The results, often transcendent and inventive, incorporate gospel elements and "found sounds," while retaining the spirit of shaky DIY experimentation. [Nov 2014, p.95]

The restless thump of Out For The West stands out. [Oct 2014, p.96]

It's time for Cut Copy to free its own mind too. [Dec 2013, p.89]

Three or four candidates for an updated greatest hits package is not a bad hit rate. [Apr 2012, p.94]

An intimate, home-recorded piece that feels like a private performance.[Nov 2011, p. 95]

Occasionally, the joke is pushed too far (the feigned English accents and campy synth-pop of Muscles). Mostly, however, McBean's native gift for riff and songcraft transcend any conceptual archness. [Aug 2022, p.92]

Like Bridgers, Nagler is clearly fond of Elliott Smith's slow-release devastation - see Hammer And Nail or Another Mona Lisa - but even her most downbeat songs come with an easy, melodic shrug that keeps her on the sunnier side of the street. [Apr 2026, p.92]

While the song selections are unimpeachable, the execution varies massively. [May 2026, p.101]

System Of A Down frontman is caught trying too hard. Again. [Oct. 2010, p. 101]

It's not a bad album, just not that distinctive. [May 2008, p.111]

The bad times have never sounded better. [Mar 2012, p.98]

It's the slo-electro instrumental Grillwalker that steals the day. [Nov 2011, p.103]

Recorded in analogue, Echo Kid is his love letter to '70s AM rock radio. [Jan 2010, p. 93]

Brevity obviously suits them as the results are both evocative and sublime. [May 2008, p.111]

The songs barely disturb the dust in the room as they gently tip-toe about, Millan's lazy drawl far less deliberate than the clipped enunciation she often exercises on Stars' chamber pop. [Feb 2010, p. 102]

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

This is a resolutely up record, for the most part. [Jul 2014, p.92]

There are some hammy moments on Americana Act II, but Davies' status as one of pop's great storytellers endures. [Aug 2018, p.92]

Only a few moments--Happy, the Daft Punk-featuring Gust Of Wind and I Know Who You Are--sound truly out of the ordinary. [May 2014, p.86]

Inspiral Carpets sounds like the band did back in 1989 on their Dung 4 demo. [Nov 2014, p.92]

Nothing here compares to opening track Heaven, Sande's ubiquitous 2011 hit, though Daddy attempts the same You Got The Love dynamic with less vital results. [Mar 2012, p.102]

It's a more than worthy companion piece, with an unfinished, scrapbook feel that's far from unbecoming. [Sep 2014, p.94]

An intriguing companion to DM's Songs of Faith and Devotion, heady with the lexicon of addiction and redemption. [Jun 2003, p.110]

Waiting in Vain mines a harmony-rich seam of sticky-fingered country rock and blue sky FM pop. [Oct 2008, p.109]

It still feels a bit hammy. [Jul 2013, p.96]

It may be that RW are out to capitalise on previous use of their music in shows such as "The O.C." and "Weeds," but Rogue's voice--as angelic and tender as those of Buckleys Tim and Jeff--is a joy throughout. [June 2008, p.103]

What he does less of these days, regrettably, is production, upon which his outside-the-box reputation rightly rests. [July 2011, p. 103]

Their obsession remains with sounds rather than songs, with every digitised boom, click, and ping picked out in arresting detail. [Dec 2013, p.103]