[A] blissful orchestral new age soundscapes, to suggest lapping waves on late summer beaches with just the occasional cloud of gloomy dissonance to add to that authentic 2016 holiday experience. [Nov 2016, p.91]

Gibb's voice might be audibly timeworn in parts and the production is a bit vanilla, but there's no denying the poignancy here. [Nov 2016, p.86]

Triplicate lacks the revelatory impact of Shadows In The Night. And you always wish there was more light, inside these pocket-size arrangements. ... But this kind of immersion--in folk, blues or Sinatra--has always been serious business and rejuvenation to him: looking for answers and a way forward in a pasture of plenty. [May 2017, p.90]

The resulting oestrogen charge--an operatic Tori Amos with a dab of Jane Siberry--is terrific when Worden reins in the "hello trees, hello sky" imagery, wincingly precious when she fails. [July 2008, p.110]

None of these songs sound like they took too long to write or record, but her appeal lies in how, despite her off-the-cuff vibe, she often hits the bullseye or happens upon something enamouring. [Jun 2016, p.93]

The Wild Swan echoes both John Hiatt's gnarled, R&B-rooted wit and Van Morrison's lyrical-mystic flights while developing Vance's own romantic voice. [Jun 2016, p.90]

It's a bloodless, disembodied album, rarely flushed with human warmth. [May 2013, p.94]

Kicks is an up-and-down affair but Rickie Lee Jones remains pleasingly unpredictable. [Jul 2019, p.88]

Certainly, Live On I-5 proves Soundgarden weren't covered by grand stadium stages. [May 2011, p.125]

Easy chemistry. ... Glasper and Washington fans may rue their idols merely playing in the back. [Oct 2020, p.94]

The wall-to-wall cyber-vox distract from his bountiful gifts. [Oct 2018, p.92]

[Producers Joe Goddard and Al Doyle] bring a fitting smoothness to the cheesy exotica groove of Wild Flowers, and a swinging clarity to Fatso's '80s P-Funk electro-grind. Elsewhere, At The Hotspot can be too hectic for wider recommendation. [May 2022, p.90]

If it doesn't reach the sustained invention of John Coltrane's odyssey in E, Africa/Brass, Youngs' talent for wringing emotion from base materials remain undimmed. [Jan 2017, p.102]

At it's best Interiors is alien and magical.... thought, it can also slip into a rather inaccessible coolness too. [Nov 2013, p.107]

Enjoyable, though less revelatory, Arcade Fire's Games Without Frontiers, Joseph Arthur's agonised Shock The Monkey and Lou Reed's Jokily grindscaping Solsbury Hill contrast with Paul Simon's restrained Biko. [Nov 2013, p.91]

The melodies and fire return in Baby I'm Coming Home, but held up against their past triumphs, Dropout Boogie often sounds half-cooked. [Jun 2022, p.84]

[The album] has no one style, no favoured musical template. [Mar 2016, p.92]

Feed The Fire takes Lana Del Rey to a spacey summit meeting with Lee Hazlewood of Summer Wine after a conference call with Sweden's own Concretes. [Mar 2016, p.99]

It's a grand gesture of a record, though, and if at times it's a little too much, that's entirely in character. [Jun 2016, p.94]

Sewn Together is as winningly tuneful as it is raggedly charming. [Jul 2009, p.95]

Beautiful, minimal and bewitching, it is both another reason to hate Peter Broderick and another reason to admire him. [Aug 2009, p.102]

It's only the too-glib wordplay that thwarts a more whole hearted endorsement. [Nov 2009, p.94]

For much of the album's remainder, Carthy sticks with the melting pot approach that he and Greater Mancunian peers like Rae & Christian helped codify over a decade ago. [Jun 2014, p.93]

Instrumentals pretty much picks up where FSA left off. [Aug 2015, p.95]

Ian Devaney's tremulous tones and Michael Sue-Poi's melodic bass lines cutting deep on heartbroken ballads. [Dec 2021, p.94]

While the boisterousness that made 2006 single Chelsea Dagger so welcome on the terraces of Stamford Bridge is successfully repurposed on Baby Don't You Lie To Me! and Too Much Wine, and Thief motors like Lady Madonna on Stevie's Higher Ground, other fruits of this reunion with producer Tony Hoffer--see the mellotron-mangled Rosanna--soon sour. [Sep 2015, p.94]

She still meanders between electronic-infused pop, Eastern-tinged R&B and AOR balladry, but crisp production and Spektor's pliant, atypically measured vocals keep things focused. [Nov 2016, p.89]

There are moments when Tom and Ed no longer sound like the baton is theirs to pass. [Feb 2005, p.101]