A breathless, party-starting exploration of the connection between the Congo and cumbia. [Mar 2025, p.91]

It's when Spektor is less showy and more direct that her songs are most affecting. [Aug 2022, p.86]

Ultimately over-long, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky is still a preconception-changing album. [Mar 2010, p.100]

His fifth album finds him digging into the C-60 funk box, and sometimes misplacing his wonderful strangeness in the process. [May 2011, p.104]

Frustratingly for JM solo-heads, as well as Neil Tennant hanging around for a superfluous Rebel Rebel, instead of The Messenger we get The Passenger. Top notch performances, though. [Nov 2025, p.87]

It’s unlikely to set anything alight, but LA Times still leaves a warm glow. [Aug 2024, p.81]

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]

While some of this uneven material has been reheated from past writing sessions, Aerosmith are genuinely fighting to reclaim their soul.

If Palmer sometimes gets it wrong, when she gets its it right, nearly all is forgiven. [Apr 2019, p.89]

At every turn there are moves unarguably adjacent to Revolver, The Zombies, early Byrds, and, in the title track strident harmonies, The Mamas & The Papas.... The tunes throughout, though, are original, and infectious. [Mar 2014, p.94]

A sweetly-rendered set of originals. Sometimes, though, even if it drips with Nashville authenticity, it's all a bit too sugary. [May 2016, p.90]

If you dug them back then, you'll likely dig them now. [Jun 2019, p.93]

Few are better placed than Bostonian Edan Portnoy, who uses access to the old-school masters owned by Traffic, one of the few reissue imprints interested in rap, to curate a fine, fun funky and fascinating half-hour mixtape interlaced with new sample-based production. [Feb 2010, p. 105]

A return to the Guillemots beckons, then, but Fly Yellow Moon is still an enthralling and at times euphoric affair. [Feb 2010, p. 97]

What stands out most about Give More Love is that Ringo's vocals have matured stylistically from his trademark amiably blokeish tones, and are stronger and more expressive now. [Oct 2017, p.90]

[Their] irony is especially trying when it infects the music. [Jul 2006, p.110]

Although it's his longest, it's arguably his least ambitious. [Dec 2012, p.84]

He's strong instrumentally, but maudlin content like Separate Ways and One Thought holds him back. [Dec 2012, p.90]

All told, less might have been more. [Apr 2016, p.96]

It's still a safe record, however, neither spasm of petulant experimentation hell-bent on commercial suicide, nor return to the good old days beloved by original fans but viewed warily by the new. [Nov. 2010, p. 94]

His voice remains strident as the album veers from pared-down solo to spritely contributions from the likes of Chaim Tannenbaum and David Mansfield, plus a less successful string arrangement. [Sep 2022, p.90]

[The] third Egyptrixx album has a fidgety, unsettling quality. [Mar 2015, p.97]

There's nothing indistinct about the more congenial, festival-friendly direction of War Room Stories. [Mar 2014, p.95]

Russell sings with heartfelt authority, while Calexico's cool elegance balances the emotional ticket. [Oct 2009, p.106]

Some tracks occasionally feel more like fillers--but at its best, Legacy feels like tuning into a magical mid-dial shortwave station, where all the neighbouring broadcasts gave fallen into an exhilarating synchronisation. [Jul 2013, p.88]

Peaks early with the opening title track. [Nov 2016, p.96]

It's unfortunate that the weedy vocals dilute some of its impact, otherwise this would be a triumph. [Apr 2005, p.89]

If Lerche lack Beck's nous, he makes up for it with a cavalier freedom. [Oct 2014, p.92]