Heat haze indie pop with Brit post-punk lyrical realism in place of slacker zaniness. [Oct 2016, p.109]

Rich, sonic politesse on offer here. [Apr 2017, p.99]

Opener Habub Faye is a lovely slice of sophisticated pop, as are the rootsier Macoumba and Ay Coono La. ... Yet there is still space for two absolute clunkers. [Aug 2019, p.97]

The more gothic the song (Girl In Amber; Red Right Hand) the better the interpretation. [Feb 2022, p.92]

Inessential recordings predating the Tuaregs' breakthrough by a decade. [Dec 2022, p.93]

Heard back to back they almost make sense, but the sequencing here amplifies the disjointed feel of an album that facinates and frustrates in equal measure. [July 2008, p.108]

Chromatics fans will fine much to love, but the eeriness that made Carpenter's reputation is mostly lacking because he doesn't need to soundtrack a shock or its aftermath. [May 2016, p.89]

Man from another Time is an album that sounds decidely lived-in. [Nov 2009, p.91]

Too often his songwriting is so tasteful that it can tend toward the anonymous. [May 2014, p.88]

His tendency to overemote can prove distracting. [Feb 2017, p.99]

Mister Pop is at once an old friend and a stotal stranger. [Nov 2009, p.100]

From captivatingly woozy opener State Of new York to the languid euphoria of Everything, this challenging but addictive record cocoons the listener in chloroformed candy floss. [May 2011, p.109]

Tricky may not be reinventing the wheel, but his focus is sharper than ever. [Oct 2014, p.93]

Not a record for those prone to depression, but a varied, substantial and intriguing one. [June 2002, p.112]

[Producer Daniel Boyle] strikes a crisp specious groove somewhere between dubstep and '90s digi-dub, for Perry to voice croakily alongside co-vocalists. [Mar 2024, p.82]

Her singing, often overwhelmed in the mix, lyrics inaudible, adds David Lynch eeriness. [Nov 32012, p.94]

Gravez is scrappy, fun but unoriginal--free in spirit but limited in execution. [Jul 2013, p.105]

A gentle record that is astonishingly timely from a political perspective. [Apr 2016, p.93]

If not quite a match for Gainsbourg's ticklish masterpiece, it's a partial return to the stringy artistry of 2003's Friends Of Mine. [Oct 2019, p.83]

For all that bombast, though, there's a disappointing, un-Texan restraint. [Feb 2005, p.94]

The best moments on this double CD are those which foreground Valerie Trebeljahr's sighingly lovely vocals. [Aug 2005, p.120]

Fourth album from the Kensington-born, Georgia-based garage rock queen's latest incarnation. [Jun 2011, p.100]

Highly agreeable in small doses. [Jul 2006, p.104]

The cascading ping and pop of 35 Summers and arpeggiated digital melancholy of Unbank is evidence of Plaid's empathy with this most beguiling of music forms. [Nov 2011, p.103]

At Asiatisch's heart is bass, gargantuan and window rattling, around which she builds an elaborate framework of complex rhythms and melodies using analogue hardware. [Jun 2014, p.93]

There's just one heart-grabbing moment. [May 2007, p.120]

Reliably familiar punk pop by enduring Japanese trio. [Sept. 2011, p. 96]

A great blue-eyed soul record. [Dec 2006, p.108]