The spartan structure makes for an intimate if one-paced experience and Potter's singing us more spoken in Marianne Faithfull style, with a hint of Weimar, but she's a beguiling storyteller. [Sep 2023, p.83]

There's also a cameo by Ruben Blades on the lively Pajarito Volo, but Ochoa remains the undoubted star of the show. [Sep 2023, p.82]

At times City Of Gold may sound a little hungover after the euphoric heights of 2022, but Tuttle shows every sign of pushing through. [Aug 2023, p.78]

This opens with rocking electric blues guitar, rolling piano and a singalong chorus. The warm, barroom feel continues in Alcohallelujah. [Aug 2023, p.80]

Discs two and three mostly consist of unedited or alternate takes of material on the main disc. A full-length Transylvania Boogie, previously released in edited form, turns out to have been mostly a long, meandering shuffle with a drum solo. Hitherto undocumented titles Halos And Arrows and Moldred turn out to be, respectively, an exploratory guitar overdub piece (all that’s missing is Joni Mitchell at the mike) and a brief Tommy/Vincent composite with added bass. [Aug 2023, p.90]

...Bolgatanga is easily AHC's most accessible, vivid approximation of Brian Eno's fabled "vision of a psychedelic Africa". [Aug 2023, p.78]

Welcome echoes include Bramah's sinister, cogent non sequiturs and the contorted, sharp-edged rock sounds, and the urgent to interpret everything as a reference to MES becomes flesh with the spectral/beefy Harlequin Duke. [Jul 2023, p.85]

While all but a handful of the songs from the 13 track Angels & Queens have already been drip-fed via a series of singles, EPs and last year's seven-track mini-album, Gabriels' desire to take their time with the making of their long-awaited debut album has certainly paid off. [Jun 2023, p.84]

Signs of life: abundant. [Aug 2023, p.82]

Coming in at just 28 minutes. .... But the grand old man of Afrobeat is on fine form throughout, challenging the horns and bass to follow his lead. [Aug 2023, p.83]

Stands as both love letter and elegy and encompasses the deeply held emotions of both. [Aug 2023, p.86]

It's a record of fierce seriousness, a demand for engagement as inescapable and immediate as somebody shaking you by the shoulders. [Aug 2023, p.82]

Augustine's fourth is celestially good, his own fevered vision. [Aug 2023, p.78]

Extraordinary. [Aug 2023, p.88]

I Inside the Old Year Dying holds itself at the biting point between old and new, re-evaluation and revelation. What lies on the other side, only Polly Harvey knows, but this is a record she was born to make. [Aug 2023, p.76]

It's a coherent entity which should be heard as a whole. [May 2023, p.89]

Ayers is a lovely singer in both English and Spanish; he rather less so on the London homage It's Another Night or the gently barbed I've Never Had A Good Time.... In Paris. When they harmonise on Room At The Top, though, they're a joy. [Jun 2023, p.89]

A left-field jazz date transversing elation and sadness, and electronic weirdness peaking on off-radar standout Gecko Sound. [Aug 2023, p.88]

His rueful lyrics are mostly about relationship woes, although Florida Man is more serious, dealing with racism. [Aug 2023, p.82]

Even Russell's most intimate recordings could make him feel like a phantom; as details are filled in, the phantom expands. [Aug 2023, p.94]

Sure, these blues are familiar, but at least these friends make 'em fun. [Aug 2023, p.82]

Reorderd, with three more excellent songs, copious sleevenotes, and some remixing and updated vocals that never detract from the authenticity of the project. [Aug 2023, p.93]

Deer Tick impress with their pop nous and sheer verve. [Aug 2023, p.81]

A beguiling sigh in itself. [Aug 2023, p.81]

She might feel her work-life balance is out of whack, but Power's creative scales are perfectly aligned. [Aug 2023, p.80]

bdrmm's murky spider play tugs at the listener's emotions in unanticipated ways. [Aug 2023, p.87]

The self-analysis is elevated by Chatten's scowling poetry and producer Dan Carey's bright detailing. [Aug 2023, p.80]

As it swivels between rock hymns like the Boss-backed New York comeback and country laments like Jukebox, it becomes a primer for newcomers, not a unified statement on a par with 2020's raw Good Souls Better Angels or the landmark Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. Still, it is a triumph that this exists at all. [Aug 2023, p.80]