Bands, as Donahue famously sang on Holes, “never work quite right”, but with this late-period beauty, Mercury Rev have hit the cosmic balance perfectly. [Oct 2024, p.83]

CocoRosie sound, blissfully, like no one else. [Sep 2005, p.102]

The combination of shimmering sonics and dislocated characters is what makes Hyperspace so holistic, and compelling. [Jan 2020, p.83]

Drifts toward sounding like Sonic Youth. .... Lots more here, though, including elevated noiserock, early Factory-style nihilist post-punk, and a clanking highlight, I see Poseurs Every Day. [Apr 2026, p.93]

It'll be a bit much for the casual fan with no need for all those stereo/mono variations, but they do have at least a couple dozen other best-ofs to choose from. [Oct 2013, p.102]

It’s the surprisingly light touch of the booming bass that gets you on 100% Samba; Rio De Janeiro A Janeiro, meanwhile, reminds you that Verocai grew up on the progressive rock that percolated through Brazil in the late 1960s. Long may they keep collaborating. [Jan 2025, p.87]

This new 11-song album is dense, almost joyous with sound, instruments all jostling for space--guitar, banjo, drums, horns. [Jan 2018, p.90]

Organic, evergreen loveliness. [Oct 2023, p.88]

The result is tender, powerful avant-rock to shake the walls. [Jun 2017, p.94]

How Do You Burn? finds the group on vintage form throughout. [Oct 2022, p.82]

From His Head To His Heart To His Hands is a generally satisfying mix of milestones and rarities. [Mar 2014, p.100]

A mind-blowing creation merging the high period Dungen of Ta Det Lugnt with its more straightforward predecessor, 2002's Stadsvandringar. [Nov 2022, p.91]

If you enjoy a record that can gently coax a cathartic tear or two, Monovision fits the bill. [Aug 2020, p.88]

Almost three decades into their journey, age has only emboldened them. [Jul 2009, p.99]

A-grade pop songwriting. [Aug 2020, p.94]

With Sing to the Moon, Laura Mvula set a new standard for 21st century soul. With this follow-up, she's raised that standard higher. [Jul 2016, p.89]

Countless moments of sheer melodic magic. [Dec 2001, p.116]

Strings offers one of his most vulnerable vocal takes yet on John Deere Tractor, a tender note home to a country mom from a son stuck in and troubled by a city; it feels like a letter from the road, hungover and threadbare. And the playing is flawless and charged, from Cleveland’s steam-engine fiddle during Way Downtown to Rob McCoury’s edgy delicacy during Frosty Morn. [Jan 2023, p.85]

He covers old bases with new fervour, but there's so much happening, so much detail that it feels like a giant leap forward. [Dec 2021, p.92]

[His bathroom's] natural reverb add a wobbly-otherworldly feel. [Sep 2017, p.96]

This is Williams winningly flexing his more substantial songwriterly muscles. [Jul 2024, p.92]

If the default mode of these simmering barroom confessionals is a certain existential weariness, they're nonetheless dispatched with substance and soul. [Mar 2023, p.90]

A slick, clever and diverse set of populist dance and digi-rock songs. [Nov 2002, p.110]

Soroor is the star of this set. ... Her pre-relocation stuff--even her Afghan Star audition is online--is always interesting, but this is a whole new level. [Oct 2019, p.86]

There are times on Bunny when Dear doesn't stray far from the hypnotic, hedonistic mood that underpins his dancefloor moniker, Audion. ... But Bunny really shows its teeth on Can You Rush Them. A smouldering, malevolent breakbeat stomp, its exhortation to "take back the streets" hints at America's political turmoil. [Nov 2018, p.86]

The bulk of In Dream is much darker, but no less alluring. [Nov 2015, p.94]

This is a remarkably strong set. [Dec 2016, p.88]

13 evocative songs. [Jan 2020, p.84]