A gloriously unviable alternative to dullard R&B/X Factorism. [Jun 2012, p.92]

Fade feels like a definitive and hugely uplifting summary of a cult institution. [Feb 2013, p.88]

Stott again collaborates with opera singer Alison Skidmore on decaying digital laments, warped twilight anthems and claustrophobic club bangers; stuttering songs of mourning for 21st century club culture. [Jul 2016, p.93]

This is an opaque and quietly intense missive. [Nov 2016, p.86]

The songs are gorgeous, lyrical, chimerical, the arrangements weighty, complex and cool. [Jan 2019, p.89]

A pulse-racing revolt into style. [Jul 2019, p.96]

Simian Angel is a continuation of those percussive ideas [in his previous albums], but with a far more abstracted, exploded view. [Sep 2019, p.91]

The best protest albums generally come bathed in their own brand of musical sunshine and Cornershop's joyous post-Brexit call to arms is no exception to the rule. [Apr 2020, p.86]

Dreamy, psych-folk beauty. [Jun 2026, p.91]

Though not an unqualified triumph... The Great Destroyer is the latest high from a band that routinely rewards the virtue of patience. [Feb 2005, p.94]

A bold and celebratory affair. [Feb 2017, p.90]

Save a few saggy, meh0ish collaborations mining genres, this sparky yet spiritual blend of bum-rushing hard bangers and deep soul dives further underscores his three-dimensional star quality. [Feb 2020, p.86]

You might assume, given the title, that beam's seventh full-length album as iron & Wine is lightweight and whimsical. Actually it's pretty magnificent. [Jun 2024, p.84]

This is a more soulful, less arch record than Tranquility Base. Not quite as detached from Monkeys past as it first appears, either. [Dec 2022, p.84]

The results, recorded in Brooklyn over two years, are something of a revelation. [Mar 2025, p.82]

It is simultaneously comforting and haunting, an emotional closeness that is both playful an unsettling. [Jun 2026, p.93]

The set pivots around its experimental jazz title track, where warming Rhodes are counterpointed by fractured beats, fidgety bleeps and trills. [Dec 2016, p.93]

A definate contender when those Best of the Year polls gets underway. [Aug 2008, p.105]

In pursuing the anarchic, joyous mash-up of their debut Remedy to its twisted conclusion, Basement Jaxx find themselves in androgynous, genre-bending territory that is Prince-ly in spirit even when it isn’t in sound.

The mind-boggling intricacies and moody, broody sound-sculpting on tracks like Pen Expers find Autechre zooming off, leaving their followers eating cosmic dust. [May 2001, p.110]

Often he sings with a richness, depth and conviction worthy of Johnny Cash. [Jan 2001, p.98]

Antitheses abound--organic and electronic, modern and ancient, pastoral and urban. Combined, they create something extraordinary. [May 2016, p.91]

Live albums often give you the gist of the jam, inviting you to imagine studio details; The War On Drugs invert that expectation, letting the rest sparkle beneath stage lights. [Jan 2021, p.86]

The trio's debut album is rich in textural sophistication, carving hooks from fidgety harmonics and swooning whammy-bar abuse. [Jul 2022, p.86]

The result is a sparkling 24-minute digital raga that builds to a tumultuous mid-point crescendo, before gliding elegantly out of the other side. Euphoric synth-pop that's smart and never po-faced. [Sep 2022, p.90]

An urgent debut perfect for anyone grieving The Comet Is Coming's demise. [Aug 2024, p.90]

It's the vast common ground that they delicately negotiate and improvise in which makes Totality so enthralling, so satisfying. [Jun 2025, p.89]

Evocative rather than vivid in a way that evokes Faith-era Cure's greyscale atmospheres, Everything IS Alive is the sound of Slowdive still holding their impressive earthly form. [Oct 2023, p.85]