This is one of those albums you can leave to steep. [Nov 2015, p.

It's heavy stuff, and there is a real rawness at the heart of standouts Where I Found You, Before The Bridge, Give Us The Wind and The Great Fire - all a little hard to swallow at first, but ultimately quite remarkable. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

G Stands For Go-Betweens accords Forster and McLennan their rightful place as the greatest songwriting duo of the post-punk era. [Feb 2015, p.118]

The result is great, as Tundra reforms the duo's patent snark in his own electro-pop image. [May 2018, p.106]

He and his demons haven't come in from the cold just yet, but thankfully, Pearson's muse has caught fire once more. [Apr 2011, p.105]

Welcoming in the wider world as Goldlink's laid-back delivery flows with deceptive ease over Joke Ting's sinuous, tropical R&B, the Afrobeats-like bounce of Zulu Screams and Yard's captivating Caribbean riddim. [Aug 2019, p.111]

Where recent albums have felt more like protracted jam sessions -- impressive, if not actually exciting -- this has renewed sparkle, raiding indie-pop territory with harmonies, hand-claps and even the odd acoustic guitar.

Bewitching and hugely ambitious. [Apr 2011, p.110]

Que Aura presents his top-drawer songwriting in the form of new-wave psychedelia, smart guitar-pop and budget R&B. [Oct 2017, p.111]

A startling discovery. [Jul 2012, p.115]

Rich in texture and tone, enlivened rather than swamped by guests and made thrilling by his ability to make his hyperactivity as restful as it is relentless. [Dec 2014, p.110]

This new-found worldliness comes in tandem with a noticeable musical maturity. [Apr 2007, p.118]

Although recorded at the same time as Mothers, Absent Fathers sounds more cohesive, Earle's vocals stronger, the playing a little more direct. [Feb 2015, p.117]

It isn't any different to where she's been before, it's simply that quality levels remain uniformly high. [Aug 2008, p.139]

It's an album that makes you feel the real Florence Welch is only beginning. [Aug 2018, p.106]

It retains all the allure of the most hypnotic electronica with none of the digital cliches. [Jan 2004, p.122]

As harrowing and honest as some lyrics may be, though, the intensely beautiful Southern Sky at least offers his "crooked arms" some redemption. [Sep 2012, p.104]

With its uncomfortable candour, Under Rug Swept is a serious business.

Kaputt expresses the Vancouverite's fastidious Anglophilia, rustling up '80s pop opulence while maintaining a scruffy bohemian cred. [July 2011, p. 111]

It's a seductive, refreshing but gratifyingly purposeless ride. [Sep 2019, p.1110]

Brun's incredible voice - direct and moving - is at the centre of everything. [Jun 2012, p.117]

It might sound a bit much on paper, but Leschper's thought processes result in fantastic music--think Warpaint gone deconstructivism-crazy. [Oct 2018, p.115]

An inspired hook-up that brings out the best in both contributors [Killer Mike and El-P].[Aug 2012, p.109]

It's an impressive reminder of what made him so special in the first place. [Oct 2018, p.119]

Hints that Cuomo may be approaching some sort of personal epiphany about his place in the world. [Jun 2005, p.116]

Oregon four-piece serve up a conceptual gem. [Oct 2011, p.128]

One of 2020 most engaging new artists. [Mar 2020, p.122]

Bad As Me is as accessible as it is intelligent. At their heart, these are classic pop songs. That they're coated with his trademark wonder and weirdness makes them more special still. [Nov. 2011, p. 130]

Fagen's fourth albums is as airtight as his others. [Dec 2012, p.104]

Their finest record since 2002's Light & Magic, Ladytron achieve near perfection here. [Apr 2019, p.114]

All Nerve is less the sound of a band trying to revisit the vitality of its youth, than a collection of musicians who don't appear to have ever lost it. [Apr 2018, p.110]

There's melodrama aplenty, but it's the meaningful lyricism in both French and English--and a smart Kanye sample on Paradis Perdus--that make it really sparkle. [Apr 2016, p.102]

They'll have to evolve quickly to avoid being tarred with the copyist brush, but for now it's just dandy. [May 2008, p.135]

Patience, persistence and a good set of headphones will uncover fragile melodies here amid the maelstrom, though the guitar noodling can veer dangerously close to Mark Knopfler territory. [July 2008, p.101]

Friedmans and Everdell have struck gold. [Oct 2010, p.108]

Blues of Desperation rarely deviates from the burnished hard-rock-meets-raw-blues template last explored on 2014's Different Shades Of Blue. But everything comes spiced with clever melodic tics. [May 2016, p.106]

He records on an ancient four-track tape recorder, which lends Her We Go Magic much of its peculiar charm. [Aug 2009, p.106]

The influences may be retro, but La Roux use them as the starting point for something fresh. [Jul 2009, p.114]

It's impressive she even had enough time to record an album, let alone one as accomplished as Fading Lines. [#361, p.107]

Amid the dominant electronics, the regular injections of big, sonorous basslines, clattering percussion and discordant jazz tones make for a thrilling ride that pulses with energy and adventure. [Aug 2019, p.112]

The result is a wildly primal and consistently brilliant rock'n'roll record. [Aug 2017, p.112]

It's that juxtaposition between sunshiny pop and yearning lyrics that defines much of The Now Now. ... This latest chapter in the Gorillaz story sounds like a deeply confessional one. [Summer 2018, p.108]

A set that sounds hauled up from another time and place. [Aug 2018, p.111]

Odd couples don't come more unlikely, nor as complementary. [Jun 2013, p.95]

With their 11th studio album, they've succeeded in not becoming crap quite admirably. [Dec 2004, p.126]

Cory Hanson's solo debut holds itself very upright, eyes straight ahead, creating the sense that its elegant parlour-folk could topple into mania at any moment. [Jan 2017, p.107]

Another great find from Bella Union, there's not a weak moment on this engaging debut. [Oct 2011, p.124]

This is a hugely promising debut. [Apr 2020, p.106]

At times, it's a touch muted, a little grey-out, but if this is Lennox staring down mortality, he comes out swinging. [Feb 2015, p.113]

Isolation showcases just what made others scramble for her number: natural pop charisma and an ability to glide effortlessly between genres. [May 2018, p.113]

Birgy is a rare talent who, a decade into her career, might just be due her moment. [Aug 2019, p.112]

Elegantly downbeat, Soldier Of Love sparkles as a whole rather than as a collection of parts. [Mar 2010, p.107]

The result is a superbly off-kilter record, from the new wave guitar jerks of Each Time Is A New Time to the strident harmonies and shifting melodies on All You'd Ever Need To Say. [Mar 2010, p.101]

She sounds gloriously rough-edged and authentic. [May 2003, p.114]

He's starting to look like someone who an no longer be held by the confines of his own skull. [Aug 2015, p.109]

How, exactly, do you follow an album like Loveless? It's a question that pop has yet to answer. [Jun 2012, p.119]

Here he leads by example, creating wonderfully complex, changeable music that dares to be different. [Oct 2018, p.109]

This could be the most finely realised piece of work by a teenager since Arctic Monkeys released Whatever People Say I Am... in 2006. [Dec 2012, p.104]

Clever, emotive and thoughtful. [Dec 2014, p.107]

This 11th album refines their sound and gives it a modern productive tweak. [Oct 2010, p.112]

Their sound brilliantly pays homage equally to the sparkling melodies of C86 and the lunk-headed bounce of punk rock. [Apr 2011, p.110]

Georgiadis and his crew have all the chops and charisma to pull this lunacy off. [May 2015, p.114]

From the off, it's beguiling stuff. [#361, p.108]

They retained their best ideas for themselves though, since their debut album is striking escape from mere genre. [Review of UK version]

It's a winningly fluid mix of on-trend beats, intriguing cameos and subtle, Eastern-influenced melodies. [Aug 2019, p.113]

It's the fiery One Up, One Down and the four zigzagging interpretations of Impressions that truly add tot he indispensability of this set. [Aug 2018, p.119]

A rare treat, with Jones' stripped-back, largely acoustic band brilliantly framing that voice... [Nov. 2000, p.109]

The voice may be more Grandpa Simpson than Grand Ole Opry these days, but the spirit on Ramble At The Ryman live set is unbeatable. [July 2011, p. 106]

Idlewild have added a new "dirty bomb" to their armoury: the emotional resonance of prime Morrissey/Marr. [Aug 2002, p.128]

Both [discs] are full of surprises. [Oct 2004, p.115]

There's such a huge feelgood swagger it's impossible not to be swept along in its wake. [Jun 2004, p.96]

While partly rooted in grief, the songs here see magic in the mundane, the music's dreamy qualities fracturing into hallucinatory passages of cut-up vocals. [Dec 2019, p.109]

Akchote can still serve up a dancefloor banger when required. ... Although its on the album's closing track that he discovers the perect balance between artistry and energy, silken-voiced R&B singer Gallant turning Run For Me into a heady EDM ballad that elevates his signature beats to new heights. [Dec 2019, p.115]

The Understanding raises their game, mainly with its careful attention to one key musical detail: great tunes. [Aug 2005, p.132]

The best Nelson set since 1996's Spirit. [Dec 2006, p.138]

The Death Cab For Cutie man turned his vision to a series of alternate realities. [Dec 2012, p.105]

Marshall sounds at peace here, and back to his best. [Apr 2020, p.110]

Ominous fourth album from the masters of emotional turbulence. [Oct. 2010, p. 118]

This utterly beautiful balm of a record feels less like a confessional, and more a vessel for warmth, serenity and worldly wisdom. [May 2020, p.114]

Club Meds is a bold move from a rapidly developing talent. [Feb 2015, p.110]

Seventeen years on,... Cake have lost none of their bite. [Feb. 2012 p. 101]

This is the rarity of a hits collection from a band still at the top of their game. There's plenty more to come. [Jan 2014, p.131]

Melodically subtler than Friedberger's past albums, Rebound still swings thanks to her innate, and often-overlooked, knack for songwriting. [Jun 2018, p.112]

Music Kills Me occasionally drifts into the overly familiar world of laid-back jazz grooves, Latino rhythms and flutes, but there's enough elsewhere to intrigue. [Apr 2002, p.120]

Its gorgeous chamber-pop is painted from a muted colour palette, with Farfisa organs, Hollies/Mamas harmonies and lyrics about weeping willows and late afternoons. [#361, p.108]

Call The Comet firmly underlines Johnny Marr's commitment to his solo career. [Aug 2018, p.110]

Their debut album's secret arsenal comprises frontman Chris Martin's voice - prematurely aged for someone in their early twenties - and some supple, persuasive melodies. That and a great big side order of melancholy.

With Amidon's intimate, unshowy voice inderpinned nu melodic, folky guitars, minimal electronics and elegant strings of post-classical arranger Nico Mulhy, its ability to beguile is considerable. [May 2010, p. 112]

It's no radical departure, the Canadian chanteuse's sensual croon is still a class apart. [Jun 2011, p.124]

Simultaneously lovely and repellent, there's echoes of the Pet Shop Boys, Pink Floyd and Momus. But, in truth, their combination of the sinister and the delicious is entirely original.

They've made a fine pop record without compromising their trademark quirkiness.... The band's best work to date. [Aug 2003, p.114]

No Time For Dreaming has the gritty feel of the real thing, a man who's known mostly hard times and tells it with a pleading throaty roar and blood-curdling scream worthy of James Brown. A real find. [Mar 2011, p.117]

It's clever, zesty and kaleidoscopic and sometimes... quite brilliant. [Aug 2002, p.121]

Idol's magnetism is simply colossal--an invaluable commodity in these times. [Dec 2014, p.110]

With the help of Animal Collective produce Ben H Allen, Girls in Peacetime busts the band out of a complacent rut by rendering them in full colour, as a pop group with depth of talent and breadth of vision. [Feb 2015, p.108]

The 10-minute 'Midnight Surprise' is the album's sprawling, beguiling centrepeice, but 'Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk' is its bewildered, adorable heartbeat. [Feb 2008, p.96]

They sound truly beguiling. [Feb. 2012 p. 101]

What a wild trip. [Jan 2014, p.133]