Brighton trio take a walk on the dark side. [Feb. 2011, p. 104]

The elements that make up Best Of times were all there before, but even the band concedes that they have finally found their true sound. [Apr 2014, p.90]

It retains the singer's inherent quirks while offering a more accessible sound. [Dec 2022, p.87]

The electronic undercurrent that's hummed throughout Hyde's musical life to date is there on Edgeland, but only in the gentlest of forms. [May 2013, p.85]

Praxis achieves the tricky balancing act between playful and poignant. [May 2013, p.90]

It's a downbeat party, but one with real atmosphere. [May 2012, p.88]

The quality across this neat primer demands the high star rating. [Apr 2010, p.112]

A clearly cathartic album that further proves Annie Clark to be a brilliant and multifaceted musical force. [Jun 2024, p.83]

Minimal, murky, magnificent. [Aug 2015, p.96]

Not even the most Boss-eyed would claim the world needs another Springsteen Best-of, mostly comprising songs available elsewhere and built around a clutch of repeat offenders. Yet Freehold, NJ's famous son is barely recognisible on Chapter And Verse's first five track. [Nov 2016, p.104]

Honeycomb is really closer to the Dylan of New Morning than Blonde On Blonde; an angry young man finally transformed by a new voice and outlook. [Aug 2005, p.95]

There’s a vulnerability and a very English kind of saudade to Below A Massive Dark Land, but also a sense of individual purpose [Nov 2024, p.94]

Tasseomancy's third album moves with a deceptively breezy sway. [Jan 2017, p.94]

Forgotten outfits like The Romans and Mod Fun come on like the '60s band Thomas Pynchon invented in The Crying Of Lot 49, but the prevailing geekdom suggests a scene that's ultimately as indie and introverted as our own C86. [Apr 2026, p.98]

Many who don't like Springsteen may love this. Many who love Springsteen may hate this. [Jun 2006, p.100]

Straightforward but elliptical; direct but enduringly rich; the unseen, in between. [Feb 2019, p.86]

As Hear My Song proves, she was never about the standard. An inability to rein herself in, to be anything other than Laura Nyro, remains the hallmark of her stop-start career. [Feb 2024, p.92]

It's an artful and lyrically dense synth-pop LP. [Mar 2016, p.96]

Filled with the restless tension of forever moving on from relationships, situations or cities, her rarefied empathy hits a haunting peak on For The Miner. [Feb 2014, p.89]

Africa Express score by proffering a raw immediacy and innovative spirit that instantly expels any whiff of imperialist musical tourism. [Feb 2014, p.88]

The Future Will Come's title seems presciently loaded, its content primed for a mainstream meet'n'greet. [May 2009, p.108]

Jamaica Queen;s potty-mouth hits rap home run on brutally enjoyable debut. [Feb. 2011, p. 105]

With the voice of Linda Ronstadt and songwriting gifts of Joni Mitchell, there simply isn't anything to dislike about Old Flowers. [Jul 2020, p.84]

The rehearsal-room feel of Mwng succeeds in capturing the organic, woody, mystical atmosphere that was sometimes missing from its highly-polished, heavily-digitised predecessors.

More thoughtful and restrained than the heavily tattooed band's raucous live (and already very well-attended) shows may have promised, Shallow Bed is full of passion, nonetheless. [May 2012, p.88]

A poised and expansive record. [Aug 2019, p.90]

A cathartic soundscaping of the rugged Northern California landscape. [Jul 2015, p.91]

Radiating breezy melancholic warmth and lonely midnight chills. [Oct 2019, p.89]