. [Oct 2015, p.88]

There is quiet drama here--especially on the gothic crawl of Spiders or Home's extended inner-space walk--but sometimes The Soft Cavalry struggle to project it beyond their own moody boundaries, or to find that extra charge. [Aug 2019, p.92]

Students of the 19080s Brit synth-pop and Gallic cold wave will find Austra a contemporary champion. [Jun 2011, p.97]

As you hit repeat to hear Horehound for the umpteenth time, what's remarkable is that these 11 tunes, with their sonic curveballs and causl vim, suggest that a second Dead Weather LP would be almost as welcome as the White Stripes' seventh. [Jul 2009, p.90]

They've surpassed the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwoood comparisons to create an intense, fluid sound that's uniquely their own. [Sep 2010, p.96]

Too much of My Soft Machine is too smooth by half. [Jun 2023, p.95]

Throughout, she oozes charisma, sophistication and soul. [Jul 2018, p.92]

While the woozy house piano of Mad World, contained dynamics of Mind's Eye and tension-building twists and turns of Oasis are early highlights, RAkei's crying falsetto and brooding croon often carry far too leisurely songs whose midtempo grooves run the risk of rolling into one. [Jul 2019, p.86]

A rare sustained tension between sex and spirituality bristles throughout. [Jan 2021, p.88]

Bonkers idea. ... Stranger still, the whole thing works a treat. [Nov 2021, p.87]

On Requiem, they invert proportions, taking a variety of folk and world sounds as base ingredients and embellishing those with rock noise. Whether that's a more intriguing approach depends on if you prefer relentless musical phrases delivered on pan flute or distorted guitar. [Nov 2016, p.91]

Some of its finest moments are its most intimate and least arranged. [May 2006, p.99]

An understated treat. [Nov 2011, p.103]

Just like her collaborator Bon Iver, Lia Ices seems to instinctively know that less is delectably more. [Mar 2011, p.p94]

Reflective but brimming with aching melody. [Nov 2016, p.88]

Dodge And Burn is at the very least a solid offering with some dramatic and exhilarating rock'n'roll moments, but overall it's more a consolidation than a staking out of new ground. [Nov 2015, p.87]

Hersh's voice is measured, husky, and quietly defiant, the sound of the [Throwing] Muses' ambient alter ego. [Apr 2003, p.97]

Folds' songwriting continues to impress. [Oct 2001, p.130]

A transformation beyond all recognition. [Sep 2001, p.114]

Medicine At Midnight is strangely impersonal, with little to declare beyond its maker skill at the form. The lyrics, meanwhile, are often undercooked. [Mar 2021, p.82]

A fuzzed-up Pixies-worthy melodic high. [Jun 2017, p.95]

The understated widescreen desolation of their eponymous second album marked a breakthrough for Warpaint, their artfully washed-out funk-punk making more sense than ever. The follow-up, Heads Up balances that downbeat vibe with more upbeat, poppy elements, creating a tension that's electric. [Nov 2016, p.91]

Ain't nothing original, but it feels--and sounds--mighty fine. [Mar 2014, p.98]

This covers set is a fine entry-point. [Jul 2009, p.97]

If Diana Krall's Goodby and Norah Jones's Ill Wind are strikingly vulnerable, intimate performances of classics, it's perhaps the obscurer selections that stand out. [Feb 2011, p.107]

They stick to their winning formula. [Sep 2012, p.88]

A smattering of era-appropriate scene-setting standards sit surprisingly snugly amid the bespoke symphonic esoterica--all further testament to greenwood's deep, intrinsic musicality. [Dec 2012, p.88]