Hardcore Julius fans might recognise old tunes but the London-based musicians have given them all a fresh coat while the boss blows up a storm. [Nov 2014, p.94]

His arch whimsy is solidly underpinned by simpatico, full-band arrangements and his keen nose for an idiosyncratic tune. [Dec 2013, p.86]

Buck's guitars are supportive throughout, inspired by Haines's alternative universes. [Apr 2020, p.94]

Peppered with succinct instrumentals, Three/Three switches styles with impunity, smudging the lines between old and new. [Mar 2018, p.93]

He sounds the most determined he has in over two decades. [Feb 2015, p.94]

A career highlight for Carlile and a rejuvenation for John. [Apr 2025, p.79]

Lanegan's own journey may be ongoing, but this is a vivid snapshot of where he's been. [Feb 2014, p.102]

An album of studied precision and endless textures. [Mar 2014, p.95]

Tries to understand where to go, and whether he's already there. ... Life is a casket. And it's golden. Both are true. Brock apparently has figured it out. [Aug 2021, p.80]

It feels like a very personal and agreeably languid autobiography. [Mar 2014, p.93]

Welcome to Mali celebrates its artificiality, flaunts its illegitimacy and waggles its infidelities in your face. Amadou & Mariam have just damned authenticite to an eternity in caducite. [Dec 2008, p.98]

Music that alchemises urban jazz with rural Americana to create something that is haunting and otherworldly. [Jun 2016, p.94]

Beneath the Day-Glo surface, Chemtrails rage away. [Jan 2024, p.89]

Standouts include Burn Through, a Springsteenesque tale of blue-collar grit, and the haunting Corner Girl, where a lonely kid opens up her world like a plant unfurling. [Feb 2011, p.109]

There's a real sense of party-beneath-the-scaffold much of the time--a looseness you don't often get on these star-studded affairs. [Nov 2003, p.122]

The once-lairy Scots' high-volume potency remains beyond question. [Oct 2017, p.92]

How Will I Live… feels like a portal to some esoteric beyond, where minimal jazz, obtuse indie and folk-horror collide. Ominous, calmly-executed highlights I Swallowed A Stone, Unbraiding and How It Starts are marvels of world-building. [Aug 2024, p.84]

Diving into yesterday never sounded so good. [Aug 2014, p.90]

The songs are rigorously infectious. [Jul 2014, p.96]

Proceedings occasionally veer toward earnestness, but gorgeous textures of clarinets, guitars and synthesizers keep the project bracingly alive. [Dec 2020, p.82]

Embellishments frame soul-searching songs about dislocation and romantic ill-fortune--think a grittier Brendan Benson--which soon demand frequent revisits. [Dec 2019, p.86]

[A] stripped-down, beautifully stark and simple new album. [Sep 2014, p.96]

Gibbons's wily blend of open-mindedness and roots-loyalty remains intact. [Nov 2015, p.86]

Indubitably, worth the oxide it's been taped on. [Nov 2013, p.86]

It's knowingly throwaway exhilaration all the way. [Nov 2014, p.95]

Modern Genius is a warm breeze after the hit-and-miss Afrofuturist sax/drum experiments of 2022's Ibeji. [Feb 2025, p.89]

The highs, lows and bitter aftermath are all documented, in some of the classiest electro-pop of the past 20 years. [Aug 2008, p.102]

You've heard it all before, but rarely done so well. [Mar 2014, p.98]