Superior crumbs from the captain's table, they will make completists weep. [Aug 2013, p.104]

The cosy and intimate songs, sung in the disarming, high-pitched tenor so admired by Sufjan Stevens, are pleasant enough, but it isn't until the Cajun-tinged shuffle of Ophelia and late-night bar lament You Belong To Heaven that it gels. [Sep 2011, p.95]

Trimming, paring and refocusing has made Frontier Ruckus a far more enticing package, and if Milia isn't quite in the league of similar writers such at The Decemberists' Colin Meloy, he's catching up fast. [Mar 2017, p.93]

This is a slick, polished, self-penned set. ... Sometimes it's hard to tell the frenzied guitar stranglers apart. [Mar 2019, p.96]

Part 1 veers from the abrasive, Stooges-style rock that characterised much of 2015's What Went Down. [Apr 2019, p.86]

That bravery and those haunting songs make for an album that, while not the very best Oberst has made, buttresses his growing reputation as the best songwriter working today. [Sep 2008, p.102]

Kidjo is in scintillating form. [Mar 2014, p.93]

Occasionally it feels a little too theatrical--as on Willie O' Winsbury--but its roots are in the right place. [Aug 2017, p.95]

Clearly not a point of entry for the uninitiated, but all serious Wire-ologists need this. [Sep 2014, p.107]

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]

The Posies [are] now a surprisingly politicised act. [Aug 2005, p.104]

Handsomely subversive. [Nov 2015, p.89]

When the jokes stop... the relentless cantering pace and slightly predictable pedal steel accoutrements that characterise the bulk of the material here can struggle to hold your attention. [Mar 2006, p.92]

It's Flynn's warmest outing so far. [Apr 2017, p.98]

A crash, bang, wallop delivery, plus an organic fuzz, like stubble against a microphone, colour 'Headshock' and 'Le Ruse,' but smart arrangements and Josh Grier's slackjawed, cryptic confessionals tap into something beyond blokey bluster. [June 2008, p.106]

Those who have stuck with the Glasgow act this far will find much to enjoy here. [Feb 2015, p.90]

Brion's 3/4 step-step micro-cues--for Greta Gerwig's perfect comedy drama--come with the necessary sprinkling of inexplicable sadness. [Apr 2018, p.89]

A brace of curiously tuneful, bluesy-psych pop songs. [Apr 2013, p.98]

The Rifles perservered, and if originality is not a strong point, their skill for crafting simple but immediate pop choruses makes uo foir it. [Nov 2008, p.109]

As an album it's uneven, but tantalisingly the harmony-driven 'Hang Them All' sounds like "Tim"-era Replacements and hints at even bigger things to come. [Sep 2009, p.92]

This eco-themed, sci-fi clad concept album bristles with electro-pop sounds (Light Years, the OMD-ish title track) yet retains Gab's furrowed-brow lyricism and singular approach as he forges his own space within this changing landscape. [Feb 2010, p. 105]

For the most part, this is another absorbing chapter in Schott's one-woman sonic odyssey, and where her protean creative compass will take her next is intriguing. [Nov 2017, p.99]

The Making Of is a decent debut. [Nov 2015, p.87]

Wintery designs warmed by the likes of Bitchin' Bajas layering instruments, voices and electronics. [Feb 2017, p.99]

It's to their credit, though, that this album's uncertain focus works with them, thickening the plot, rather than losing it. [Apr 2018, p.89]

Woodwind, thumb piano, ocarina and analogue synths uncannily evokes the funny, sad fairytale world of Sniff, Toft, Moominpappa and gang. [Apr 2017, p.93]

It's a beautifully rounded affair though--sometimes elegiac, at others uplifting, no matter how dark its heart. [Dec 2008, p.112]

There's no white-hot creative explosion, just a gentle simmer. [May 2016, p.88]