This is a n intriguing mini epic of double-drummed grooves and skronking noise. [Jan 2015, p.131]

Shrigley's humour quickly suffers from the law of diminishing returns; once the initial shock has dissipated, it fails to stand up to repeated listening. [Jan 2015, p.128]

Power has a surprisingly cohesive feel, even as it shifts from the Beach Boys-infused harmonies of On Your Own to Prettiest Ones Fly Highest's hazy, Frank Ocean-like R&B, with only the slinky house beats of Cool Like Me sounding a false note. [Jan 2015, p.125]

Frequently the music here sounds unhinged and stretched out to the limits of endurance, but it's exactly this lack of sanitisation that makes this such a thrilling listen. [Jan 2015, p.129]

The attitude's still present and correct, but there's also a nagging, Pixies-like surf melodies of Drive and the serrated riffs of Springfield Cannonball. [Jan 2015, p.122]

Monuments is an enjoyably straightforward rock album. [Jan 2015, p.128]

At every stage the songwriting is relentlessly, almost effortlessly strong. [Jan 2015, p.139]

Completists will be delighted that songs as good as Cars Can't Escape and Kicking Television have been rescued from the dead zone of soundtracks and bonus discs but there's a lot of competent Americana and superfluous concert material to get through. [Jan 2015, p.139]

It all makes a good starting point for anyone intrigued by one of the most consistently experimental indie bands of the last three decades. [Jan 2015, p.139]

Doolittle was a breakthrough.... The Peel Sessions and B-sides aren't essential, but the previously unreleased demos are fascinating. [Jan 2015, p.134]

The reverse-order approach does remind you that he has sustained startlingly well, and perhaps as importantly, that he's still in the game. [Jan 2015, p.135]

Each song still has the inevitable moment of electronic ascent but, as with Coldplay's Recent break-up record, you can';t help but wonder how these songs might've sounded left raw and unslickened. [Jan 2015, p.133]

The Voyeurs' determination to peer through the capital's sleazier keyholes should be applauded. [Jan 2015, p.132]

The greatest family jam you'll ever hear and an absolutely essential album. [Jan 2015, p.132]

No One Is Lost is the closest they've come to fulfilling their potential. [Jan 2015, p.132]

[An] immediately fascinating, a cluttered, three-records-playing-at-once orchestral fantasia that--icing on the art-pop cake--is inspired by Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. [Jan 2015, p.131]

[The songs] slow drift proves compelling, in a faintly Virgina Astley way. [Jan 2015, p.131]

On every possible level, this album is a total blast. [Jan 2015, p.128]

Nothing Important is madcap, abrasive and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. [Jan 2015, p.124]

It tails off slightly with too much frosted minor chord melancholy and some monochrome male vocalists, but there's nothing to suggest creative exhaustion. [Jan 2015, p.129]

Their stall is pretty clearly set out then, yet... Mind Fuzz's most enduring quality is the overriding, Technicolor sense of fun that runs throughout. [Jan 2015, p.128]

Stewart keeps that see-sawing balance alive here. [Jan 2015, p.128]

Not a novelty record, then, nor entirely old hat. [Jan 2015, p.128]

What remains is a skeletal approach to production, all spare pulses and baleful samples channeled echo-chambered effects. It turns out, thought, that Mitchell also has a feel for deceptively simple melodies. [Jan 2015, p.129]

The London Sessions isn't quite the hoped-for wholehearted embrace of the UK house nation, but it witnesses the reawakening of one of modern soul's most durable sirens. [Jan 2015, p.127]

It's still on the dancefloor showstoppers--No Enemiesz, Giant In My Heart--that she really comes alive. [Jan 2015, p.127]

Their songs retain a Scandinavian feel, at once exuberant and enigmatic on the soaring Fountain and cellophane-wrapped Vista, while pulsing, M83-like synth rush of Chasing Kites shows they've set their sights well beyond the Nordic margins. [Jan 2015, p.126]

Whether Faust is actually music has been debated since their 1971 debut, but whichever side you take, it's brilliant to have Peron and Diermaier still asking the question. [Jan 2015, p.125]

Avonmore doesn't quite match 2010's fine comeback solo album, Olympia. [Jan 2015, p.125]

Natural Selection is a triumph of style and content. [Jan 2015, p.120]

Everything's in flux, subject to change, but Xen is still a record of mood-altering substance. [Jan 2015, p.120]

The lesson: it's us who change, not AC/DC, nor indeed rock itself. Our mistake. Rave on, Malcolm. [Jan 2015, p.120]

Going Back Home packs all the vital joy that R&B-powered rock'n'roll should, but rarely does. [Apr 2014, p.118]

Creation is a tightly focused, instantly accessible and gloriously summery on the surface as its predecessor. [Jul 2014, p.114]

While Black Moth's back-to-basics approach to riffing may invite the term "stoner rock," that implies a lethargy of mood, and of mind, that simply isn't there. [Oct 2014, p.104]

The songs themselves, again sung in English, are often cryptic to the point of obscurity.... But the drama here is all in Arnald's delivery. [Oct 2014, p.102]

Despite the dark moments, Lost Domain keeps the flame. [Dec 2014, p.119]

A fourth disc of out-takes shines a light on alternate versions and work-in-progress songs that would surface on later albums. [Dec 2014, p.123]

This compilation once more confirms, Wyatt demands, deserves and ultimately abundantly repays, the fullest attention. [Dec 2014, p.120]

An album that reflects the best moments of his solo debut. [Nov 2014, p.114]

In solution, any song could light up your Saturday night; en masse, they sound like a formula wearing transparently thin. [Nov 2014, p.112]

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

Allen's mastery of rhythm holds this inventive album together. [Nov 2014, p.102]

It's definitely soul [Vic Godard's] way. [Nov 2014, p.111]

It would be a solid album for someone like Annie, For The Ting Tings, though, it suggests there's no way back from Nowheresville. [Nov 2014, p.118]

As a functional piece of music, it's fitness-for-purpose isn't in question,. But as a stand-alone album, the satisfaction it can offer, perhaps, is. [Dec 2014, p.119]

It's easily enough to leave you wishing The Coral would get their distinctive acts together again soon. [Dec 2014, p.108]

One of his best then, and a perfect entry point for anyone who might be intrigued. [Nov 2014, p.116]

The Quiet One seized his moment with a burst of productivity encompassing 1968's raga-meets-rock-meets-music-hall Wonderwall Music, '69's Moog synthesizer noodle-fest Electronic Sound and '70s sprawling Phil Spector-produced melodic masterpiece All Things Must Pass. [Nov 2014, p.124]

Led Zeepelin would get bigger, louder and very imperious very soon. But they'd rarely sound like they were having as much fun as they do here. [Nov 2014, p.125]

Familiarity hasn't taken all the shine off Led Zeppelin IV, because once you get past the aforementioned over-exposed "hits," there's still the frantic Four Sticks and When The Levee Break's big lumbering blues to knock you off your feet again. [Nov 2014, p.125]

[Start Together] reveals a remarkable output across punk, pop and rock for a band that you can't help but feel still had much to do, As of now, they still may do it. [Dec 2014, p.124]

Beery, teary, rootsy and rollicking: it's singalong genius at play. [Dec 2014, p.122]

The band, however, are a little too gauche to rock out convincingly and fare better on the softer, Beach Boys-influenced psychedelia of Mirror Of Time and Strange World. [Dec 2014, p.118]

It's a thrilling listen. [Dec 2014, p.119]

Storytone presents the same 10 songs twice: compellingly naked save for a guitar or ukulele, then dressed to kill in Hollywood strings and big band brass. [Dec 2014, p.119]

An unexpected pleasure. [Dec 2014, p.118]

Big Music's bold title matches the bold music within. [Dec 2014, p.118]

Overseen by Butch Vig, there's a continuity to Sonic Highways, in spite of its on-the-road creation. At the same time, the band stretch themselves. [Dec 2014, p.117]

Tinashe's voice is pure and malleable, her lyrics suggestive and assertive. [Dec 2014, p.116]

Nobody... rekindles the dark brooding of their first two albums. [Dec 2014, p.117]

By recreating Britpop's also-runs so faithfully, Superfood run the risk of becoming one themselves. [Dec 2014, p.116]

A struggle to balance the killer riffs and aggression that the fans want with the melodicism that the band themselves seem far more interested in. [Dec 2014, p.116]

When countless Miracles anthologies exist, anyone who reaches for this is a bigger clown than the weepy one in Smokey's song. [Dec 2014, p.116]

For those yet to experience Reich's unique soundscapes, this is as good a place to start as any. [Dec 2014, p.115]

Extreme but accessible, they're best savoured with out namby-pamby earplugs, obviously. [Dec 2014, p.114]

What distinguishes New Build is their lyrical inner monologue, which speaks of a reflective mind given to philosophical enquiry. [Dec 2014, p.114]

Rice is much more appealing when he blatantly ramps up the theatre, sticks a bit of greasepaint over his sincerity, tips irreversibly into show business. [Dec 2014, p.114]

You are, unfortunately, left wondering how the 26-year-old Dylan would have sung them. [Dec 2014, p.113]

Throughout, The Hum is a thrilling testament to Hookworms' single-mindedness and conviction. [Dec 2014, p.112]

Okereke's voice, at times feels a bit too up close and personal. [Dec 2014, p.111]

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

Full marks for envelope-pushing, but this third album is very much an acquired taste. [Dec 2014, p.110]

Oddly enjoyable. [Dec 2014, p.110]

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]

Inevitably there are moments that would benefit from smoothing out, but part of the appeal is getting to ample Giannascoli's talent when it's still raw. [Dec 2014, p.110]

It's been a rocky road, but maybe he's finally home. [Dec 2014, p.109]

There's been a strong sense of diminishing returns. [Dec 2014, p.109]

While he's lost more of his craft, he's rarely sounded so at ease with himself. [Dec 2014, p.109]

A profoundly, if unexpectedly, moving record. [Dec 2014, p.109]

Traces of other bands can be heard everywhere, from the scuzzy math-rock of Doom (Battles) to the hard-riffing Exit-Only (Jon Spencer) but with vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki ensuring that they never sound quite like anyone else. [Dec 2014, p.108]

In a sign that they've struggled to progress since [their debut], almost every song on this fifth alum similarly ends with Willett combusting into a figure of angst. [Dec 2014, p.108]

Seeds is not 1000 per cent their best work, but it's not far off. [Dec 2014, p.108]

The Endless River is an unsatisfying way for Pink Floyd to cease trading. [Dec 2014, p.107]

Most of the 10 songs here are still well-crafted exercises in ceaseless forwards momentum. [Dec 2014, p.106]

The album's dark Heart, though, is Forever, a mesmerising 13-minute-epic.... He's developing into one of UK electronica's most distinctive voices. [Dec 2014, p.107]

If the 17-track Pom Pom does little to un-muddy the waters, within its exploded binliner of '80s FM rock licks, novelty squelch noises and other home-recorded debris, songs of splendour lurk. [Dec 2014, p.106]

It's a decent enough introduction to Antony & The Johnson's early works.... Turning bursts into colour on the accompanying DVD. [Dec 2014, p.106]

This needling sense of disturbance is impressive, but it's still a relief when they break the mood more dramatically on the choral interlude Tender Shoots or the swamp-dark swing of The Monaco, reassuring signs they haven't yet become too set in their monochrome ways. [Dec 2014, p.106]

All life's disastrous lows are here on a career-high album. [Nov 2014, p.121]

Musically adventurous, sonically daring and really rather stunning. [Nov 2014, p.112]

Throughout, the sense of a man finding his own path is convincing. [Nov 2014, p.111]

[A] terrific fourth album. [Nov 2014, p.102]

Here they find wonderful refuge in stability. [Nov 2014, p.102]

It's the dreamy experimentation of Ethiopia and Side Effects that highlight the brothers deepening range. [Nov 2014, p.104]

It's by no means a classic but there's enough personality to suggest Hozier will be with us for the long haul. [Oct 2014, p.110]

The Marge Simpson of nu-soul continues to meander down her own path. [Nov 2014, p.112]

Jamie Treays has come back fighting and fighting brilliantly. [Nov 2014, p.117]