None of these tunes conveys a fraction of the emotional ardour of those on the first (self-penned) Sun Kil Moon album. [Feb 2006, p.103]

Margo's deep, stentorian tones have remained almost unchanged since 1986's Whites Off Earth Now!! and Hell Is Real could have graced that LP. Even so, there's real evolution. [Jul 2023, p.84]

The Aftermath is wild and explorative, its appeal lying in the sprawling ideas and yearning vocals. [Nov 2012, p.103]

More recognisably Air-like despite half its tracks being merely serviceable collaborations. [Feb 2020, p.89]

While initial listens don't suggest a classic like Kiko, one gets a feeling that this as a work that will reveal layers over time. [Sep 2010, p.104]

There's the unmistakable whiff of eternal under-achievement that pervades cute but forgettable ditties like 'Share Of Men' and 'Heartbroke.' [Oct 2007, p.98]

If the original Assault on Precinct 13 soundtrack had been made by a time-shifted Let's Dance Bowie, you'd be most-way there. [Aug. 2011, p. 104]

The album roams Laurel Canyon roots and Byrdsian bliss to Fleetwood Mac and Mink DeVille/Lou Reed affection. [Jan 2014, p.94]

Good-natured guitar pop from Brighton-via-California by a young all-male quartet with a flair or radio-ready melodies. [Apr 2018, p.96]

[Their] constant supersize-me approach is a bit exhausting, but few albums this year will strive this hard to entertain. [Feb 2012, p.95]

The four-piece line-up allows for some breathing space amid the existential shitstorm. [Dec 2008, p.101]

James Jackson Toth aka Wooden Wand is at home on Michael Gira's label. [Jan. 2011, p. 94]

His vocals reverberate with the passion of Bobby Womack, the sensuality of Al Green and the sincerity of Curtis Mayfield. The music, an interlocking web of bass and drums, fanfaring horns and wah wah, carry his romantic ballads and socially engaged protest. [Jun 2019, p.95]

A bleak and occasionally beautiful debut. [Oct 2009,p.102]

There's a freshness uncommon to fortysomething men two decades into their career. [Oct 2004, p.110]

Fortunately, it manages to hang together in a way that suggest steamy nights out in the city with Massive Attack. [Aug 2012, p.90]

Apocalypse rears its head in bare-bones instrumentation, reverberating synths and lyrics that hunt for a meaningful future. [Nov 2019, p.89]

On their third album Beak> still feels like a wonky and productive hobby for Geoff Barrow of Portishead with his mates Will Young and Billy Fuller; it's serious but it also sounds like a lot of fun. [Nov 2018, p.94]

A new buoyancy runs through the album from the sprightly, Eno-esque Italy to the waltz-time drama of Surrounded, and Heal, where the voice of her daughter features. Nonetheless, murk is not far below the surface--in Creep, blossoms are rotting. [Dec 2018, p.92]

The kind of space-occupying Krautrock klang that suddenly fills you with the urge to set up an underground magazine and get the brown rice ready for dinner. [Jan 2018, p.88]

There is improvement in the songwriting....But halfway through you might well weary at the album's unrelenting, full-bodied tone. [Nov 2012, p.91]

A strong melodic streak can reach those Husker Du pleasure-pain receptors, but equally often they're quirky to the point of throwaway. [Jan 2019, p.93]

Her expressive lyrics exude equal-parts watchful intelligence and first-person vulnerability. [Mar 2020, p.96]

A mixed bag all round. [Apr 2018, p.91]

A warm twangy sound, evocative of Southern, sun-paralysed afternoons. [Dec 2011, p. 100]

Central to Whatever The Westher II is an underlying hum and crackle that offsets its engrossing sound design. [Apr 2024, p.84]

Away from the atmosphere and visuals of live performance, over an hour of such dense and highly personal account of pain and beauty on the threshold of death is particularly demanding; a pity it's not available on DVD. [Aug 2008, p.103]

On its own perhaps a little on the skinny side for a new Oneida full-length, but as an appetiser ffor the triptych's next instalment--due early next year--this'll work just fine for now. [Sep 2008, p.102]